Onigiri, mochi, okonomiyaki, shrimp-flavoured snacks… Japanese food can be heaven, but during a long stay abroad you may find yourself missing some very specific tastes from your home country. At times getting used to living in a new cultural environment is easy, but sometimes you think that you should have brought something particularly tasty with you. While staying in Kyoto, I realised that even Finnish gastronomy has some great assets. Here is a listicle of some delicacies you might also come to miss, no matter where you are staying!
1. Rye Bread
Not only rye bread but Finnish bread in general deserves a top placement on this list. Who told you that healthy bread is also cheap and satisfying? This may be the case in Finland, but many countries only offer white toast to those who are strict with their wallets. Who knew that a bread made of rye flour or oatmeal is a special delicacy?
2. Convenient vegan food and Oat products
Finland is surprisingly top-notch when it comes to vegan lifestyle. Being a vegan in Kyoto, for example, is certainly difficult and requires eminent skills in language or deep knowledge regarding Asian kitchen. When trying to cook in Western style, the first problem to spring up is the lack of vegan stock cubes in your neighbouring supermarket.
There may be a vast amount of tasty convenience food (a lot cheaper and more appetizing than in Finland), but almost none is vegan or even vegetarian. You might be able to find soy milk, but yoghurts, creams and other familiar vegan products are very hard to come by.
3. Cheap fruit
I, who thought that apples are always cheap towards the end of summer, stand corrected. Of course, the prices depend on climate, imports and taxes, but it is nonetheless surprising to see how valuable juicy fruits can be. When one apple costs as much as one candy bag, eating healthy becomes a tad bit more difficult.
On a side note, a carrot is not considered a snack everywhere in the world. The dull-tasting carrots in my short-haul supermarkets are only meant to be cooked or fried.
4. Oatmeal cookies for snacks
You only ever learn to appreciate things when they are gone, right? One can never stock up too many Elovena-cookies (especially the ones with extra protein). These snacks are a tasty life-saver in many tricky situations, and a can’t-go-wrong choice on an airplane or on the first day in a new university (plus, the cute Finnish design might earn you some extra points!).
5. Finnish chocolate and liquorice
Well, chocolate is not a problem if you are traveling to Switzerland or Belgium, but on the other side of the globe, the taste of this essential sweet can be a bit different from what you are used to. Furthermore, the taste of Finnish chocolate is appreciated almost everywhere in the world, so be sure to pack some. And if you are a fan of liquorice – take some with you!
Traveling or living abroad is always an enlightening experience, and I recommend you try as many local treats as possible. However, if you can hoard some Finnish food in your luggage or at least come prepared, it’s even better!
Pictures: Wesual Click on Unsplash, Desertrose7 on Pixabay, jackmac34 on Pixabay