Christmas is one of the most important holidays in Finland. The celebration of Christmas in Finland is a unique combination of Christian and pagan traditions. You can find out how Christmas holidays are celebrated in Finland from our article.
Traditional Finnish Christmas table
The traditional Christmas table for the Finns at first glance may seem a little scant: you will not see exquisite delicacies and the usual variety of hot and cold dishes. Instead, for Christmas people in Finland prepare delicious casseroles of carrots, liver or potatoes. Favorite cold appetizer of Finns - lemon rosolli, decorated with whipped cream with the addition of beet juice. A traditional Christmas dish in Finland is Yulukinkku or pork ham wholly baked in the oven.
The celebration of Christmas in Finland is a tribute to the old traditions. This is how they celebrated the holiday throughout Finland for many centuries: in a close circle of the family and with religious reverence.
How to celebrate Finnish Christmas in the old days
In a traditional Finnish peasant family, year after year living in the strict canons of the Finnish house-building, Christmas Eve was the only holiday when it was not forbidden to enjoy food throughout the evening .Traditionally, all relatives who could come to the Christmas meal were invited - there were no cars at that time, but nobody should have stayed at Christmas alone - $ .As a rule, for Christmas holidays in Finland did not drink alcoholic beverages .Christmas morning woke up still dark, dressed up in clean and strict clothes and at 7 o'clock in the morning went to the morning service at the church .After that, the whole family enjoyed the traditional delicacy - sweet rice porridge on milk with raisins and cinnamon .
Glegg - traditional Christmas drink
From the neighboring wealthier and bourgeois Sweden to modern Finland came the tradition of making a hot Christmas drink glögg, similar to the Middle European mulled wine.
The non-alcoholic version of glezga is a mixture of fruits and berries with various spices, such as cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves. Glegg can be cooked at home or purchased in almost all grocery stores and supermarkets in Finland from the beginning of October to January of the following year. There are various recipes for cooking glogga. Some Finns add to the drink the juice of the black mountain ash or cherry, as well as vanilla and rum essence. Before consumption, it is necessary to warm the glyleg, without bringing it to a boil, then remove it from the heat and pour it over the glasses. To decorate in glegg, usually put a teaspoon of raisins and almond chips.
Alcoholic version of the Christmas drink is prepared on red wine. In addition, in warmed glegg you can also add some Finnish vodka to taste. The traditional delicacy of pipari is served - a delicate and delicate biscuit with various spices, such as ginger, cinnamon, orange peel, cardamom, cloves and others. Some Finns prefer to spread on this cookie a soft spicy cheese of the Finnish brand AURA, to taste like a French roquefort cheese.
Tandem from glegga and cookies of pipari will create a real Christmas mood. You can try traditional treats in restaurants, bars, at the reception of hotels, as well as in shops and supermarkets throughout Finland during the Christmas and New Year holidays with the obligatory wish of a Merry Christmas - Hyvää Joulua!