Nordic Cuisine at Saariselkä town hub.  Saariselka is an excellent destination to sample ethnic Nordic cuisine represented at the many Saariselka restaurants.

Saariselka at Lapland is located at 68° 25′ 15″ N, 27° 25′ 1.8″ E. It is at the far North East part of Finland.

The name Saariselka translated means “Island ridge”.

Saariselkä name is a description of the impression of the view from the tundra summit looking down to the lower areas of the township.

The view description is a mist covering the lower areas, and only the high points of the ridge are visible above the mist.  Therefore giving the impression that the fog is water and the more top points of the elevation are islands surrounded by water

The raw ingredients of the Nordic cuisine of Lapland are mostly traditional ingredients of the far north of Finland.

The proximity to the north cap has shaped the environment and the inhabitants to adapt to the extreme cold of the Nordic winters, and their unique cycles of summer growth and the dormant winter season.  Summer season is lush with new growth, mushrooms and many types of berries. The mammals eat berries and mushrooms as nature provides them to be consumed for fattening of their bodies for the long scarce winter season. Fine highly prized ingredients from the many waterways like; whitefish, arctic char, salmon, perch, and pike. The salmon from the Barents sea spawn in the river system of the Lapland. During the autumn spawning season the salmon don’t feed, they are very territorial and therefore take the fishermen to lure to protect their spawning territory only, but not to feed.

Many of the traditional food items have culturally evolved into the Nordic Cuisine, from the early pioneers of Lapland/Finland over many hundreds/thousands of years.

Like any other region of the world when the pioneers ventured to the new territories, they found naturally growing food ingredients in that new environment and also game animals and game birds. Most regions of the world have their unique background, growing seasons and natural flavors, and the early pioneers utilized that which the nature provided. Combining Nordic game meat with natural tart berries of Lapland, for example, is an exciting combination of the regional Nordic ingredients and flavors, a combination of wild game flavors and the red tart lingonberries of Lapland.

Visitors to Saariselka will quickly become familiar with the environment of this Arctic holiday destination town, there are many quality accommodation Hotels with services in the township and also units available for guests. It is a town with recreational skiing and Safari Activity programs open, guests visit Saariselka for the active Arctic holiday experience, and to be actively involved and interacting with the natural environment. Mother nature does not give hangovers, but diversions do, deviation from good sensible plans reap their rewards, there are no rewards for stupidity, only tax.

YouTube Video images from Saariselka.

Enjoy your holiday and the experience of Arctic Finland Nature at Saariselka.