🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Finns

Finns are the main population of Finland, a northern country of forests and lakes. Milk and fermented milk products are a familiar part of the Finnish table: they are drunk with meals and added to porridge and baking. Dairy farming is based on cows, and milk consumption in Finland is traditionally considered one of the highest in Europe.

Among traditional products, viili stands out — a stretchy, ropy sour milk. Its “long” texture comes from lactic acid bacteria that produce polysaccharides, and the velvety film on top from the mould Geotrichum candidum. By tradition, the starter is carried over with a spoon from the previous batch. A thinner fermented milk drink is called piimä.

Leipäjuusto, “bread cheese”, comes from Southern Ostrobothnia, Kainuu and Lapland. Historically it was made from colostrum — a cow’s first milk after calving: the curdled mass is shaped into a flat round and baked until it has browned spots. In the past this cheese was dried and stored for years, then softened by the fire before eating. Today it is made mainly from ordinary milk and served with coffee or cloudberry jam.