Amazing culinary experiences on your visit to Scandinavia
You’ll soon discover that the Scandinavian countries have similar diets, featuring locally-sourced ingredients. Common foods include bread, dairy products, potatoes, porridges, creamy soups, salted or smoked meats and fresh, salted or smoked fish.
In the bigger cities, like Helsinki and Oslo, you’ll find a large amount of international cuisine on offer. Typical Western food is also available in most places. In both Sweden and Finland as well as Northern Norway, big game like reindeer are a popular choice, served in different forms.
In Norway, with its long coastline, you’ll find particularly good seafood. Smoked salmon is a popular delicacy here (as well as a major export) and is often served with scrambled eggs, bread, dill or mustard sauce.
A Swedish practice called fika has gained popularity in all its neighbouring countries. Fika is when you take a break in the morning or afternoon to drink tea or coffee, enjoy a sweet snack, and talk with your friends.
In Denmark, you’ll want to stop to try a famous smørrebrød. This is an open-faced sandwich, usually made from dark rye bread, topped with cold meat and cheese. The Danish are also famous for their sweet pastries, and you’ll find a wide choice of bakeries in Copenhagen.
Estonia is located in the Baltic region of Europe. The influence of eastern European culture can be seen in its food, as rye bread, pork and potatoes are staples. In Tallinn, much like the other capitals, you’ll find international cuisine alongside traditional food.
- Check out our culture & history tours in Scandinavia
Below, you’ll find some specialities you might want to try, listed by country.
Norwegian food specialities
- Lefse – a flatbread made of potatoes and milk
- Brunost – a brown goat’s cheese (geitost/gjetost) with an unusual caramel-like taste
- Lukket valnøtt – a traditional cream cake covered with marzipan
- Fårikål – a traditional stew of lamb and cabbage served with potatoes
- Tørrfisk – dried codfish
- Grovbrød – a whole-grain bread, commonly eaten with butter and cheese
- Tyttebærsyltetøy – lingonberry jam (similar to cranberries) often served with game meats
Swedish food specialities
- Köttbullar – meatballs, Sweden’s classic national dish made world-famous by IKEA
- Sil – pickled herring
- Ärtsoppa & pannkakor – a pork and pea soup, followed by sweet pancakes for dessert
- Smörgåstårta – a savoury cake make from layers of seafood or meat with cheese
- Semla – a sweet cardamom-flavoured bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream
- Pytt i panna – a hash of potatoes, meat and onions, served with a fried egg
- Blodpudding – a black “pudding” of pork blood and flour, spiced with clove and marjoram
Danish food specialities
- Stegt flæsk – the national dish, crispy fried pork belly served with potatoes
- Smørrebrød – open-faced rye bread sandwich topped with seafood or meat and cheese
- Frikadeller – pork or veal meatballs
- Pølse – hotdogs, served from a pølsevøgn (“hot dog cart”) and topped with pickles
- Kartoffelsalat – traditional potato salad with creme fraiche, spring onions and dill
- Rugbrød – rye bread, the hearty base of many Danish meals
- Wienerbrød – the famous “Danish” pastry (which actually came from Vienna!)
Finnish food specialities
- Ruisleipä – rye bread, a staple of the Finnish diet
- Karjalanpiirakke – a pie made from rye dough and filled with rice porridge
- Kalakukko – a fish, pork and bacon filling baked inside a loaf of rye bread
- Korvapuusti – a traditional cinnamon roll flavoured with lots of cardamom
- Muikku – a small freshwater fish, breaded and fried until crispy
- Graavilohi – raw salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill, served as a starter
- Mustikkapiirakka – a sweet fruit pie usually made from bilberries (the Nordic blueberry)
Estonian food specialities
- Eesti kartulisalat – a potato salad with carrots, eggs, cucumbers and smoked sausage
- Rosolje – beetroot and herring salad
- Mulgikapsad – Estonia’s national dish, a stew of sauerkraut, pork and barley
- Vürtsikilu suupiste – a sandwich of pickled sprat fish on rye bread
- Hernesupp suitsukoodiga – a traditional pea soup with smoked pork
- Verikäkkare – pan-fried dumplings made from onion, blood, flour and spices
- Mannavaht – a sweet pink foam made from semolina flour and cranberries
