In Scandinavia, the winters are long and cold and therefore, the people love to celebrate spring and summer with delicious food. Finland is the land of lakes. You will still find moose, reindeer and wolves. The Finnish will use many ingredients which are used throughout whole Scandinavia, for instance various sorts of berries, and also some of the recipes are the same or alike. Finland has however a slightly different position, as it is even colder than he other three countries. Therefore, food items like potatoes are used, and barley and rye, as well as sausages. To my surprise, cardamom surfaced in a number of recipes, a spice which I always associate with oriental or Middle Eastern cooking. Cardamom originates from India and is often used in Indian dishes, but it also seems to be popular all over Scandinavia.
Finland is neighboring Russia, so you see influences from Russian cooking as well, like the use of smetana (sour cream). The reindeer, which you find on the Finnish menu from time to time, smoked or braised, you will not discover on the Worldcook site, as it is never available in the Netherlands. But who knows, we have seen the tropical fruits coming in as well maybe it is just a matter of time until it will be a fashionable dish.
Special days in Finland, to try these recipes on, are St. Urho on the 16th of March, Vappu on the 1st of May, 12 May, Day of the Finnish Identity and 9 December, Anna's Day.  Click on culinary calendar for more links between cooking and worldwide celebration.