The following highlights some of the popular Traditional Finnish Foods. If you manage to be in an Finnish restaurant or you are visiting Finland, I recommend the following:
1. Kainuun Rönttönen
It is a small open pie with a rye and wheat flour crust and a filling of potato, cranberry and rye flour. Traditionally, the pie was and is served with soup, but it can also be topped with butter and served with coffee for a delicious snack.
2. Mannapuuro
This creamy semolina is a traditional Finnish dish, often eaten as a nutritious breakfast, snack or simple dessert. Made with semolina, milk and a pinch of salt, the key is to simmer until it reaches the desired consistency. Usually served warm, this hot bowl of oatmeal is lightly sweetened and traditionally buttered. It is best served with fresh fruit or assorted preserves.
3. Sultsina
It is something between a thick pancake and a sweet bread. It is traditionally made from rye flour dough, which is rolled into a thin batter and baked on a baking sheet. Each sultsina is filled with creamy rice porridge or semolina porridge, and just before serving, it is rolled up and spread with melted butter. The sultsina is usually enjoyed as a warm and nutritious snack, sometimes with blueberry jam.
4. Ohrarieska
Ohrarieska is a traditional Finnish unleavened barley flatbread characterised by a round shape and dense texture. It is usually made with barley flour mixed with water, but there are different versions that often use eggs, yoghurt or buttermilk. Flatbread is traditionally eaten with butter and is often enjoyed as a light and nutritious snack.
5. Lörtsy
This Finnish crescent-shaped pastry is a speciality of the Savonia region and can often be found in local markets. Lörtsy are usually fried and have a variety of sweet and savoury fillings, such as minced meat or jambalaya. They are best enjoyed fresh as a tasty snack or a sugar-coated dessert.
6. Ruislimppu
Rye bread may be nothing new to you, but the Finnish version is 100% genuine rye bread made from unique Finnish yeasts to give it a dark and dense character. This bread is one of Finland’s staple foods and has been part of the cultural identity of the Finns for thousands of years. Yeast rye breads are often dried to make open-faced sandwiches or to be sliced with butter.
7. Ruisreikäleipä
This dense, rustic bread is traditionally baked as a flat, round loaf with a hole in the middle. This hole is used to hang the bread on a pole, usually over the oven, so that it can bake in the heat. It has a pleasant sweet and sour taste and is the perfect accompaniment to hearty Finnish dishes and regular snacks, often served with butter.
8. Rössypottu
Is a traditional Oulu stew. This simple stew is made with a combination of potatoes, pork, smoked bacon, onion, salt, black pepper and black pudding. The ingredients are cooked in a frying pan, and when the meat and potatoes are almost cooked, the black pudding slices are added to the pan and fried a little. The ready stew is often served with buttered rye bread on the side.
9. Helmipuuro
Helmipuuro translates as pearl mash and is a traditional Finnish dish made from dehydrated potato granules. When mixed with boiling milk, the granules expand into transparent pearl-like spheres. Porridge, usually sweetened and served with various fruits, is traditionally enjoyed as a hearty breakfast.
10. Blodpalt
These are rich, dark brown meatballs made from rye or barley flour and animal blood. Although traditionally made with reindeer blood, today they appear in many landraces that use the blood of different animals, various spices and sometimes mashed potatoes. They are sometimes stuffed with a mixture of sautéed onions and diced bacon, and are often cooked in a savoury broth.
If you found this list useful, here are some more Traditional European Foods to try out on my Pinterest channel.