Traditional Finnish food is simple, healthy and fresh with fish, meat, ground vegetables and extensive use of grains and berries. Fish was eaten mostly around the costal areas while the eastern parts and the northern parts more relied on meat.

Dishes

Finland is a big consumer of bread and is probably most known for its dark and sour bread, Ruisleipä, which is made from rye and is not sweetened or have the moist texture as for example the German dark bread.

Karelian Pie is also a traditional type of food from the Karelian region which today is a thin rye crust filled with rice served with a spread of butter on top of the hot pie.

Drinks

As Sweden, Finland is heavy drinkers of both coffee and milk. Finland is actually the country with the highest consumption of coffee per capita in the world.

Alcohol

Sathi is a traditional beer which mostly is brewed at home from a variety of grains and is flavored with juniper berries. It has a distinct banana flavor due to the yeast used.

Also Sima, which is a kind of mead, is brewed at home for the holidays and is made from honey, water and yeast giving it its nickname “Honey Wine”.

Koskenkorva and Finlandia are also world known vodka brands from Finland.

Desserts

Mämmi is eaten around Easter time which is a kind of a malt porridge that has been baked in the oven. It is eaten cold as it is or together with sugar and/or milk.

Also a variety of different fruit soups, which are thickened with potato flour and served with milk or cream and sugar, are common as a dessert.

Sweets

One of the most known Finnish sweets is the licorice which is available in different types both sweet and salt or filled with other flavors.

Also wood tar-flavored candies are popular in Finland.