Your favourite traditional Finnish dish?

[Rob A.]

I think that roast moose remains my favorite, though a reissumies with a little mayo, a leaf of lettuce, some aged cheese, and mustard herring or other flavor of silli is a close second. American beers are too sweet for me but I'll gladly have a Finnish beer to go with that.

I suppose the moose meets Kutittaa's criterion of being a little harder to find, because as far as I know you can't but it in any store but have to get it from a hunting team.

Sounds good....on my trip last June, I made a few exceptions to my typical vegetarian and fish-only diet... Partially so as not to be a "too difficult-to-please" guest with some of the SOs family members ... One of these exceptions was some hirvenpaisti...is that how you would say "moose roast"....it really was quite good.

In the past...in my pre-vegetarian days, being brought up in small-town western Canada, having moosemeat was not uncommon....sometimes it was good and sometimes it was really tough and strong tasting ...

Another exception in Finland at some other relatives, at the mökki, was a really nice pork grilli of some sort....and there I found that at least some Finns are not afraid of very nicely spiced dishes....spicy almost to the limit of what I can tolerate...which I think is fairly high...

[LadyInTheSky]

In winter I really like a good karjalanpaisti or reindeer stew http://kotiliesi.fi/ruoka/reseptit/poronkaristys .

[turkuturku]

Not with potatoes? Sacrilege, burn the heretic!

Actually, I now have some potatoes and cream, gammon and anchovies and I am trying to battle with which should I do first - pyttipannu or janssonin kiusaus. Not intending to make a haute cuisine mix of the two. But creamy pyttis has its... cholesterolic value... *burp*

haha that's funny, my wife's grandma always says if it doesn't include potatoes, it isn't a meal. My favorite Finnish food is to cover my mashed potatoes with twice as much lingonberries:p

[Kutittaa]

Thankfully I haven't had a potato in a month. I think it's about time for a potato bake.

[NicolaeDenut]

My choice is definitely Mämmi! I like it a little warmed up in a dish of milk, in small bites! I just cannot get enough of it. I can eat a 700g package in half an hour! I recommend it to everyone

[oompah18]

I LOVE mämmi too, but with vanilla ice cream, I can eat the whole packet, in front of all my Finn friends who hate it! But my ultimate fav food is mustamakkara with puolakkahillo, especially from Laukontori, the south lake harbour, in downtown Tampere..............I can taste it now.......................
Another traditional Finnish thing I love is Piima, can´t get enough, would drink it like water if it was cheaper (nearest & only shop for miles around is the expensive Siwa, blah, blah, but won´t get started on that!.......)But Piima just doesn´t sound so appetising when translated into English (on the cruise to Stockholm) as sour milk!

[Pursuivant]

I suppose the moose meets Kutittaa's criterion of being a little harder to find, because as far as I know you can't buy it in any store but have to get it from a hunting team.

Axshually, you can find it in (some) stores, "in season". Even my small nuthill K-kauppa had some (albeit ground 50/50 with pork). You get to Wotkins or some proper butcher and they can supply bigger bits, but it does get veddy expensive. Fresh reindeer is also a bit not-so-easy to come by unless you live up north, but yeah.. can is different than willing to pay for it.

I was quite astonished going to the pie shop/butchers in Huntingdon last week, he had rabbits! Hmmm... now that I think of it I should have invested as I've never devoured a bunny, but I think I need to look into the recipe books first.

[tuulen]

moose

Axshually, you can find it in (some) stores, "in season". Even my small nuthill K-kauppa had some (albeit ground 50/50 with pork).

Hunters here sometimes make their own sausages made of deer meat, but often also include 50/50 pork because the deer meat has no fat, and the pork includes the necessary fat.

And rabbit meat is also very lean, having virtually no fat.

[CH]

Hunters here sometimes make their own sausages made of deer meat, but often also include 50/50 pork because the deer meat has no fat, and the pork includes the necessary fat.

Same for elk (moose). The hunting team where I grew up started to grind up all the meat so there would not be any fighting over the "good pieces". Anyway, my mom hated it as the meat was way too lean to use it as it is for meatballs (stuck to the pan like crazy, even with lots and lots of butter). But damn, it's good meat... I still miss the elk meat stew we had.

Oh, and for rabbit... my dad grew rabbits when I was small kid. He used to smoke the meat in a smoker he made himself... the best meat I've ever had. *sniff* I miss my dad... and that smoked rabbit meat.

[AnnikaL]

loin of rabbit is nice. Other chewier bits of rabbit can go nicely in a pie.

Talking of piima, I've got some nice Polish buttermilk in the fridge here at work but I can't get to the kitchen today.

[Sami-Is-Boss]

Sinappisilli, rye bread, and makaronilaatikko are the only ones really. Reindeer meat tastes like soil, and the rest of the stuff isn't really up to much