Hello future exchange students.
We are Tomas from Czech Republic, Olga from Russia and Rita from Spain and we would like to introduce you to some examples of Finnish food and some typical Finnish objects.
We hope that you will find this information very usefull for living in Finland. So, let's start with the traditional dishes !
Karelian pastries
One of the typical Finnish dishes is the Karelian pie. As the name suggests, it originates from the south-eastern part of Finland, kn
own as Karelia. It is widely spread all over Finland these days.
The crust is made of wheat or rye. The typical fillings are potatoes, rice and barley. On the top you can find basically everything. The most popular ingredients are eggs, ham, cheese, reindeer meat, shrimp…
And the most important thing: It tastes great :)
Fazer
I think that everyone has already heard this name. And if not, then you clearly are not a chocolate fan.
But little bit about the company first. The Fazer Company was founded in 1891 by Karl Fazer. More than a company it was French-Russian sweet-shop in central Helsinki. These days it has thousands of employees in Finland, Sweden, Norway, UK and Russia. And the products are famous all around the world.
The most famous product is of course the chocolate in the blue wrap. The other products are Candyking candy, bread and Fazer Cafés. And you might be surprised, but Fazer also runs the chain of Amica restaurants in various schools and workplaces, so you will probably visit them very soon after your departure to Finland. You can find more about Amica in the separate article.
Minttu
Minttu liqueur is a crystal clear peppermint liqueur produced in Turku by Vin & Sprit.
The product is marketed for the Finnish market and as such bears a noticeably Finnish name, but it is also popular in Norway, Sweden and other Nordic countries. It has a strong, crisp taste and scent of peppermint. Taste is quite similar to Crème de menthe, but appearance is more like vodka. Minttu is in 40% and 50% alcohol by volume.
Most common ways to enjoy Minttu are to drink it on the rocks, mixed with tonic or on a hot drink. Hot chocolate with Minttu is a common treat in Scandinavian ski bistros.
Salmiakki
Salty liquorices, salmiak or salmiakki is a variety of liquorices that contains a relatively large amount of ammonium chloride ("salmiac") in addition to the liquorices root extract, sugar and starch or gum Arabic that constitute regular liquorices. Ammonium chloride has a spicy taste that vaguely resembles that of sodium chloride (table salt). However, salty liquorices do not necessarily contain any sodium. Although some types of regular liquorices can also contain a small amount of ammonium chloride, salty liquorices can contain up to about 8 percent of ammonium chloride. Moreover, the salty taste is typically less masked by a high sugar content compared to regular liquorices.
Salty liquorices candies are almost always black or very dark brown and can range from very soft to very hard and may be brittle. The other colors used are white and variants of grey. Carbon black is used as a food coloring agent in these candies.
The Latin term for ammonium chloride is salt ammoniac, a term that has also been used in English. In Finnish, the candies are usually called salmiakki, although this can also refer to other products containing ammonium chloride. The terms salmiakkimakeinen (salmiac candy) or salmiakkilakritsi (salmiac liquorices) are also sometimes used. For pure ammonium chloride, the term raakasalmiakki (raaka = raw) can be used, if necessary.
Salmiakki was once a trade name of Fazer, but quickly became a generalized trademark like nylon. The canonical shape for Finnish salmiakki candies is a black diamond-shaped lozenge. This diamond shape is so typical that in Finnish, the word "salmiakki" can sometimes refer to this shape instead of the candy. For example, Finnish Defense Forces reserve officer students rank insignia are known as "salmiakki"s for their distinctive shape. However, especially in other countries, different shapes are used.
Mämmi
Is a traditional Finnish Easter dessert. The Swedish language name for it is memma. Mämmi is made from water, rye flour and powdered rye malt, seasoned with dark molasses, salt and dried, powdered Seville orange peel. The mixture is then allowed to go through a slow, natural sweetening process before being baked in an oven until set. Preparation takes many hours, and after baking the mämmi is stored chilled for 3 to 4 days before being ready to eat. Mämmi was traditionally stored in small bowls made of birch bark called tuokkonen or rove. Finnish packaging still prints birch bark-like texture on the carton boxes.
Generally mämmi is eaten cold with cream and sugar, vanilla sauce or vanilla ice-cream. It is also eaten spread on top of a slice of bread. There is a Finnish society for mämmi founded by Ahmed Ladarsi, the former chef at the Italian Embassy in Helsinki, who claims that there are around fifty recipes containing mämmi. There are a number of websites with recipes using mämmi most of which are in Finnish. Mämmi is also used as minor ingredient in a mämmi-beer by Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas.
Mustamakkara
(literally black sausage) is a type of Finnish blood sausage traditionally eaten with lingo berry jam. It is nowadays available in many stores across Finland, but is held in the position of local delicacy and specialty of Tampere. Mustamakkara is at its best when bought and eaten fresh at market stalls, to which it is delivered hot in Styrofoam boxes from the factories directly after baking. A typical practice of reheating the sausage is to just fry it in a pan.
Mustamakkara is known to have been eaten as early as in the 16th century and was generally cooked over a small fire, in a hot cauldron or in an oven. Mustamakkara is made by mixing pork, pig blood, crushed rye and flour, after which it is stuffed into the intestines of an animal like most sausages. The two major producers of this food are Tapola and Savupojat.
When buying mustamakkara in the Tampere region it is customary to specify the amount of money to spend instead of weight, length or number of pieces. Often people also choose by simply pointing at the preferred piece. The shape and moisture of mustamakkara varies and by this means the buyer can get the piece best suiting his or her taste.
References
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