Finnish cuisine in Helsinki
Finnish cuisine is based on fresh and natural ingredients that vary according to the season. In addition to vegetables, mushrooms, berries and fish, Finnish food is typified by simplicity and purity of taste. Helsinki’s own cuisine also features influences from both the East and the West.
Finnish cuisine can be tried at participating HelsinkiMenu restaurants. Culinarists will also love the ingredients on display at the Old Market Hall and the Market Square.
Try these seasonal specialties!
Finland has special culinary treats for each season of the year.
January
burbot and roe with blinies
February
Runeberg tarts, pea soup and laskiaispulla (Shrove buns)
March-April
lamb, mämmi (Finnish Easter pudding), pasha
May
perch, whitefish, pike-perch, sima (mead) and tippaleivät (May Day fritters), nettles
June-July
new potatoes, salmon, sausage, herring, strawberries, blueberries, cloudberries
August
root vegetables, crayfish, wild duck, chanterelles, apples
September
Baltic herring, vendace, hare, trumpet chanterelles, lingonberry
October-November
lamb, cabbage, elk, reindeer, goose
December
ham, rosolli salad, root vegetable casseroles, ginger biscuits, Christmas pies, glögi (mulled wine)
Restaurants serving traditional Finnish food