Oishii Ruoka

Alright, so you want to know what kind of food people eat in Finland. Well, they're definitely a country of meat and potatoes kind of people. Some classic Finnish dishes include sausage and potatoes, meat sauce on pasta (there is no tomatoes involved in this meat sauce...just ground beef/pork and thickened gravy) and ground beef/pork and cabbage casserole with lingonberry sauce. I have written beef/pork because it is rare to find ground beef by itself. It is usually a beef and pork hybrid or just ground pork in and of itself. The main meats you find in the grocery store are pork (definitely number one), chicken and to a much lesser extent beef.

Vegetables are a rarity in the actual main dish itself, but everywhere you go they have salad buffets before your meal. I do not exaggerate on the everywhere department; restaurants, the school cafeteria, after hours kebab stands. Similarly to Canada, Finland is a nation of wild berries. By far the main fruits grown in Finland are blueberries, lingonberries, and, to a lesser extent, wild cranberries. Furthermore, most of the berries you buy in stores was picked in the wild, not grown on farms. There is a huge culture in this country around picking wild berries and mushrooms. Some of the people I have talked to go berry and mushroom picking every week. This is partially because of the Everyman's Right law that states people have the right to collect things grown in the wild (ie. not cultivated berries, but ones that are there just because) even if they are growing on private lands. [As a random side note: this is a concept I am contemplating doing my Masters thesis on...assuming I can make it work]

There is also a huge coffee culture in Finland. This was one of the aspects of Finland that I loved right away. Coming from Vancouver, I know that the South African habit of drinking instant coffee was not something that I wished to repeat in a new cultural experience ;-) But, yes, coffee breaks are a wonderful thing and, in Finland, they are usually accompanied with a "light" snack of pulla. Pulla is possible the most delicious pastry/bun/thing I have ever had (coming only slightly short of coconut buns). They are a sweet bread baked with cardamom inside and I have eaten far too many of them since I have arrived in Finland. I will definitely need to learn how to make them before I go back home. There is something about the light flavour of cardamom that makes them irresistible!

So basically my Finnish diet consists of meat and potatoes with a salad for my meals, interspersed with multiple coffee and pulla breaks throughout the day. Delicious!