Cuisine from the Baltic Islands is traditionally influenced by the climate and position of the island. The temperatures are cooler due to their position in the Northern Hemisphere and certain fruit and vegetables are only available when in season. The diet is rich in fish and root vegetables. Scandinavian foods are hearty and filling, perfect after a good morning’s hike in the mountain air.
Here are some foods you might like to try while travelling abroad with the Baltic Travel Company.
Pickled Herrings
In Sweden, you may wish to try inlagd sill or pickled herrings. Pickling is a traditional form of preservation of food and these herrings are pickled in a marinade of sugar, onion and vinegar.
Open Sandwiches
In Denmark, open sandwiches are a local delicacy. Sol over Gudhjem is an open sandwich using traditional dark rye bread which is topped with smoked herring, raw egg yolk and capers. Many of the open sandwiches use fish, herbs, sour cream and salad.
Borscht
Borscht is a staple part of many Eastern and Central European diets. It is a soup with a main ingredient of beets which can be served hot or cold. The cold soup is made from young beets, chopped and boiled, milk, yogurt or sour cream is stirred in, and raw chopped vegetables such as cucumbers or radishes. Dill is added to give the soup flavour as well as chopped boiled eggs. The finished soup is bright pink in colour. Hot borscht contains vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and spinach as well as beets. It may also contain meat. Although it can be served as a meal, it is more often offered as an appetiser with a piece of dark rye bread on the side.
Salt-Cured Raw Fish
Finnish cuisine is less sweet than some of the other Scandinavian countries and they have a real taste for pickles. One Finnish dish which would be worth trying for the simplicity of it is salt-cured raw fish. The fresh fish can be herring, mackerel, salmon or white fish which is cured with a salt and sugar herb mixture, wrapped and cured for three days. It is served on dark rye bread with fresh dill.