Finnish food is influenced by its geographical position. It is next to Sweden and Russia and Finnish food shares similarities with those cuisines. Finnish food has also been influenced by Finland's harsh northern European climate where items were not able to be grown and those that were for a short time. This meany only a limited range of foods were available. Traditional Finnish foods are woodland berries such as lingonberries, cloudberries, wild strawberries and blueberries. Fish such as salmon and herring. Oats are a staple with porridge being a very popular dish in Finland. Rye is used in Finland to make traditional rye bread and crackers. It has been said of Finnish food that it is simple and has an emphasis is on fresh ingredients. Today foods from other world cuisines are naturally eaten in Finland but the traditional Finnish simple cooking using high quality fresh ingredients is a big part of Finnish cuisine today. Try some traditional and contemporary Finnish dishes in this book.