My best Finnish taste experience – 4 testimonial

Many people are not aware of the culinary diversity that Finland has to offer. So a few weeks ago we started a poll on the Little Finland Facebook page and wanted to know: What was your best Finnish taste experience? Based on the survey, we conducted short interviews with Lydia, Maria, Pia and Katharina, who tell us about their personal moments of pleasure. Let yourself be inspired!

LYDIA: “Add to that Lonkero and the evening was perfect”.

Little Finland: Hello Lydia, would you like to introduce yourself? What is your connection to Finland and maybe there is a little story about how you fell in love with the country?

Lydia: I fell in love with Suomi in 2000 when I discovered Finnish rock music. Since then I’ve been there often, done several language courses, worked on a husky farm for a few months in the winter and dream of my own Mökki by the lake – someday, if I win the lottery! The country, the people, the culture and language – by now it has all captured me.

Little Finland: You stated in our poll on Little Finland’s Facebook page that the first time you tasted Lonkero in Tampere in 2007 was your very best Finnish taste experience. Would you like to tell us a little more about it?

Lydia: I was in Finland for the first time ever at the time, sitting in a bar in Tampere with a friend. Somehow the whole atmosphere and the flair, the people, then Lonkero and the evening was perfect. It’s just one of my first memories of Finland.

Little Finland: What other Finnish foods do you like the most?

Lydia: Fazer’s chocolate, blueberry tea and blueberry cake/mustiikkapirakka (anything to do with blueberries, anyway), reindeer and elk meat, Finnish honey, cloudberry jam/lakkahillo.

Little Finland: Which Finnish delicacy tastes simply the very best locally in Finland?

Lydia: Salmon soup/lohikeitto on the Kauppatori in Helsinki, plus the fresh sea breeze there and the sea air – it just fits.

Little Finland: what would you choose if you were only allowed 1 of 3: Karjalanpiirakka, smoked salmon or a can of lonkero?

Lydia: Lonkero! I don’t have to think about that for long.

Little Finland: Do you have a personal happy/heart place in Finland?

Lydia: The husky farm near Taivalkoski, where I worked, because I always associate that with particularly positive memories. But also Helsinki anyway, there is always something new to discover and I feel very comfortable there.

MARIA: “Ever since I can remember, I love to eat grillimakkara”.

Little Finland: Hello Maria, would you like to introduce yourself? What is your connection to Finland and maybe there is a little story about how you fell in love with the country?

Maria: Hello, I am Maria Silveri, 40 years old, mother of 2 girls and daughter of an Austrian and a Finn. Thus, I spent a large part of my childhood in Finland and attended Finnish school in Vienna during elementary school on the side. To this day, I have vacationed in Finland every summer and occasionally in the winter.

Little Finland: You indicated in our survey on Little Finland’s Facebook page that your first grillimakkara (Finnish grilled sausage) as a child was your very best Finnish taste experience. Would you like to tell us a little more about it?

Maria: For as long as I can remember, I have loved to eat grillimakkara and have always fought with my brother over the last makkara. In the past, I didn’t really care which makkara was put on the grill, but since my husband took me on a makkara tasting a few years ago, I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the meat content, since many others have a lot of flour mixed in.

Little Finland: What other Finnish foods do you like the most?

Maria: Otherwise, I especially like everything that has to do with berries. Be it mustikkapiirakka, vispipuuro or juice and jam from red and black currants. Otherwise, of course, Fazerin Sininen and licorice, if it may be a little unhealthier.

Little Finland: Which Finnish delicacy tastes simply the very best locally in Finland?

Maria: I’ve taken Talkkuna to Vienna so many times and actually never eaten it more than once at home, because just like Makkara, it just doesn’t taste nearly as good anywhere else. Also yogurts like Hedelmäpommi from Valio, Pulla or smoked salmon are simply unbeatable in taste here on site.

Little Finland: what would you choose if you were only allowed 1 of 3: Karjalanpiirakka, smoked salmon or a can of lonkero?

Maria: Thus, I would also always choose the salmon, although that is not so easy with Piirakka and Lonkero.

Little Finland: Do you have a personal happy/heart place in Finland?

Maria: My personal place of happiness is actually Petäjävesi, because I have thousands of memories connected with this place and our family lives there, but as a place of power I would definitely call Karhunahas very close by. It has something magical about it, although in earlier times bears were driven into the gorge here to be killed.

PIA: “The chocolate factory in Porvoo was a surprise for me”.

Little Finland: Hello Pia, would you like to introduce yourself? What is your connection to Finland and maybe there is a little story about how you fell in love with the country?

Pia: I have Finland in my blood, so to speak. My mother is Finnish. I also worked in Finland from time to time in between, so it is even more worthwhile to go to Helsinki at least once a year or to discover other beautiful places.

Little Finland: You indicated in our poll on the Little Finland Facebook page that a visit to Brunberg in Porvoo was your very best Finnish taste experience. Would you like to tell us a little more about it?

Pia: The chocolate factory in Porvoo was a surprise for me, because otherwise we always had all the sweets and chocolates from Fazer in the family. After being there at Brunberg, I’m buying myself silly on it. Whether it’s truffles, caramel, chocolate licorice, there’s some pretty great stuff. The chocolate kisses in various flavors are just great!

Little Finland: What other Finnish foods do you like the most?

Pia: I am an absolute fan of Finnish licorice, because they are so a bit sweet.

Little Finland: What would you choose if you were only allowed 1 of 3: Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pirogue), smoked salmon or a can of lonkero?

Pia: I definitely choose the Karjalanpiirakka! My mother also makes them regularly and I find these almost even better than the local ones. Otherwise, I rather like the pickled salmon.

Little Finland: Do you have a personal happy/heart place in Finland?

Pia: My favorite place is always the public sauna Löyly in Helsinki, whether in summer or winter. In winter it is wonderful to come out of the smoke sauna and watch the storm on the Baltic Sea. In summer, just drink a rosé on the terrace in between. The building is also architecturally great and has a top location. However, as a general rule, any sauna in Finland is my happy place. I can completely switch off there. My favorite is smoke sauna, best in combination with a lake or ice hole.

KATHARINA: “Karjalanpiirakka are my absolute favorite”.

Little Finland: Hello Katharina, would you like to introduce yourself? What is your connection to Finland and maybe there is a little story about how you fell in love with the country?

Katharina: I’m Kathy, live near the beautiful city of Leipzig and am probably the epitome of a Finnophile, if the site “Very Finnish Problems” can be trusted. It was the end of the 90s, my father had a huge CD shelf, which was my absolute mecca. There I found a Nightwish CD, and the country, the language, as well as the mentality attracted me absolutely magically (someday I will also emigrate!). This is how everything developed.

Little Finland: You indicated in our poll on Little Finland’s Facebook page that karjalanpiirakka prepared by an elderly Finnish woman was your very best Finnish taste experience. Would you like to tell us a little more about it?

Katharina: Yes but of course – it was breathtaking! I love fresh dough and mashed potatoes! Because I’ve been drawn there for so long (I’m also buzzing around in various Finnish Facebook groups for crocheting or horse groups, for example), I came to a lady who, cutely enough, lives near me due to her daughter’s emigration, who offered to invite me into the Finnish kitchen (I’m a passionate hobby cook). Since then, Karjalanpiirakka have been my absolute favorite, although tragically I still can’t manage to prepare them even remotely like this myself – very frustrating!

Little Finland: What other Finnish foods do you like the most?

Katharina: I love nature and what it gives us, so cloudberries are very special to me! And of course, the classic flame salmon is simply incomparable. So I cook a lot with Finnish food here, too.

Little Finland: what would you choose if you were only allowed 1 of 3: Karjalanpiirakka, smoked salmon or a can of lonkero? I can already imagine the answer in your case…

Katharina: The question is simple, since no Karhu is listed: Piroggen!

Little Finland: Do you have a personal happy/heart place in Finland?

Katharina: Espoo – it is simply incomparable and indescribable!

Text: René Schwarz

About the author:

René Schwarz is half Finnish and grew up bilingual. The self-employed copywriter and author travels regularly in his second home country and loves to share his passion for Suomi with others. Since the beginning of 2016, he has also been doing this on his blog FinnTouch, where you can expect, among other things, numerous Finland travel tips, interviews with Finnish artists and also very personal stories. Check us out at www.finntouch.de!