Basic Elements of Finnish Food

Here are the basic elements of Finnish food - without these Finland would not be the happiest country, I'm sure!

Finland is a country of potatoes.

Definitely. When you only get new potatoes once per year, you cherish those. They have a unique taste, developing when they grow slowly compared to other countries. In Finland when buying potatoes it's not only to select to boil or fry.. there's a multitude of options to choose! They might look the same but there is a lot of variety.

Finland drinks too much coffee.

Probably. Finnish people drink most coffee per capita in the world, about 12 kg per person (over 26 lb), measured in coffee beans. Coffee is most often filtered coffee, and the cups are very large. The tight coffee schedule maybe makes the Finns drink it so much! 

Finland is a dairy land.

Yes, even adult Finns really drink milk and sour milk/kefir (piimä) when eating. This is a bit less common nowadays but still most consider milk a great source of nutrition. Finns are also very lactose-tolerant people, only about 17% are lactose-intolerant. In comparison, about 75% of the world population is lactose-intolerant but they won't notice as they don't consume that much milk anymore as adults.

All kind of sour milk products, like yogurt and quark are very popular breakfast options and used a lot in baking. And butter.. I remember one colleague saying oh Finnish butter is sooo good. I do understand it now looking at this from Spain.. missing the butter.

The best sauces come from Finland.

Well, not sure if all the best but in Finland food is not dry, e.g. you would not typically get a steak in a restaurant without some yummy sauce. Basic brown sauce is a must with potatoes. Then, with potato chips there is an industry of wonderful dip sauces that you can mix with yogurt type of products. (these should be exported to the world!!)

White bread is not bread for Finns.

White bread, like baguette or white loaf - is more like pulla. Not real bread. Rye bread just fills you longer. We also say "a person has rye in the wrist" meaning they are strong.  

But of course there is time for pulla and white "bread" - it's the coffee time when pulla and other desserts are enjoyed.

Best food comes from the forest.

Probably Finns also eat most often from the forest, lakes and the sea in the world, if calculating all berries and mushrooms, fish and game. There are still free mushrooms and berries available, if you want to go to explore in Finnish forests! Every year Finns feel sad that all of them were not collected.

Finland is the land of odd candy.

Finnish candy is a bit too much for many. Sure Finnish chocolate and endless aisles of candy options are wonderful, but whatis it with tar taste candies and salmiakki that salty licorice? Both are popular options for adult alcohol drinks as well!