FISH AND HERRING Although salmon is commonly eaten throughout the year in Finland, it is also an essential part of the Finnish Christmas dinner. Typical preparations of salmon include gravlax and hot- or cold-smoked salmon. Also other types of fish, like powan, is served freshly salted or smoked. Picture on left: gravlax slices with dill. Fish is most often served as a part of cold fish assortment for hors d'œuvre, accompanied by herring pickled in various ways, as well as various fish roes. Most popular roes are salmon or vendace roe, the latter being considered a great delicacy, being quite an expensive product. Fish roe is usually served mixed with finely chopped onion and smetana, a Russian-origin sour cream. Serving a whole stuffed fish, like a pike poached or baked in oven, is an old Christmas tradition of the fishermen of the Finnish southwestern archipelago. Picture on right: bowls of salmon roe (centre left), smetana (top) and chopped onion (bottom right). Herring is served prepared in many ways: Matjes herring fillets (= herring cured in a spiced sugar-vinegar brine) are thinly sliced and mixed with cream, mayonnaise or oil-based dressings seasoned and/or garnished with mustard, sugar, onion, green onion, scallion, dill, beetroot, hard-boiled egg, pickled gherkin etc. Fresh Baltic herring fillets are marinated or pickled with clear or creamy sauces made of vinegar, oil, cream, smetana or crème fraîche and seasoned with onion, garlic, scallion, carrot, apple, lemon, ginger, beetroot, orange, chilli pepper, bell pepper, peppercorns, horseradish, honey, lingonberries, tomato, mustard, fresh or dried herbs, fish roe, sherry, beer, gin, vodka... the list is endless, with new variations being created every day. Picture above: fish platter  —  salmon roe and smetana canapés and gravlax with mesclun salad, mustard dressing, dill, olive and lemon. Among the oldest traditional Nordic Christmas dishes along with ham is lutefisk, or lutefish, although it has been losing its popularity, at least among the younger generations. Picture on right: piece of uncooked lutefisk. Lutefisk (from the Swedish lutfisk) is a Swedish-origin dish of dried cod soaked first in cold water, then in a special mixture of water and potash lye and finally simmered until tender and flaky. In the Nordic countries, lutefisk is served with various accompaniments, like boiled potatoes, béchamel sauce or melted butter, allspice or pepper, coarse-textured mustard, mashed green peas, crisp bacon bits and drippings. Picture on right: cooked lutefisk with various accompaniments. Being a very time consuming dish to prepare, lutefisk is nowadays sold ready-made in stores. You will find recipes for some of the dishes mentioned above in here. Read more about traditional Finnish Christmas here.