What do people eat in Finland?

Finns eat porridge or rye bread in the morning, a warm lunch as early as 10:30 to 12:00, dinner at about 17:00 and a small snack before bed. Coffee runs through the whole day.

A white porcelain bowl of creamy salmon soup with potato and dill on a white plate

A white porcelain bowl of thick green pea soup with pieces of ham on a white plate

Typical dishes and their calories

1Karjalanpiirakka, Karelian pie with egg butterOne pie, about 70 g170kcal 2Lohikeitto, salmon soupA bowl, about 350 g300kcal 3Hernekeitto, Thursday pea soupA bowl (about 350 ml), with ham350kcal 4Poronkäristys, sautéed reindeer with mash and lingonberriesA plate with mashed potato and lingonberries, about 400 g600kcal 5Ruisleipä, rye bread with butter and cheeseA slice with butter and cheese, about 60 g190kcal 6Korvapuusti, cinnamon bunOne cinnamon roll with icing400kcal 7Grillimakkara, grilled sausage1 large sausage, like a bratwurst300kcal 8Lihapiirakka, fried meat pieOne pie, about 150 g450kcal

Breakfast

Breakfast is porridge, usually oats, with berries, jam or a knob of butter, or open sandwiches on dark rye bread with cheese, cold cuts and cucumber. One slice of ruisleipä with butter and cheese is about 190 kcal. Yoghurt and viili, a stretchy sour milk, are common too, and the drink is filter coffee.

Lunch

Lunch is warm and early. School canteens start serving at 10:30, and free hot school lunch is part of the welfare state. Adults eat at 11:00 or 12:00, often from a lunch buffet with salad, bread and butter. Soup is a full meal here, like lohikeitto, a creamy salmon soup with potato, leek and dill, about 300 kcal a bowl.

Dinner

Dinner comes early, around 17:00, and is the biggest meal: meat or fish with potatoes, rice or pasta. In Lapland it is poronkäristys, thin slices of reindeer fried in butter with mashed potatoes and lingonberries, about 600 kcal a plate. In summer it is new potatoes with butter, dill and pickled herring. A light snack, often a sandwich, follows at 20:00 or 21:00.

Starters

Finns rarely eat a starter at home. The small thing on the table is karjalanpiirakka, the Karelian pie: a thin rye crust around rice porridge, topped with egg butter, about 170 kcal each. It has EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status. Leipäjuusto, a squeaky baked cheese, comes with cloudberry jam or dropped into hot coffee.

Desserts

Sweet things belong to the coffee break, the kahvitauko. The classic is korvapuusti, a cardamom and cinnamon bun, about 290 kcal each. Runeberg torte is eaten until 5 February, mämmi, a dark rye malt pudding, at Easter, and on Thursdays pea soup is followed by oven pancakes with jam.

Drinks

Coffee first: Finland drinks more coffee per person than anywhere else, about 12 kg a person a year, mostly light roast filter coffee. Milk and piimä, a sour buttermilk, are drunk with meals, even by adults. Lonkero, the long drink first made with gin and grapefruit soda, is the classic mixed drink, and sima is a homemade mead.

Street food

Street food is the grilli, a late night kiosk. Lihapiirakka, a deep fried pastry filled with rice and minced meat, is about 450 kcal. Sausage, makkara, is about a third of all the meat Finns eat, and a grilled one is about 300 kcal. Munkki, a sugared doughnut, is the sweet option. Fried vendace, small lake fish, come with mashed potatoes and lemon.

Normal there, odd elsewhere

Lunch can be over before 11:00, and dinner by 18:00. Pea soup on Thursday, with pancakes after it, is a weekly habit. Adults drink milk with a meal without a second thought. Leipäjuusto goes into the coffee cup. And the favourite sweet is salmiakki, a salty black liquorice.

Sources

Visit Finland, What to eat in Finland, a guide to iconic Finnish foods University of Eastern Finland, On the Move blog, Finnish food culture Wikipedia, Finnish cuisine

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