Rating Finnish Food as an International Student
Karelian pies, cinnamon rolls, salmon soup and blood sausage. As an international student in Finland, I set out to discover what Finnish food is really all about.
Hi, I’m Samprada Khadka, a second-year International Business student at HAMK but you can call me Sara for short.. Growing up in Nepal, food was a big part of everyday life. When I moved to Finland in 2024, I discovered a very different food culture, with milder flavours and many dishes I had never tried before. Curious to explore Finnish cuisine, I started tasting local favourites and rating them honestly. Here are five Finnish foods that left a lasting impression on me!
Disclaimer: The recipe pages are in Finnish, and you can use “page translate” for English to follow.
1. Korvapuusti (Cinnamon Roll)
Rating – 4.8/5
Korvapuusti which roughly translates to “slapped ear”, is a famous delicacy which has a sweet, bun, cinnamon taste to it. I haven’t tried making it myself yet, but from what I have tasted, it is very good. It is usually served with coffee or tea, and you can find this in almost every household in Finland, and it is usually made in large batches and some stored for eating later. Finland celebrates 4th of October as a cinnamon roll day (Korvapuustipäivä), which started in 1999 in Sweden as a purpose of marketing of yeast, flour and but now has become a tradition for years.
Here is a link to recipe if you would like to make this at home– Korvapuustit – Resepti ja Ohje
2. Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pie)
Rating – 5/5
When I first heard of the word Karjalanpiirakka, I imagined it some kind of a pie because I was aware that piirakka means pie. But when I actually saw it for the first time, I really had my doubts, it was small, weird shaped with a thin crust wrapped around a rice porridge filling, and visually it looked like nothing I had ever eaten before in my life. To my surprise while tasting it, especially when you eat it warm and with egg-butter mixture, I have to admit it is good. You can freeze it and eat it whenever you want. If you want to make it at home, it can be customized to your taste and can be a fun way to spend time in the kitchen or with your family, though you can find it in a store which is easier to buy and then customize with various toppings like egg-butter, cheese, salad leaves, veggies etc.
Recipe- Karjalanpiirakat | Martat
3. Mustikkapiirakka (Blueberry pie)
Rating – 5/5
Mustikkapiirakka is my personal favorite dessert from Finland. It is sweet and often paired together with ice cream or vanilla cream. Since blueberry is very often found in the Finnish forest and often used for quite a lot of delicacies. The sweet taste of the pastry itself and the taste of blueberry in it makes it such a good combination that I can eat it all the time, anytime. You can find this pie almost everywhere and it is the best to eat in summer in the scorching sun with ice cream. It is easy to make and tastes delicious, definitely one of my favorite picks from the Finnish desserts.
Recipe- Mustikkapiirakka – helppo ja mehevä pellillinen piirakkaa
4. Lohikeitto (Salmon Soup)
Rating – 3,8/5
Coming from a landlock country, for me salmon isn’t a commonly used ingredient for food. I tried salmon soup for the first time in the university cafeteria and woohoo I had a feeling of clenching my butt to finish it, but I also knew that I had to try it again to actually determine if I like it or not. So, for the next time, I tasted authentic Finnish homemade soup and that was so good. It can be made very thick by adding heavy cream or a regular cream will do it for you. It is quite filling because of the potatoes, and it is often enjoyed with rye bread. This is the kind of dish I personally will eat if it is in front of me, but I haven’t had a craving for it yet. Will I suggest you to try it? Definitely, yes!
Recipe- Salmon soup – Valio
5. Mustamakkara (Blood Sausage)
Rating – 1/5
This sausage is really one of a kind, also called blood sausage.
It is often made with mixing ground pork, pig blood, crushed rye and flour. It is a specialty of Tampere whereas enjoyed everywhere else in Finland. It is a delicacy which tastes the best when bought from a market and eaten fresh paired with lingonberry jam. To me, this whole concept is so weird. You can either like it or don’t there’s often not a middle ground. Personally, I didn’t like it at all, the visual, taste and texture threw me off but that’s not the case with everyone. I would suggest trying it before you decide what you feel about it. If you ask a Finn, they will say it is good. If you ask me, I will say it’s bad. So, before you get biased do try it out once!
“Every bite of Finnish food tastes like patience, the same patience it takes to wait for a Finnish summer.”
After being in Finland for few years I have come to realize that food has its own way of comfort and warmth to it- no matter where you are. Every bite of Finnish food tastes like patience, the same patience it takes to wait for a Finnish summer. Finnish food has never failed to amaze me and there is so much that I still would like to explore. For anyone who is planning to come to Finland for study purposes or just for a visit, I would recommend that you try the foods, and you can feel the culture and warmth of people from it.
But the food I love the most isn’t the everyday stuff, it’s the dishes that only show up once or twice a year, tied to a specific day and a specific feeling.
