Food vocabulary: traditional cuisine

Finland is a land of special diets, cardio-vascular diseases, and, according to Mr. Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, country of crappy food. We Finns tend to like our food though, funny enough.

Here's a short list of traditional Finnish foods:

• Karjalanpaisti - a meat stew made of pork and beef, seasoned with black pepper, salt, bay leaves, and onions.
• Perunamuusi - mashed potatoes
• Karjalanpiirakat - Rice porridge in a thin rye crust, served with egg butter
• Lohikeitto - a thick, creamy salmon soup
• Kalakeitto - milk based fish soup
• Graavilohi - salted, raw salmon, in thin slices
• Rössypottu - a soup made of blood budding, potatoes and onions. Only in Oulu area.
• Hernekeitto - thick peasoup, served on Thursdays (don't ask why) accompanied with
• Pannukakku - a thick, oven baked pancake. Served with sugar, jam and whipped cream
• Makkarakeitto - a soup made of sausage, potatoes, root vegetables and onions
• Mustamakkara - a blood sausage, Tampere specialty
• Kalakukko - Baltic herring and bacon baked in thick rye crust, Savo area specialty
• Rieska - unleavened, thin bread, usually made of barley and sometimes barley and potatoes. Lapland specialty.
• Leipäjuusto, juustoleipä - a spotted, mild, country cheese. Lapland and Kainuu area specialty.
• Kesäkeitto - "summer soup", milk based soup made of fresh vegetables and new potatoes
• Kotikalja - non-alcoholic beverage, root beer, taste wise very close to Korean maekkolli
• Sima - non-alcoholic beverage, mead, usually only served on first of May
• Pulla - a sweet wheat bun