At any Finnish market you can find many varieties of rye bread
"The idea of electing a national dish through a nationwide vote proved very popular," says Seija Kurunmäki, director of the Finnish Food Culture Foundation (ELO). "In the first round of voting, about 10,000 people submitted their suggestions, naming a thousand different dishes. From these proposals, a jury of experts selected 12 dishes for the final vote that enjoy nationwide popularity."
According to the portal "This is Finland", in the fall of 2016, almost 40,000 Finns took part in the vote. The winner – rye bread – received nearly 10,000 votes, reflecting its nationwide popularity among people of all ages and social strata. Seija Kurunmäki recalls that a loaf of dark brown rye bread with a crispy crust is invariably the first gift that Finns living abroad ask to be brought from their homeland.
Jury member, restaurateur and TV chef Henri Alén agrees that rye bread is an excellent choice for the Finnish national dish. "There is no such delicious rye bread in any other country in the world; it is a traditional dish truly characteristic of our country, made from healthy local ingredients," he notes.
Alén explains that the characteristic sourness of Finnish rye bread is due to the live sourdough, carefully preserved by generations of bakers who constantly keep a piece of starter, which forms the "root" of future batches of bread. "Bakers, including those who supply bread to our restaurants in Helsinki, lovingly preserve this root," he says. "The sourdoughs may have traveled a lot, can reach 100 years of age and be even older. Therefore, rye bread is a fitting symbol of the history of Finnish culinary culture in the centenary year of our independence."
Alén especially loves hot, freshly baked rye bread generously spread with salted butter, but also recommends serving it with salted salmon, liver pâté, or fish soup.
When compiling the shortlist of finalists, the experts excluded popular but regionally specific dishes, such as reindeer from Lapland in the north, fish dumplings from the Savo region in the east, and black sausage from Tampere. Two dishes from another eastern region – Karelia – proved popular nationwide: Karelian stew, which took second place and is especially popular among the older generation, and Karelian pies, known as "kalitki," which attracted the votes of young Finns.
The top five also included pea soup, traditionally served on Thursdays, and fried fish (in coastal Finland usually Baltic herring, in the lake region vendace), served with mashed potatoes.
Among sweet dishes, blueberry pie was rated highest. "This is an ideal choice for our national dessert," Alén believes. "It is a favorite dish that Finnish families love to make at home – especially in late summer, when everyone can go to the forests and freely pick blueberries for use fresh or frozen."
Seija Kurunmäki reflects that the enduring popularity of blueberry pie also reflects modern trends, where people prefer local food and natural products. Food experts have praised Finnish blueberries as a natural superfood with an abundance of beneficial vitamins and minerals.
"As an expression of our pride in all traditional Finnish dishes throughout the anniversary year, we will dedicate one anniversary month to each of the 12 finalist dishes," Kurunmäki reports. Future tasks include "introducing an annual national day of Finnish culinary culture, which will be celebrated on Finnish Culture Day, February 28." This year, as part of the celebration of Finland's 100th anniversary, the Finnish culinary world marked February 28 with a special theme – Rye Day.