Food in Suomi

I have gotten a lot of questions about what Finnish food is like, and im sure more an a few people are curious as to what kind of food we have here in Suomi. ;)

I think the best way to do this is to take you through my day and introduce the various foods I eat in Finland.

Aamiainen (breakfast.):

Almost every day I eat open-faced sandwiches for breakfast. (Open-faced sandwiches are basically sandwiches without another piece of bread on top.) Sometimes I toast the bread, sometimes I don't...whatever floats my boat for the day. Some days I eat puuro, which is hot porridge. (I would explain it as a little like oatmeal, but its nothing like oatmeal.) Its not sweetened, so I add a bit of sugar to it, and jam to give it a bit of flavor. Theres always maito (milk) and mehu (juice) to drink...but if you like you can always have vesi (water.) You can also have this cocoa powder that you can add to milk and water if you like...I use it for hot chocolate sometimes in the evenings- but its not as sweet as it is in the USA. Its a little bit bitter, and I actually like it a lot.

Lounas (Lunch):

I eat lunch everyday at school, along with all of the other students. Lunch in Finland is paid by taxes, so it is free for every student to take lunch at school. I normally get in the big line with everyone else to wait to get my tray and plate. (They use real plates and silverware!) The main meal usually has something to do with potatoes and some sort of sauce that you can choose to put on it. (For example today we had potatoes and a meat sauce.) Everyday kind of varies on what the main meal is. But for the most part its something to do with potatoes, rice or soup...sometime like that. (The rice here isn't like the white rice you have in the USA. Its more of a brown rice type.). But you get your main dish and then you can always have salad with it and brown bread. (The salads here are mainly just one type of shredded vegetables- like carrots, cabbage, or lettuce. Stuff like that.)

Snack After School:

I normally have a snack after school, because I have such long days at school. But I normally have another open-face sandwich; or a piece of toast with jam on it and a glass of maito or mehu.

Päivällinen (Dinner):

Generally, dinner is eaten around 5pm. (At least in my host family...). We eat potatoes a lot, and have a butter/onion sauce with it made out of melted butter and onions. We also sometimes have chicken, or rice with a sauce that goes on top. (Its not like a curry, but its sorta something like that.) Theres a lot of casseroles and stuff like that. We also have salad with it, and of course bread. (My host family really, really likes ruisleipä.) (Which is rye bread.)

Iltapala (Evening Snack.):

At night at around 8, 9...sometimes 10; theres usually an evening snack. This normally one or maybe even two of any of the following: Open-Faced Sandwich, Fruit, Yogurt...that kind of stuff.

Kahvi (Coffee.):

Finns actually sometimes have specific times for coffee. (I actually don't drink coffee...but I call this time, "Kahvi" because I don't have any other name for it.) Finns LOVE coffee, and whenever we go to someone elses house or invite someone over, we ALWAYS have Kahvi. (I drink mehu or kaakao.) We just sit together at a table and have our drinks. Pulla is a really popular and very Finnish treat to have during Kahvi. Pulla is a sweet bread that they have here in Finland. Its hard to explain but ill try my best; pulla is any kind of bun, basically...however there is one a specific bun that is the main pulla...if that makes sense?



When it comes to food, they defiantly eat a lot more than im used to at home. I eat 5 times a day if you include After School Snack and Iltapala; but the meals are smaller and more frequent than in the USA. I feel as though when I come back home, I am going to be like Pippin in Lord of The Rings and ask about second breakfast...

I actually really enjoy Finnish food! I was told by a lot of people that the food all tastes the same and has no flavor...but to tell you the truth, it all tastes so fresh and organic that you don't have to season it to taste good. Especially meat; it just has a natural taste to it; and its good. Food in Finland is super healthy!