We tried traditional Finnish food in LAPLAND! 🇫🇮 Rovaniemi Food tour! (First Impressions) 

One recipe for alcohol-free glögi: (5 servings) - 8 dl water, - 1 cinnamon stick, - 6 cloves (whole), - half a teaspoon cardamom, - quarter teaspoon ginger, - 2 dl black currant juice (no added water), - 2 tablespoons sugar -> 1. Add water and spices into pot, boil for 10min. Sieve it and put it back to pot. 2. Add juice and sugar. Warm up, do not bring to boil. Serve with raisins and almonds if you wish (recipe from k-ruoka). Loving your channel! Greetings from Espoo, southern Finland

"muikku" is a freshwater fish, it is caught in lakes and abundant in Finland, it is cooked in many ways, as it is freshwater fish it is not very salty even if it is salted .

The chocolates are Finnish, the most traditional and loved variety too, the "Fazer Blue". And the a in Fazer is pronounced like the a in "car".

Yes lihapiirakka is something very traditional. It is usually served with ketchup, mustard, diced onions, and pickle relish to add taste. There are many street food kiosks or vans in Finland selling lihapiirakka, and if you order one, you will be asked what extras do you want. All extras are highly recommended if you want to get the best lihapiirakka experience :) Lihapiirakka literally means "meat pie", but nowadays a vegan version of lihapiirakka is also available.

I'm a Brit who has been living here for 30 years. That video gave a really good general picture of Rovaniemi through the eyes of visitors. Here, there are rules for everything, which is why everything works. Any medicines must be purchased from a chemist/pharmacy, any alcoholic beverages over 5.5% have to be purchased from the government-owned Alko - it's the weird way things are done here. There is one pharmacy by the huge CityMarket store, halfway to town, which would've been closer) but it may have been closed at that time. It's only a 10-minute taxi trip between the Santa Claus Village and town anyway. You definitely missed out not trying the eggy butter on the Karalian pasties! Yeah, the salmon is great here and can be bought really cheaply from any shop. It's very popular here and often served. You were lucky with the snow and the temperatures - it was rather mild during your visit. The Fazer chocolate brand is Finland's household name, a bit comparable to Cadbury's in the UK, only I find Fazer better quality. The rice porridge is actually rice pudding - they just translated it literally from the Finnish, although the term rice porridge is actually used in some countries. I was impressed by this video, keep travelling! (Y)

Karjalanpiirakka is indeed best enjoyed with egg butter or munavoi. To make it, simply smash together hard boiled eggs and butter with a fork. The ratio of butter to egg can be whatever you like and you can leave it very chunky or make it a smoother paste. Don't forget to add salt to taste 😋

The reindeers are cute for sure, and it might feel strange to eat. If there is one meat, that I would gladly eat with a clear conscience, it would definitely be reindeer. They have been bred in freedom, in their natural habitat and everything's done ethically.

That "squeky-cheese" is called Leipäjuusto (breadcheese) and you can buy it from most/all supermarkets in Finland (located in the cheese aisle), it's a perfect snack/dessert either warm or cold with either the traditional cloudberry or some other sweet jam.

Yay, it’s good to see Dean on the vlogs more! You both are bloody hardworking, you deserve a break! I hope 2023 brings you even more happiness and even more success ❤

Thanks for taking us along on your trip! I’ve felt so cosy and Christmassy watching the Lapland vlogs 🥰🎄⛄️

Hi Catherine and Dean, firstly, Thank you both again for bringing us along on your travels, secondly, I am around 16 weeks post op and it's very encouraging to see that we can still enjoy foods and new flavours. Merry Christmas from Ireland. x

Thank you for taking us with you and Dean. It was magical and wow the baked salmon 🌟🌹

Enjoy your vlogs. Thank you so much for sharing. Love seeing your adventures and your take on your new experiences.

I loved all of the input from Dean, he seems very shy but I'm glad you two can vlog together! My husband and I love your channels

My little wish is that: When moving in an area where you have to walk on or near a highway, use a reflector. Even if you can see the car, it is not necessarily possible to see you from the car in the dark or at dusk. Especially a person wearing dark clothes is very difficult to spot on the side of the road. The reflector costs less than a euro, so it's really cheap life insurance. Another thing is that tourists are often needlessly worried about how long the shops are open. In Finland, grocery stores are usually always open at least from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 7 days a week. There is also a grocery store at many gas stations that is open whenever the station is open.

Amazing !!! Love all the Lapland vlogs😊

Love seeing all the different foods. U guys look like u have so much fun. The snow🥰🥰. I love ur brown sweater.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay and some of the foods here. Besides the winter wonderland setting, there's even more to experience in Finland during the (short) summer also if you want to consider it in the future. Loved your videos, safe travels to you!

I am really going to miss these Lapland vlogs! What a beautiful, magical trip! You are so beautiful, and the cold climate really makes your skin glow! Happy to see Dean becoming less shy on camera, too. I can’t get enough of watching your travel, lifestyle and studio vlogs! I could honestly watch you picking lint off a sweater for hours and be perfectly happy! 😂

How nice to see you enjoying travelling and eating etc. in Lappland! I am finnish, but I never have visited Lappland. Thank You so much. I really loved this! I just found your channel 😍

I am Finnish and live in Australia. All that food has made my mouth water and crave some Finnish food. If you have ever had halloumi the squeaky cheese is similar and the orange berry with it cloud berry.

Hey Catherine and Dean. You are both looking amazing might I add. Thank you for vloging your adventures for us to see. Also, Glogg is being sold in bottles in IKEA at the moment. Just need to warm it up, it's delicious...Merry Christmas to you both..xxx

Jess! Reason i watch the whole journey was the scoring of Lihapiirakka.

Yep, reindeer meat has been eaten for a very long time. Reindeer herding was born a couple of thousand years ago at the latest. Then, since 1939, reindeer was instilled in people's minds as a fictional character connected to Santa Claus (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) in fairy-tales, picture books, cartoons, songs, movies, TV, etc. Numerous generations have grown up with that fictional Rudolph image and that's why so many find it weird to eat reindeer meat, even though they eat cow, pork, lamb and other animals at the same time.

I love your travel vlogs so much I get super excited when new upload 🥰 nice to see more of dean he’s part of the group to n now he’s more vocal proud u dean u guys are such a gorgeous fun couple love you guys 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Yes, Fazer is Finnish. Plenty of variety. Something for people to take back home.

The squeaky cheese definitely sounds good! (It's hard to go wrong with cheese.) Thank you for taking us along on your travels!

5:02 Actually the snow coverage is the thickest in March and it doesn't start to smelt away until in the middle of April.

I've never seen Dean talk that much before. Thank you for always sharing your adventures with us!

Hey Catherine 🥰 I’ve absolutely loved this vlog series and I can’t wait to see your Polar Express experience. How far was the city centre from where you were staying? Also that salmon looked delicious 😋 Thank you for trying all the different foods as well! Lovely to see more of Dean too xxx

So beautiful I can’t get enough of your Vlogmas ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️I repeated a lot of them love so much I do same with your studio vlogs as well. Lol 😂 can’t wait to see more.

I love what you guys are doing 🥰 Welcome to Finland [wtf] I hope you had a super exiting X-mas in here. We finns really apprecciate the vlog that you are doing, and hope to see you again. Reindeer tastes awesome, and also glögi as well, of course with 4cl finnish vodka on it. Take care and Happy New Year 2023 !

❤ Thanks for this video

Karelian pie (karjalanpiirakka) with smoked/cold smoked salmon is close to heaven.

Thank you so much for this vlog. I'm so happy I stumbled on your video while planning my Finland trip. Im finally getting answers on how to move around in Rovaniemi. So, there's a bus. I initially thought everywhere was wilderness.😂 If you can be so kind to give info on whether I can also go from Santa village to Levi by commuting, it is much appreciated.❤

Awesome Work Guys, Thanks 👍👍👍😀 Greetings from Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮🇬🇧🇫🇮🇬🇧🇫🇮🇬🇧

Ooh Finnish food looks really good! I've had caribou (north american reindeer) before, it's really good!

Glögi is really good with almond slices and raisins

Woohoo!!! So glad you got to try these! Fazer is Finland's biggest brand, I'm sure you would also have liked to try the Geisha chocolates (my faves other than the Fazer (F-ah-ts-er) blue).The leipäjuusto is a big fave of mine too, it's versatile, you can have it with salty things or sweet! And lihapiirakka is definitely a common food here, we love it! XD Microwaving it is a totally normal way to heat them up, so no worries there. The riisipuuro (rice porridge) is a traditional xmas dish (but can be eaten all year round). The egg butter is basically just eggs mixed with butter and spread on the top of the karjalanpiirakka. It's delish, but also quite rich! Karjalanpiirakka can easily be eaten plain too, we often do that, it's a great snack. Also loved seeing more of Dean as well! I know he isn't super chatty, so it's nice to see him talking on some of these (yay Dean!).

Hi Catherine and Dean. Your videos in this series have been extremely helpful. I’m travelling to Rovaniemi at the end of January and I’m very nervous; your videos have helped me to cope with that. If it is not much to ask, could you tell us about your clothing? Because I live right between a desert and the Pacific Ocean and I have never even seen snow. I’m super worried about clothes. Thank you very much for sharing your experience ❤

The "lihapiirakka" have always been one of my favorite dishes in the canteen in Finland, you could bring your own dishes and use the microwave, I brought some and it was very good, traditionally it is a doughnut , stuffed with a mixture of rice, minced veal and onions, the stuffing is cooked before making the lihapiirakka, it keeps well as it is pre-cooked.

that salmon looked so good my mouth is watering

^Do you think all the layers you wore kept you comfortable enough? Where i live in the US we have mild winters in the 50s-60sF. HATe the cold lol. But, so want to visit now Lapland after watching your vids and others. But, cold weather for me is super hard to handle, but then again i don't layer properly when I'm in the US. The coats i have could work in say 40F weather but not negative degree weather lol. But, London is #1 on my Christmas travel list so at least London is "warmer" during christmas time lol

I moved to finland a year ago and before I arrived to finland i heard so much negative things about Finnish cuisine, yet, turns out finland had a lot to offer reindeer meat is one of my fav things to have, glögi as well, but I loved everything you tried in the video as well, the only thing I didn't try yet was the salmon soup and I doubt id hate that because I LOVE fish!!! Also one last thing to mention is, I am a tea person, yet the best coffee I had is here in finland, if you could try some Finnish coffee you won't be disappointed, try korvapuusti as well with it, my fav combo 😋

I understand reindeer seems wrong but just remember we ear cow and pig and other animals as well. I an not a huge meat eater but i give you points for trying it. It just like when i held fossil dino poop, it seems weird but understandable lol

The night snack you had, the meat pie, its indeed made with donut dough, and you also right, its delicious with ketchup 😁 you can also put cheese in between before microwaving it

Oh my goodness .. I've had my dinner but now I want all the food in this Vlog 😱🤩 so amazing to see all the different foods and the similarities too .. I love rice pudding 🤩🤩 Wroclaw is beautiful I travelled there by coach 25 years ago .. very different place now I hear. Sadly I hate flying so I'll just travel through you thanks 🤣🤣🙌

Glöggi is Mulled wine in English. The traditional one is usually an alcoholic mulled wine, but you can me a nonalcoholic one too. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I really like Dean 😄 Feels like a skit ✌🏻😄 Merry Christmas

Well you have to use littlebit of mustard maybe some ketchup for lihapiirakka, maybe not if its home made but those condiments make those storebought pies miles better.

looked like a lot of fun, but very cold lol

Where did you get a taxi/bus (location) when you were at the city center to go back to Santa Claus Village? Going in a few weeks :)

The paracetamol hunt is so important to share! I very much appreciate the benefits of mass substance control but the second I have a headache I'm thinking... WHERE is the hyperavailability I know and love lol

Glögiä=mulled wine, you can make it yourself, for example; the base of mulled wine is grape juice, which is flavored with Christmas spices, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and ginger. When the mulled wine has slowly boiled for about a quart and the spices have been filtered out of the drink, alcohol is added to the mulled wine, which is usually red wine. I personally buy glög from the store, which I heat up and add a cinnamon stick and a little vodka. ❤So I use it at mixer in winter time

Nice! I've been following your vlogs and I believe the waitress that you had was my cousin haha! I'm not 100% sure, but I'm going to ask her about it.

Doesn't IKEA keep glogg/gloggi? Probably not as good as the freshly made version. Nice vlog, that food platter was interesting, tfs ⭐️🎄❄️

You’ve really done your research! It’d say it’s a really nice representation of Finnish foods you’ve shown us in this video. We obviously do have a lot more traditional foods and some really strange ones as well, like blood sausauge and other regional foods but it would be hard to fit everything in one video.

You can buy Glogg at IKEA or make it with a recipe.

You two have lost so much weight! How is it all going now? My sister getting the surgery in same place in January.

by the way, Ö (for example in glögi) is pronounced like "erm" in british english without the m at the end. a lot of foreign people pronounce it like a regular o though, and i dont blame them for it.

You're supposed to have the meat pastry wigh ketchup, sausage and pickles! It's a very popular Finnish snack.

Go and try makkaraperunat from grills

The squeaky cheese was probably so tasty to you, because of the jam. Those orange berries were cloud berries. Very much the best berries on this planet.

finnish food is so good

really nice video

Thankyou

Regarding the egg butter... probably Northeast Europe's best kept secret when it comes to stuff you can put on your bread :D And it's literally just what's in the name - boiled eggs and plain ol' butter, mixed together with the eggs well-crushed into tinier pieces. A calorie delivery system and then some :D

Glögi is translated as "mulled wine" in english.

cut your lihapiirakka with knife and after heating put some ketchup and sauces or what ever you like in between it. Tastes so much better :)

"My skin actually feels like it's crawling with ants" it's the best description of frost setting in on your body until you get to the point when it starts to actually hurt.

So eggbutter is just hard boiled eggs sliced to small pieces mixed with butter.

The salmon is graavattu, not raw, its one of the best fish dishes to ever exist

Chocolate 🍫 is Swiss In my younger days I I mind cold. . Of course soup is perfect for winter .

Usually toast looks normal light brown----but those toasts were like from bonfire. Black as south night. Under every food level.

It's always funny to me to wach people try to pronounce the letter 'ö' or 'ä' and then just saying them as 'a' or 'o'

Does lapland hve big shopping mall ??

You. An get the berry juice in ikea

Damn as a rovaniemi local, its interesting to see what foreigners do here lol. Nili is a tourist trap which locals tend to usually avoid though

Look at me, wondering how everything works at night like it's literally 11 in the night 😂😂😂😂

"i couldnt find egg butter" while continues to have it on her plate xd

fazer chocholate is finnish

Lihapiirakka + ketchup = the ultimate poorman's meal. To spice it up, many Grills jam in sausages and salad, making it essentially a Finnish hotdog. Karelian Pies originate from the good ol' Karelia, but are pretty much one of the quintessential Finnish food products these days. Simple and filling, fit for any situation.

haha if glogi is made form Lingonberry than it's the same as the juice from IKEA

Btw how Brits can eat ducks but not reindeers? Doesn't they think about eating Donald Duck. Just been curious about this forever and I live in Rovaniemi xD

It’s been minus 4/5 in the uk lately I don’t like it lol xx

Reindeer is just delight. One thing. I've never understand people who cover their mouth when they are eating.

all the finns seeing her cut the karelian pie and eat it with a fork: 😱😨😰😰😰

Just to correct, at huskys, that looked like berryjuice, not glöki! Berryjuice in finnish, is sekamehu, mixed juice.

2:41 bad angle

The sound's are giving me sensory overload... but thanks for the vid

I have seen Finland documentaries Nice looking girls Of course I only know the girl from Finland Johnna north

Smells like whiskey ???

Hello...you don't need paracetamol...it's killing your health...breath and water...a good sleep and cold shower...that's all you need.

Lihapiirakka and the the one you had there, nothing in comment. Sorry to say, but you just had the worst copy of that

What made you call Comico an asian cuisine place? Doesn't even remotely resemble an asian place

Paracetamol. You must be kidding...

No finland food

Why TF would anybody give AF that you tried some food lol. What is this?

Love 🤍 You can buy Glogg from IKEA. Usually at this time of year from the Swedish food market. We definitely had it when I worked at the Leeds store. I also drink hot Ribena with honey which is amazing and similar xxx

Karjalanpiirakka is indeed best enjoyed with egg butter or munavoi. To make it, simply smash together hard boiled eggs and butter with a fork. The ratio of butter to egg can be whatever you like and you can leave it very chunky or make it a smoother paste. Don't forget to add salt to taste 😋