#42 Finland
- Jen
- Sep 18, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 4, 2022
According to the UN World Happiness Report, Finland is the happiest country in the world.
It’s not hard to understand why the Finnish cup of joy is full to the brim, when their language has words like hyppytyynytyydytys,which is used to describe the satisfaction one gets from a nice bouncy cushion, and kalsarikännit – a word for getting drunk on your own at home in your underwear with no intention of going out; a word the rest of the world needed during winter lockdown!
I think there’s something really romantic about the Finnish way of life. They love to spend time outdoors and are so much better connected to nature than we are in the UK. I’m told that it’s common practice for babies to take naps outside…provided the temperature is above -10!
Foraging
My friends, Sian and Toni, live in Helsinki, so my research for this blog has been very easy!
“…there are more berries than people can pick.”
The food Finns love to eat is what nature has to offer: whatever can be hunted or gathered and easily stored through harsh winters. Like, Latvians, Finns can often be found outdoors towards the end of summer picking mushrooms and berries. Mushrooms are dehydrated so they can be used all winter and it’s not uncommon for families to have an entire freezer just for berries!
Sian tells me that a common use for all the mushrooms is sienisalaatti, a creamy mushroom salad that’s served as a side dish to many meals or sometimes as a dressing in a sandwich.
Fishing
With so much sea and lakes and rivers, fish has traditionally been an important source of protein. Wild salmon, perch, brown and rainbow trout are commonly eaten and apparently, the best salmon river in the whole world is in Lapland.
“We hot smoked a rainbow trout at the cabin the other week and at Toni’s parents’ we smoked a salmon. Such lovely flavour. Using alder wood chips.”
I love so much that it’s so normal here to pick your own mushrooms and smoke your own fish!
Lohikeitto (salmon soup) is perfect either as a starter or as a warmer on a cold winter’s day. It can be ready within half an hour of coming in from the harsh minus temperatures. This hearty soup is simply sauteed leek in a fish stock and cream base, with chunks of carrot, potato and salmon.
Baking
The majority of bread in Finland is rye and there are loads of different types from thin crispbreads to rich heavy loaves.
Finns also have lots of pastries, sweet and savoury. Another contributing factor to being the happiest country in the world no doubt.
Lörtsy is a deep-fried filled pastry, filled with anything you want from minced meat to jam.
A top dessert in Finland is blueberry pie. With all those berries in the berry freezer, this can be made all year round! Finnish blueberry pie consists of a crumbly rye flour base filled with a sour cream blueberry centre, a bit like a cheesecake. It’s found in most cafes and it’s one I really want to try when I eventually visit my friends!
Pulla is the term for a whole load of different sweet breads that can take the form of twisted or braided loaves, buns or rolls. Cardamom is usually the main flavour.
Korvapuusti are cardamom & cinnamon buns. Their name translates as ‘slapped ears’ (so I read) and you can kind of see why I guess. They consist of a sweet, cardamom dough with a cinnamon sugar filling and can be found in practically every bakery in Finland. They’re so popular in fact that they have their own official day: 4th October is Korvapuusti Day! My birthday is 3rd October so I might start celebrating Korvapuusti Day as it seems like a nice way of beating post-birthday blues.
Link for the recipe I used (they’re quite fun to make!). It turns out that slapped ears are pretty good with a lovely soft, bouncy texture. They’re different from any cinnamon buns I’ve had previously; the cardamom’s aromatic, herbal vibe prevents the cinnamon sugar from making them ‘too sweet’ (which I don’t think is a thing, BTW). Those of you who claim to prefer savoury to sweet would probably love these; personally, I think they could be even better with a generous drizzle of icing on top to satisfy my British sweet tooth.
After I went slightly overboard for Italy, I had planned to rein it in for Finland and was going to call it a day after the korvapuusti, but Sian and Toni really made me want more!
Reindeer
Reindeer herding for meat takes place in only nine countries in the world, including Finland (and also Scotland) and one third of Finland’s land mass is used for this industry.
“I would say as a nice traditional meal and something that most people would try if they came is Poronkaristys – sauteed reindeer with mash and lingonberry jam.”
This might be Finland’s national dish, and is certainly Lapland’s most iconic dish. Slivers of reindeer meat are sauteed in butter and slow cooked in stock until tender. At the end of the cooking process, the heat is turned up to evaporate the liquid and caramelise the meat. Traditionally, the meat should be served with mash, lingonberry jam and pickles.
The key to poronkaristys is slicing the meat as thinly as you can (kitchen hack: freeze the meat for a few minutes before slicing). I do have a really beautiful venison shank in the freezer, but I feel that deserves a recipe where the meat can naturally fall off the bone, so I made beef poronkaristys instead with some braising steak, lightly seasoned with allspice.
Buttery mash, savoury tender but slightly caramelised meat, sweet jam and sour pickles were all perfectly complementary flavours. Every bite was wonderful.
Thanks to my friends in Helsinki for all the local info and also a big shout out to Sweden for providing the lingonberry jam.
See you all in…JORDAN!
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