Dishes of Finnish cuisine. Top 10 dishes of Finnish cuisine. Recipes of Finnish cuisine. Finnish cuisine recipes. National dishes of Finland

In a country with more than 180,000 lakes, many fish are eaten, especially salmon, rainbow trout, cod, pike and herring, as well as perch and colorful small cod – muikka. Meat dishes, with the exception of venison and game, reflect the influence of European cuisine (mainly French). Desserts are dominated by northern berry-fruit dishes – cranberries, lacquers, polyberries. Baking is very popular.

If you come to Finland by car, plane or ferry, be sure to try at least one traditional Finnish dish or cook it at home.

What to try in Finland? Here is the list of Top 10 dishes:

Pea soup is delicious all year round

• 1 liter of water
• 2 dl peas
• 300 g pork shoulder or smoked pork or pork leg
• 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 2 onions
• ½ teaspoon marjoram

1. Let the peas soak in cold water overnight or for about 10-12 hours.

2. Heat the peas in water for soaking, collect the foam and skin from the surface of the water. Continue cooking for about 1 hour.

3. Add meat, salt and chopped onion to the soup.

4. Let the pea soup simmer over low heat for about an hour. If you want the pea soup to be spicy, continue cooking for another half hour.

5. Remove the bone from the meat, cut the meat into pieces and, if necessary, season the pea soup with marjoram.

The bones make a tasty but slow-cooking soup. Replace the peas in the above recipe with kidney beans and make the same way as the pea soup.

A good lasaki soup can be obtained by boiling onions, carrots and potatoes in water. Add a can of pea soup concentrate to the vegetables. Puree the soup after the vegetables are cooked and soften the taste with milk. Season the pea soup with pepper and marjoram.

Summer soup is the best of vegetables from the new harvest

• 1 liter of water
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 0.5 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 6-10 pieces of new potatoes (medium size)
• 4 carrots
• 1 small cauliflower
• 100 g of sugar snap peas
• 1 DL peas
• 1 handful of spinach leaves
• 1 liter whole milk
• 200 g of processed cheese

Summer soup can be easily changed. Instead of spinach, use wild plants from the garden, such as nettles, dandelions or leaves of the top.

1.  Wash and grate young potatoes and carrots. Cut the carrot into slices, and separate the cauliflower florets. If the potato is large, cut it into two or three parts.
2. Add vegetables to boiling water seasoned with salt and pepper. There should be enough water to barely cover the vegetables. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Add milk, melted cheese, pea pods, peas and chopped spinach leaves to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil.
4. Before serving, check the taste of the soup, if necessary, add salt and spices. Garnish the summer soup with parsley and serve with black bread.
5. Serve the soup with delicious nettle bread.

Kalacukko is a traditional delicacy of Savoland

A traditional Savoyard fish dish, rooster baked in cornstarch. In Pojois-Savo, perch was traditionally used as a filling for fish roe, while in Etel-Savo, zander was used. In the old days, rooster fish was taken as a snack when going to work in the field or in the forest.

• 7 dl of water
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• (about 5½ dl) yeast bread flour
• 800-900 g (about 14 dl) of rye flour
• 50 g of melted butter or oil

• 1 kg of fish
• 500 g pork
• 1.5 tbsp of salt
• for lubrication: melt butter

1. Mix the ingredients for the dough.
2. Rice or barley crumbs are sprinkled on the bottom of a sheet of cake dough placed on the baking table. Put salted pork and small perch on top.
3. The cock’s head is stretched into “fox ears” before gagging. Sealing and seamless bonding is a task that requires precision and skill.
4. The finished rooster is disassembled into a form before being put in the oven. Bake the rooster for half an hour at 250 degrees, then another half hour at 200 degrees.
5. If the rooster tears, it can be patched with dough cakes.
6. The rooster is greased with oil and wrapped in foil. Fish roe can be marinated in foil in low heat for at least five or even seven hours.

Dried venison is tastiest with lingonberry jam

A delicious dried venison dish is prepared from ultra-thin reindeer meat by slow cooking. Bacon, butter and oil create a mild flavor base for cured venison. Serve the venison with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce.

• 2 onions
• 170 g bacon
• 50 g to win
• 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
• 1 ½ kg of peeled and frozen reindeer meat
• 2 teaspoons (0.33 l) of beer
• 2 dl of water
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice

1. Chop the onion and bacon.
2. Heat the pan and fry the bacon in its own fat until crispy.
3. In a mixture of butter and oil, fry the chopped onion, remove the bacon and onion and gradually add the frozen meat. Raise the meat until the entire amount is melted. Pour the bacon and onion back into the pot.
4. Allow the venison to cook in its own broth until the meat begins to smell roasted. Pour a can of beer into the cauldron. Let it boil. Add more beer and finally water until the meat boils in the broth. Season the dried meat with salt and pepper.
5. Karistis can be stewed for at least an hour on a low heat on the stove under the lid or in an oven heated to 170 degrees. The tight lid keeps the venison cocktail moist.
6. Serve the venison with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce.

Advice! Beer can easily be replaced with meat broth. Then the amount of salt should be reduced to a minimum.

Advice! It is easiest to cut venison into jerky when it is slightly frozen. 

Fried vendace is a delicious classic

Fried vendace is a delicious classic of Finnish cuisine. Buns are rolled in rye flour and fried in butter, and they taste best with mashed potatoes.

• 600 g vendace (400 g consumed)
• 1 g of coarsely ground rye flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt

1. Mix salt with rye flour.

2. Roll the pancakes in rye flour. The flour will stick better if you first dip the balls in milk or beaten egg.

3. Fry the fritters in butter until crispy and golden on both sides. Serve fried muikka, for example, with mashed potatoes.

Salmon soup is a pearl of classic dishes

Rich creamy salmon soup is a gem of domestic classic dishes and an easy way to get more fish on your plate. The soup is best combined with rye bread.

• 8 pcs of potatoes
• 3 pieces of carrots
• 2 onions
• 1 ½ liters of fish broth or water
• 10-15 g of allspice
• 400-500 g of salmon fillet
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3.3 dl of whipped cream
• ¾ cup fresh, chopped dill

1. If you have a whole fish fillet, boil it in broth first. Put the salmon sticks, 1 1/2 liters of water and 5-6 black peppercorns, chopped onion and 1 teaspoon of salt in a saucepan. Cook the fish stock, stirring gently, for 10 minutes. If you use fish stock, check its saltiness before adding salt to the finished soup.
2. Wash and clean the vegetables. Cut the potatoes into cubes, the carrots into slices, and chop the onion.
3. Bring the fish stock or water to a boil. Add spices, onions and carrots. Cook on low heat under the lid for five minutes. Add potato cubes and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Clean the skin and bones from the salmon fillet. Cut the fish into large cubes.
5. Add fish, cream and salt to the soup. Do not add salt without taste as fish stock contains salt. Bring the salmon soup to a boil and cook over low heat with the lid on for about five minutes. Season traditional salmon soup with dill.
6. Serve with rye bread.

Cabbage rolls is a long-awaited late summer dish

On a plate of cabbage, cabbage rolls are conjuring. Traditionally, it includes boiled groats and minced meat, but the filling can also be varied. How would it sound, for example, cabbage rolls with mushrooms or vegetable cabbage rolls with carrots or oatmeal?

• about 1.5-2 kg of cabbage or kohlrabi
• about 1 kg of a mixture of mushrooms (boletus mushrooms, porcini mushrooms)
• 1 large leek
• 3 onions
• oil for browning
• (about 3 dl crushed barley groats)
• 2 dl sour cream
• thyme, white pepper, salt
• brown sugar, soy sauce

Dumplings with mushrooms require a little effort, but the end result is worth it.

1. Steam cabbage leaves until soft. Chop the collected mushrooms, onions and leeks. Heat the butter and let the mushrooms, chopped onions and leeks simmer slowly in a little oil. Boil the chopped groats for 20-30 minutes. Mix the ingredients together and season with sour cream, thyme, white pepper and salt.
2. Put about a tablespoon of the filling on each cabbage leaf, roll dumplings from the leaf and put the cabbage rolls on a baking sheet with slightly melted butter. Sprinkle the doves with brown sugar and a little soy sauce.
3. Bake the cabbage rolls first at 200 degrees and carefully turn them over during baking. When color appears on the surface of the buns, cover with foil and cook at 150 degrees. Serve mushroom rolls with boiled potatoes and lingonberries.

Cabbage casserole

Traditionally, Cabbage Casserole is made from cabbage, minced meat, onions, rice and spices.

• 1 kg cabbage
• 350 g minced meat
• 100 g rice
• salt
• butter or margarine

1. Boil the rice until ready. Chop the cabbage into small pieces and brown them in appropriate portions in a pan.

2. Brown the minced meat. Mix rice, cabbage and minced meat and season the mixture with salt.

3. Spread the mixture in a greased baking dish. First, we bake the cabbage at 175 degrees for a short time without a lid, so that the surface is slightly colored. Summer cabbage is allowed to cook for a good hour, and winter cabbage for a couple of hours. Serve cabbage traditionally with lingonberry sauce.

Karelian cookies

Karelian cookies are a traditional dish that is easy to prepare even for beginners. However, the delicacy requires patience, as the roast takes up to 3-4 hours to cook.

• 500 g of baked beef
• 500 g pork shoulder
• 2 pieces of oxtail
• 1 piece of beef
• 2 onions
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• whole white and allspice pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• about 5 dl of water

Traditional Karelian roast is easy to prepare if you are willing to take the time to cook it slowly. The cooking method is healthy because the meat is not fried and no fat is added to the food. The roots give Karelian roast more flavor.

1. Cut the meat into large pieces. Peel and chop the onion. Place all the ingredients in a cast iron or clay pot. Finally, pour enough water so that some of the ingredients remain above the water level. You can add carrots, celery and parsnips to the mixture. You can also fry the roots in the oven and add them to the pan only at the end.

2. Cook the Karelian roast in an oven heated to 200 degrees without a lid for half an hour. Then cover with a lid, reduce the temperature to 125 degrees and let it brew for 3-4 hours.

Karelian pie

Karelian pies are a tasty and traditional delicacy that is suitable for both everyday life and a holiday. Their preparation requires a little skill, but ready-made pies, prepared with your own hands, are really worth the effort. Treats are delicious with egg butter.

• 4 dl of water
• 4 dl rice
• 1 liter whole milk
• 1 ½ tsp salt

Dough:

• 2 dl cold water
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 tl of salt
• 2 dl wheat flour
• 4 dl of rye flour

1. Prepare porridge the day before. Use a pan with a thick bottom. Pour the rice into the boiling water, let the water soak into the rice. Gradually add the milk, stirring all the time. Let simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring a few times as it cooks. Season with salt. Cool and put in the refrigerator.

2. Make the cake dough. Mix butter and salt in cold water. Stir the wheat flour into the liquid with a wooden fork. Add rye flour and knead a smooth and firm dough by hand.

3. Divide the dough into two parts. Roll out pieces of dough on a work table sprinkled with rye flour into a thin plate, about 1⁄2 cm thick. Press the stool from the plate with a drinking straw.

4. Place the droppings in piles, covering them with plastic wrap if necessary to prevent drying out. Roll the dumplings into thin round shells. Put them on top of each other, sprinkle rye flour between them and cover with a film.

5. Put a generous tablespoon of porridge in the middle of the cake, leaving about 1 cm at the edges. Fold the opposite edges over the filling and crumple with your thumb and forefinger. Transfer to a baking sheet without baking paper.

6. Bake at 275-300 degrees until golden brown for about 15 minutes.

7. Melt the butter in a saucepan or microwave. Pour it into the milk. Hot beef patties are dipped in a milk-butter mixture or greased with one oil. Put the pies on a serving plate and cover with a napkin.

Tips for baking:

1. A real pie with cattle can be recognized by the rye crust.

2. More than half of the flour must be rye to meet the definition of beef pie. If they are not fulfilled, it is called a rice cake. The most frugal traditions use only water, salt and rye flour for pies.

3. The filling can be rice or barley porridge or mashed potatoes. You can add an egg to the cooled porridge. The porridge becomes plastic and is easily applied to the base.

4. Do not put baking paper on the baking sheet, it will burn in the oven.

5. You can grease the pies only with butter and not use a milk-butter mixture.

6. The oven should be as hot as possible, preferably above 300 degrees. It works in a bread maker, but not in all home ovens. However, preheat the oven as much as possible at home.

7. At first, it is difficult to bake with rye flour. A beginner can replace them with wheat flour, which makes baking easier, but then the cakes are called rice cakes.