Karjalanpiirakka Karelian Pie appears as a signature dish in 1 Finland cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pie) · Helsinki
A thin rye crust pinched around a filling of rice porridge, eaten warm under a slick of egg-butter. The most everyday savoury bake in Finland, sold in every market hall.
The Karelian pie comes from Karelia in Finland's east, where rye crusts were filled with barley, potato or rice. After 1944, when Finland ceded much of Karelia, more than 400,000 evacuees carried the recipe across the country, and the rice-filled version became a national staple. Helsinki bakeries like Konditoria Hopia still make them daily, and they top the egg-butter munavoi that makes the pie complete.
Where to eat in Helsinki:
- Konditoria Hopia
- Hakaniemi Market Hall (Hakaniemen Kauppahalli)
- Old Market Hall (Vanha Kauppahalli)