Seasonal dishes May-July

May

The first of May, Vappu, is a carnival day in Finland, celebrated with sima mead and sparkling wine (in Finland made from white currants and gooseberries). The sweet pastry that goes with the mead has the appearance of light brown crunchy spaghetti and is called 'tippaleipä'.

June

Summer begins in June. It starts the migration of people from urban areas to country cabins on lakesides for weekends and longer holidays. If the weather's fine summer means being outdoors, barbecuing and smoking food and combining it with fresh green vegetables, herbs and new potatoes. In summertime, the sauna is in constant use. A Finnish holidaymaker takes a dip in the lake straight from the sauna, finishing the bathing session with sausage and beer, or, nowadays, cider, which became popular in the 1990s. The bologna-type sausage is said ironically to symbolise the Finnish diet, and lager-type beer is the favourite drink after a sauna. Beer is also brewed in some small local breweries and there a few restaurant breweries. Finnish sahti beer is worth tasting. As the summer advances, the first strawberries ripen and delicious new potatoes appear, no bigger than a fingertip. These are served hot with butter and fresh dill. Tender rhubarb is the season's fruit for pies. Midsummer is the biggest of the summer celebrations. The reflection of lakeside bonfires in the water, combined with good food, makes a perfect evening: there is sausage of course, special midsummer cheese, crepes, smoked fish.

July

In July, market stalls are laden with peas, strawberries, bilberries, cloudberries, cucumbers and tomatoes, all at their best, ripened by long sun-filled days. Strawberries are much more sweet and intensive in their taste in Finland than in central and southern Europe. This is due to the short and intensive growing season, where they grow also night time as there are white nights. Fresh vegetables cooked in milk make a delicious summer soup, followed by berries served with milk, cream or quark. The gastronomic peak of the summer is the start of the crayfish season on July 21. Expatriate Finns time their visits to the old country for this period of the year to get together with friends at dill-scented crayfish parties.

Rymättylä potato.