Finland, home of the best bread in the world.
@ 11:25 am 
Here is a picture of the bread offered in the dining hall at work. This doesn’t even show a small part of the variety of bread available in Finland. In the front, there is a round loaf of rye bread. On the left you can see slices of “jälkiuunileipä”, which is a fairly hard sourdough rye bread. There are also two large loaves of wheat bread. This picture doesn’t show all the varieties of malt bread, rieska (flat) bread, oat bread, rye bread, barley bread, flat bread, fluffy bread, hard bread, soft bread, French bread, German bread, garlic bread, cheese bread, herb bread, cardemom bread, muesli bread, rye bread with fish inside it, etc. One French person has claimed to me that France has just as much variety of bread, except that you have to drive several hundred kilometers between regions to get to it. One Swiss person claimed to me that Switzerland has just as good bread, but I have yet to see the evidence.
I like Finland’s bread, for sure. Places like Bavaria and Thuringia also have excellent breads, and Switzerland is similar. But the variety in Finland is definitely something special.
Sweden puts sugar in its bread. In orthodox bread terms, what a catastrophe that is
I like it anyway though, but not everyone does.
The French have baguettes. And if you want variety… Well, you can go get a baguette in different town.
Disappointingly, America has some of the worst breads I’ve ever tasted. The stuff a normal American buys from the supermarket shelves is atrocious—I’d sooner eat a bathroom sponge!
I know there are some specialty bakeries in the US, but I think normal Americans prefer the low-quality, white, taste-free kind. Wonderbread, anyone? Uhhhg
It sort of resembles Americans’ preference for watery flavored, low-quality beer. LOL!
Comment by Kristian — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
I love that cheese-butter stuff, soooooo goood.
I miss bagels though, I’d think they’d be a big hit here if they ever went mainstream.
Comment by Phil — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
You can get “American Toast” wonderbread from LIDL.
Comment by Hank W. — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
“You can get “American Toast†wonderbread from LIDL.”
Yeah, I love when they do that. Or “Real American Hot Dogs.”
In all fairness though, I also like American bagels. And generally, the variety of ALL possible foods available in America absolutely rocks!
I mean, you can get any type of food from any culture without going very far from home. And they don’t try to rip you off with high prices and low-meat content—you usually get more-than-enough.
I might be critical about American beer and bread, but the overall picture is much better than what we have. In terms of food and pricing, you can’t beat a dynamic free market with broad cultural influences.
Comment by Kristian — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
Kristian, too bad american foods are GM. Gentlemen, start your debate-o-matics. One of the best good surprises that I had when I moved here (other than non-genetically-modified food) was the abundance of tasty bread.
When I used to be in the states, I would actually make my own bread. I had come from a bread-loving culture, with a three bakeries 5-mins from my house to having to drive 20-30 minutes for sliced bread with the consistency of an eraser.
Comment by Herkku — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
We foriegners often complain about the food here, but I have yet to hear anyone knock Finnish bread. The thing I miss most about Finland(when in America) could very well be fresh rye bread.
Would the proper term for rieska be unleavened bread? My mother made flat bread and it was nothing like rieska.
Comment by Unit — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
Finland definitely has some excellent bread. But the worst thing that can happen to bread is to suffocate it with a plastic bag, and that is what the bulk of bread section in any given supermarket is all about. Not to mention that most of it is of the industrial sponge quality anyway. Sometimes looking at the bread shelves makes me want to cry.
If you know a good local bakery or two, then it is a bit easier to find good bread. Fortunately many grocery stores have a handful of local products, even if especially Fazer is buying the smaller bakeries one by one in its mission to have the same variety of bread in every Finnish grocery store.
Comment by ruupert — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 1:23 pm
The thing I miss most about Finland(when in America) could very well be fresh rye bread.
Try eating a cardboard box. Just close your eyes, it feels and tastes the same.
Comment by Phil — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
I completely wholeheartedly agree with Sirkuspelle on this matter! (I don’t often get to say that
) Finnish bread is, probably, our best food product. It is good in its simplicity and variety, and to me, still tastes far more ‘natural’ than that found in Sweden.
Comment by JG — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 2:54 pm
Indeed, my own finnish mother puts sugar in the bread of any recipe she uses….mmmmmmmmmmmm………The Finnish bread also doesn’t get so hard as fast as French breads….i wonder why..I have made it myself and can’t guess.
Comment by lingli — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 3:11 pm
“One of the best good surprises that I had when I moved here (other than non-genetically-modified food)”
There are GM foods in Finland. http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Genetically+modified+feed+to+be+introduced+to+Finnish+pig+farms/1135229348151
There are GM foods just about everywhere as once planted you can’t control them not to mention that they are impossible to tell apart from the non-GM crops just by a visual inspection. GM corn has been found in nearly everything from nachos to corn syrup.
Comment by hfb — Fri, Nov 9th, 2007 @ 10:42 pm
I love the bread here in Finland.
One thing that I can never comprehend is why in the world they put caraway seeds in nearly all the rye breads in the USA ?
I went to a number of bread shops and Whole Food and they ALWAYS put those freaking seeds in the rye bread.
Comment by unlce sam — Sat, Nov 10th, 2007 @ 7:31 am
Pass me the warm and fresh Karelian pasties with egg butter please!
Comment by infinndel — Sat, Nov 10th, 2007 @ 7:46 am
Ruupert: Finland definitely has some excellent bread. But the worst thing that can happen to bread is to suffocate it with a plastic bag
Agree, and the second worst thing is sell the bread already sliced.
Comment by Urmas — Sat, Nov 10th, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
@12 most of the rye breads in the US are Jewish Rye, which has the cumin seeds in it. Also, they usually contain very little rye as well.
Comment by Sirkuspelle — Sat, Nov 10th, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
“…rye bread with fish inside it,…”
If you mean kalakukko, it is actually not a bread, even if it looks like one. I mean that in Savo proper it is not used like a bread, but pretty much like a complete meal. I think it is/was often enjoyed with real butter and potatoes.
A tough dish, and, in my view, one best made with perch and pork.
Comment by Drakon — Sat, Nov 10th, 2007 @ 10:10 pm
And, under no circumstances, should you slice kalakukko like a bread.
Comment by Drakon — Sat, Nov 10th, 2007 @ 10:11 pm
I have to agree with you! when I was an exhange student in Mikkeli, Finland in 1990. My suomi mom always makes the best break. I was amazed how she could keep up on making bread loaves everyday. After two weeks after settling with my host family. I learned that she use bread machine. Her secret was exposed when she was putting stuff in the machine and set it time. I always wake up when baked. My favorite was mixed with cracked pepper, sunflower and finnish chesse with wheat and rye. I wish I could do tha same. However Im visiting Suomi this summer. Can’t wait!!!
Comment by Merritt — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 1:48 pm