Finns certainly take their coffee seriously. On cold winter days, a cup of hot coffee always makes me feel warm. Because the days are so much shorter during the fall and winter, I also find that coffee helps me wake up in the morning!
But coffee is not the only food with connections to the local environment. Because of Finland's location on the coast, Finn's have another very important element in their diet which is seafood. And Finn's eat a lot of it! Reindeer, which live in northern Finland in areas where farming is not possible, are also a part of the menu. Additionally, in the summer and fall, many Finns will go berry- picking, and cranberries, blueberries, lingonberries, raspberries and cloudberries all grow locally. If I am lucky, some of these berries find their way into my cakes for coffee!
