Foods in Lapland

Typical Lappish food is described as simple but full of fresh flavors from nature. The purity of the northern wilderness will be included in the meals. Another sidenote is that they work with fresh seasonal ingredients in the preparation.

Reindeer

One of the old traditions for centuries in Lapland is reindeer husbandry, practiced by the Sami people, the only indigenous people of the European union. Although reindeer are living free in nature and wilderness, they all have an owner.

Reindeer is a common ingredient in the local Lappish meals.

Dish: Poronkäristys > Sautéed reindeer

The national dish of Finland is considered to be Poronkäristys. It is prepared with sautéing reindeer meat. The origin of the dish comes from the Sámi nomadic people who are operating the reindeer husbandry for a very long time. The dish includes also creamy mashed potatoes, sliced pickles and lingonberry jam.

Ingredients dish Poronkäristys

• • 500g reindeer meat or poronkäristys
  • 50g butter
  • salt & pepper
  • 1 yellow onion sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 cp of water

• Lingonberry (or cranberry) to serve
• Mashed potatoes to serve
• Sliced pickles to serve

 

Preparations dish Poronkäristys

1. Freeze the meat for 20 minutes
2. Slice the meat as thin as possible and then set aside
3. Take a large skillet and warm the butter on medium heat
4. Add the onion and saute until softened (± 6 minutes)
5. Add garlic and saute and stir until aromatic
6. Add the meat, salt, pepper, allspice and water and stir to combine it all
7. Bring to simmer, cover it and reduce the heat to low
8. Stir for 1 hour until the meat is tender
9. Remove the lid and increase the heat to medium-high
10. Stir often until water has evaporated and meat turns dark brown and crispy (around 10 minutes)
11. Serve with mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam and sliced pickles.

Fish

Finland is the country of the lakes and its pure water. The amount of fish makes it a perfect destination for fishermen or join a fishing touristic trip and catch your own.

The most common fishes to find in Lapland: salmon, grayling, whitefish, vendance, pike-perch, trout or arctic char.

Dish: Miekojärvi perch filets with herb potatoes

Ingredients Miekojärvi perch filets

• Perch filets (2 -3 servings) 300g
• Ground white pepper
• Salt
• A few sprigs of thyme
• Garlic clove
• 1 lemon
• 1 shallot
• Lapin Puikula potatoes or other floury potatoes ½ kg
• Cream 2 dl
• Parsley 1 dl

Preparations Miekojärvi perch filets

Recipe: FINNISH FOOD FISH RECIPE: PERCH FILETS with lemon herb potatoes

1. Remove the bones from the perch filets. Salt and pepper the filets at room temperatures, while waiting for the oil to heat up. Put olive oil and butter in the frying pan. Cut the garlic clove and add it to the oil, along with a few sprigs of thyme.
2. Fry the filets slightly before serving. Perch cooks in only a few minutes.
3. Fry the filets to 90% done on one side, and at the same time, baste the other side with the oil-butter mixture and a bit of lemon juice. Just before serving, fry the other side shortly. This will ensure the best flavour.
4. Peel and dice the potatoes slightly larger than sugar cubes.
5. Chop the shallot.
6. Saute the onions in butter, and then add the potatoes (in a small pot or casserole dish.)
7. When the potatoes are sizzling in the butter, cover the potatoes with water. Boil until almost done. Add 2 dl cream. Boil the potatoes until done, allowing the excess water to boil off.
8. Add 1 dl parsley and the juice of ½ lemon
9. Serve with a fresh salad.

Dish Lohikeitto: Salmon soup

It is considered a healthy Finnish soup which is very easy to make. It is made with fresh salmon, carrots, leeks and chunky potatoes. The season to catch salmon is during spring, but it also known as a winter meal.

Ingredients salmon soup

• Skin-on salmon
• Leek
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Cream
• Allspice
• Fresh dill
• Butter

Preparations salmon soup

Recipe: Finnish Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto)

1. Remove the skin of the salmon and cut into your preferable size
   1. Rome all the small bones and reserve the skin
2. Use a soup pot and melt the butter and saute the leeks (for 10 minutes) until it is soft
3. While the leeks are cooking, take 5 cups of water and put it in a saucepan with the fish and bring to boil
4. After boiling, turn the heat down and let it gently simmer for 10 minutes
5. Strain the broth and add to the pan together with leeks, potatoes, carrots and half of fresh dill
   1. Cook it for another 10 minutes until the potatoes are tender
6. Add the salmon chunks to the soup along with the cream and allspice and gently simmer on low heat (until cooked through)
7. Add the remaining dill, salt and pepper to your own taste

Dish: Miekojärvi burbot soup / stew

A soup very common in the arctic circle, the fish is from the lake of Miekojärvi.

Ingredients Miekojärvi burbot soup/stew

• 1 burbot, skinned or boneless, filet and liver 400g
• 1 kg of potatoes (Siikli or Lapin Puikula are the best variety)
• 1 carrot
• 1 parsnip
• ½ lemon
• 1 shallot
• 4 bay leaves
• 8 peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 3 fish broth cubes (only for use with boneless burbot filet)
• 1 bundle of fresh dill
• Cream 2 dl
• Butter

Preparations Miekojärvi burbot soup/stew

Recipe: FISH RECIPE: MIEKOJÄRVI BURBOT SOUP STEW Lapland Finland

1. Place the skinned burbot (egg sac, roe and liver can be included) in enough cold water to cover well. Add lemon, salt, peppercorns and bay leaves. Heat the water to boil and remove the foam as it forms. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, until the meat is loose from the bone.
2. Remove the fish and other edibles to a plate, and drain the broth into a separate dish. Clean the meat from the bone. The bone can now be thrown away.
3. If you are using boneless Miekojärvi burbot filets, first prepare 1.5 liters of broth from the stock cubes with half a lemon. When your potatoes are almost finished, add the chopped burbot filets and livers to the boiling stew.
4. If you want gourmet-style stew, quickly pan fry the filets and liver first in butter and add to the soup at the very end.
5. Peel and chop the potatoes into wedges. Peel and chop the carrots and parsnips into cubes. Slice the onion.
6. Add a fair amount of butter to a pot. Cook the onions, carrots, parsnips and potatoes lightly and add the prepared fish broth. When the potatoes begin to be half-cooked, add the fish to the stew. Finally, add the liver, egg sacs and roe, if any.
7. Add 2 dl of cream.
8. Add a knob of butter.
9. Add dill just before serving.
10. Salt the broth to taste.
11. Serve with rye bread and burbot roe.

Dish: Miekojärvi pike patties

Ingredients Miekojärvi pike patties

• Boneless ground pike filets 1 kg
• Salt 2 tsp
• White pepper 1 tsp
• 1 egg (recipe also works without, if allergic)
• Melted butter (cooled) 50g
• Whipped cream 2 dl
• Chives, amount to taste
• A small sprig of thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped small
• Juice and grated peel of ½ lemon

Preparations Miekojärvi pike patties

Recipe: FISH FOOD RECIPE: MIEKOJÄRVI PIKE PATTIES Finland Lapland

1. If you want a more gourmet flavour, add 100g of crumbly blue cheese to the mixer.
2. Leave the pulp in the refrigerator for a while, for flavour’s sake.
3. Make a full-size patty. This is easier if you have a mold. Fry in butter until brown on both sides (but do not fry 100% done.)
4. Place the fried patties on a baking sheet and bake at 150 degrees for about 10 minutes.
5. Enjoy warm with potatoes or salad. Melted butter or white sauce goes well with the patties. When cold, the patties make a delicious meal or snack from the fridge. You can also make a bigger batch and freeze for later use.

Berries

Finland is known for their forests. During months July and August one of the main activities you can experience in Finland is berry picking. They are everywhere and you can pick them for free. Most of the Finns will pick them and stuff them in the freezer to make dishes with it all year round.

 

Dish: Mustikkapiirakka: Finnish blueberry pie

This dish is an iconic dessert that is available in almost every Finnish cafe or restaurant. It is a combination of tart, cheesecake and a pie. For this pie, it is traditional usual to use bilberries to make it. These can be found in the Finnish forest and grow ingly or in pairs. In summer and autumn, it is a famous activity to go berry picking in the forest.

Ingredients Mustikkapiirakka

The crust:

• 100 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 100 g cane sugar
• 1 large egg
• 100 g rye flour
• 100 g all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of cardamom

The filling:

• 250 g fresh blueberries
• 250 g sour cream
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 Tbsp cane sugar

Preparations Finnish Blueberry pie

Recipe: Mustikkapiirakka (Finnish Blueberry Pie)

For the crust:

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and light.
2. Add in the egg, and mix.
3. Stir in the flours, pinch of cardamom, and baking powder just until combined into a pliable ball.
4. Turn the soft dough into your greased pan and use your hands to spread it into an even layer across the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
5. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake the empty crust for 10 mins. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

For the filling:

1. While your crust bakes, in a bowl whisk together the sour cream, egg, sugar, vanilla, and cardamom. The filling will have a thin, pourable consistency.
2. Spread the blueberries evenly across the par-baked crust. Carefully pour the filling over and around the berries and spread gently with a spatula until the crust is filled evenly.
3. Carefully return to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the filling around the edges is set. The center should not look like uncooked liquid, but neither too dry and firm.
4. Remove from the oven and cool at room temperature for at least 40 mins.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream or whipped cream if you like, maybe with a few extra berries on top.

Leipäjuusto: Bread cheese

In English you would call this Finnish Squeaky Cheese. It is made from cow’s milk or from reindeer or goat’s milk. The mild cheese was first curdled and then fried or baked and cut in wedges. It is common to eat it with cloudberry jam.

Ingredients Finnish Squeaky Cheese

• 2-1/2 gal.raw or pasteurized milk
• 1 tbsp.salt
• 1 tbsp.cornstarch
• 1 tbsp.sugar
• 1/2tablet of Hanson’s Rennet

Preparations Leipäjuusto

Recipe: Finnish Squeaky Cheese (Leipajuusto) – Recipe

1. Heat milk in double boiler to 88°F (but not over 90°). Dissolve crushed rennet in 1 tbsp. of cool water; set aside. In a cup, mix dry ingredients with a small amount of the warmed milk. Add this mixture and dissolved rennet into the rest of the warmed milk. Stir well; set aside to jell. Do not disturb.
2. Jelling time varies from 20 to 45 minutes. Test by inserting wooden spoon into mixture. When jelled properly, the spoon should leave a clean hole.
3. When jelled, stir to break up curds into 1-inch chunks. Let set 5-10 minutes until whey separates from curds. Set out a 9-inch round cake pan with a thin, wet cloth draped over it. Pour jelled mixture onto cloth; gather all corners and sqeeze out as much whey as possible. Remove the cloth and firmly press mass into pan.
4. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Periodically pour whey out. Broil on both sides until light golden brown. Cool on rack and let dry 1-2 hours. Refrigerate.

Soft barley flatbread: rieska

It’s a typical flatbread from the Nordic countries. Although it may be hard to pronounce it, the making itself is considered easy.

Ingredients flatbrad rieska

• 3,75 dl / 1,59 cups of water (room temperature)
• 0,5 tsp sea salt
• 7 g fresh yeast or 0,5 tsp baking powder
• 5-7 dl / 2,11-2,96 cups of barley flour

Preparation rieska

Recipe: Rieska – a barley flatbread from Lapland

1. Dissolve the fresh yeast into a small amount of room temperature water. Add the rest of the water and salt. Add flour one decilitre/cup at a time. If using baking powder, use cold water! Mix all the ingredients together without kneading either by hand or in a machine. The dough should be moist rather than dry. The amount of flour needed depends on the milling and the freshness of the flour. Do not add too much flour or otherwise, the bread will become too dense.
2. Divide the dough into equal pieces and shape them to the thickness of your choice. Each rieska is baked individually on a baking stone. This gives you a chance to explore different levels of thickness and thinness if you wish. My rieska loaves here were about 0.5-0.7 cm thin before baking because I prefer them rather rustic.
3. Shaping is done on a lightly floured surface and has a process as follows. Form a piece of dough into a ball and then press it flat against the surface. Knead the flat circle a bit wider by pressing it with your dominant hand while supporting the edge to hold the shape with your other hand. Make sure that the dough is not stuck onto the working surface (detach it from the table couple of times during the process to make sure).
4. Use a rolling pin lightly back & forth between each opposing compass points. Take a small amount of flour to your hand and with a clock-wise lightly pressing motion massage it to the surface. Roll the pin couple of times more if the thinness is not there where you want it to be. The surface should be smooth before decorating the bread. Use whatever you fancy decorating the bread as long as you can hold it at a 45-degree angle. Or if you have a decorated rolling pin, spin it!
5. Prick the rieska all over with a fork right before each piece goes to the oven. Bake each rieska separately on a stone for 10-12 minutes (250°C/482°F). Do follow the heating directions of your baking stone & adjust accordingly. The baking time depends on the thickness but the edges of the bread should get a bit of color. You can ensure that the rieska is ready by listening to it (knock the bottom and if it sounds hollow it’s done). Return the bread to the oven if you think it needs a bit more time.
6. When warm, stack the rieska loaves in an upright position against e.g. kitchen backsplash and later wrap them in a tea towel. You can store rieska also in the freezer and reheat quickly in the oven.

 

Karjalanpiirakka: rice pies

Everywhere in Finland, you will find this pastry. Karjanlanpiirakka or also known as Karelian pies, are traditionally made with rye flour and filled with potatoes, carrots or rice. They have a crust but it will melt in your mouth as soon as you bite in it. It is known to also but an egg butter spread on top of it.

Ingredients for Karjalanpiirakka

For the rice stuffing:

• 5,3 oz (150 g) short grain rice
• 10,6 oz (300 g) water
• 1,75 oz (50 g) unsalted butter
• 1 l. whole milk
• salt to taste

For the dough:

• 3,5 oz (100 g) whole rye
• 1,75 oz (50 g) spelt flour or wheat flour instead
• 0,1 oz (3 g) salt
• 2,65 – 3 oz (75 – 85 g) water
• 0,5 oz (15 g) butter melted + 1,75 oz (50 g) for brush

For the egg butter or munavoi:

• 4 large boiled eggs
• 4,25 oz (120 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
• salt to taste (optional)
• pepper to taste (optional)

Preparation rice pies

Recipe: Karjalanpiirakka or Karelian pies

Rice filling:

1. In a saucepan pour the water, place it over medium heat and let it boil.
2. Add the rice and cook for 5 minutes. You will notice that it absorbs practically all the water.
3. Add the butter together with the milk and reduce to low heat. Cook for about 45-50 minutes, stirring from time to time. You should take a smooth, thick texture.
4. Once the rice is ready, salt to taste, mix and let cool completely before filling the pies.

Dough:

1. In a bowl, add the rye flour together with the spelt or wheat flour, salt, water and melted butter. Mix with a silicone spatula to get a more or less compact mixture.
2. Keep working the dough with our hands until we obtain a firm and manageable dough.
3. Shape a cylinder with it approximately 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter.
4. With the help of a scraper, cut 8-10 portions.
5. Sprinkle a surface with flour and start to stretch the discs with a roller until they reach a very thin thickness. The thinner the dough, the crunchier it will be after baking

Stuff and bake:

1. Preheat the oven to 500ºF (260ºC). Line two baking trays with baking paper, set aside.
2. Stuff with rice mixture, 2 tablespoons or so, leaving a little space around the edge.
3. To give shape to the pie, fold the dough over the filling and start creating waves from the middle to the ends, helping with your fingers. Place on a tray lined with baking paper.
4. Repeat the process with the rest of the pies.
5. Bake for 14-15 minutes, they should acquire a slightly golden and crunchy aspect

While baking the pies, prepare the egg butter

1. Cut the boiled egg into very small squares and mix with the butter.
2. Season and set aside.

Get the cakes out of the oven

1. Remove the pies from the oven and brush with melted butter.
2. Now we have two options, let them temper and cover them with the egg butter or brush them with the butter, cover them with a cloth and let them rest for a while to soften. Then cover with the egg butter and they will be ready to eat.

Ruisleipä: rye bread

Ruisleipä, also known as rye bread is typical when it comes to Finland. It is made from sour dough and is a staple of the Finnish diet. You have differences in the rye bread, but the most common is Reikäleipa meaning: bread with a hole. Or another version is Näkkileipä, you can compare it with a cracker. This is eaten with cheese, butter or other spreads.

Finnish Rye Bread (Ruisleipä)

Ingredients rye bread (Ruisleipä)

• 2 cups stone ground dark rye flour (this is available at whole foods)
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon dark molasses
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup buttermilk ( or add 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to regular whole milk to make your own)
• 1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds or caraway seeds to taste (optional)
• 3 large eggs

Preparation Finnish Rye bread

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Lightly grease a loaf pan with butter or Crisco.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine flours and salt.
4. Add buttermilk and eggs one at a time, softened unsalted butter, and molasses. Whisk slowly until a dough forms.
5. Add fennel seeds if using.
6. Knead for 5 minutes.
7. Put dough in loaf pan.
8. Bake for 40 minutes, or until browned on top and it starts looking like bread!
9. Cool on a wire rack.

Mushrooms

Blueberries: Natures Treat In Finnish Lapland

Finnish recipes – thisisFINLAND

Grillimakkara: grill sausages

Finland is a country that is famous for their traditional grilling activities. Especially during summer time, it is common to make a fire and make some food on it. The most popular grilling food is grillimakkara, a big fat sausage that is eaten together with mustard.

⇐ By Claudia Martens/ Visit Lapland ⇒