Seasonal dishes Jan-April

A lot of seasonal food is done in Finland. There are some specialities that one can get only once a year. Finns always have something to look forward to. Summer is the season they look forward to the most, but other seasons, too, have their delicacies and culinary traditions.

January

January is the month for burbot roe and blini, served with a sour cream, known as smetana, and finely chopped onion. Many consider winter burbot soup the finest fish dish of all. The Kainuu variety contains clear bouillon, potato, melted butter and chopped onion (Finnish fish soups, salmon included, often include milk or cream).

February

February is cold and calls for sturdy fare: casseroles, stews, hot meat, fish, cabbage, sausage or pea soup. Thursday is, by the way, pea soup day nationwide and all year round. Pea soup is served in canteens, restaurants, homes and in the army; always on Thursday. The dessert that goes with pea soup is oven-baked pancake or crepes with jam. On February 5, the day dedicated to Finland's national poet, J.L. Runeberg, bakeries all over the country sell cakes named after him around this date. Shrove Tuesday, the day before the start of Lent, when children and adults enjoy tobogganing together, has a bun of its own called laskiaispulla, filled with marzipan and whipped cream.

March-April

In March-April colourful Easter announces the arrival of spring. The Finnish speciality at Easter is 'mämmi', a malt flavoured oven-baked pudding. This is usually sold in small boxes looking like the bark of the birch. Easter fare in Finland features egg, chicken and lamb dishes, and such traditional dishes as pasha, 'kulitsa' and 'baba', introduced by the small Greek Orthodox community in eastern Finland. What many children look forward to at Easter are "Mignon" eggs, which are real egg shells filled with chocolate. In April-May the fish spawn and swim into traps. The menu then includes perch, bream and pike.

Laskiaispulla.