Ham holds on to #1 spot on Christmas table in half of Finnish households
Turkey making inroads, particularly in the Greater Helsinki area
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By Irja Hyvärinen in Tampere
"Ready-salted. One that will fit in the oven." Kaija and Risto Pyy, 64, are picking out their Christmas fare.
"It has to be a [baked] ham", says Sini Juutilainen, 25, at the Prisma supermarket in Tampere, and she grabs up a small Finnish-produced ham from the cold shelves and puts it into her trolley.
There is no shortage of choice. The biggest rush is not anticipated until the weekend.
"My daughter says it has to be Finnish-raised", explains Antti Jyväkorpi. To be perfectly honest, turkey was in the frame for a while, "But we ate turkey in advance of Christmas and anyway we tend to eat so much chicken..."
There is talk of lightening up the Yuletide table, but still for every second Finn the baked ham is THE special Christmas treat.
The truth, however, is that the favourite type of ham has changed over the years. It might look the same on the outside, with a knucklebone protruding at the end, but otherwise the ham is now boneless, and the fat has been trimmed down to a nominal amount.
Ham particularly appeals to adult males.
Turkey is surreptitiously sneaking onto the Christmas table, particularly in Helsinki and the surrounding cities of the south, but as yet Finland cannot really be divided into a "pork belt" and a "poultry belt".
Eating turkey is not a gender thing: it seems to go down as well with men as with women. This fact emerged when Finfood, the Finnish Food Information Service, ran a questionnaire study on local eating preferences.
The figures indicated that 39% voted for the traditional casseroles as their favourite part of the Christmas Eve feast, and 14% went with the fish hors d'oeuvres.
"A boned ham with a knuckle attached is the favourite buy", says the Prisma sales manager Lea Kitunen without a moment's hesitation.
The top position of the filleted joint has held up well for a few years now. Last year it won out over the traditional ready-salted ham on the bone by 38% to 31%.
Buying home-reared produce has become increasingly important to the Finns. According to Finfood's respondents, it was the most important of the criteria for one in three people, while price was the key factor for around 25% of those taking part.
Buying Finnish was most important among women in the 35-54 age bracket.
It is not possible to read precisely from the joint of ham where the pig has spent its days. The Swan symbol and the attached text tells where the meat is from. At the Prisma in Tampere the "Made in Finland" signs are well in evidence on price-tags and on the wrappers of some of the smaller hams.
Tuula and Markku Urponen look at the logos with an accustomed eye. "There's basically nothing wrong with a Danish ham, but somehow our choice always comes out like this."
The greater part of the thirty-five tons of ham waiting to find a buyer in the Tampere Prisma is from Finland, produced by HK or Tapola. A fifth of the joints are imported from Denmark.
"The Danish hams clearly have their own fans", says Kitunen.
They are appreciably saltier than their Finnish counterparts.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 14.12.2005
"Ready-salted. One that will fit in the oven." Kaija and Risto Pyy, 64, are picking out their Christmas fare.
"It has to be a [baked] ham", says Sini Juutilainen, 25, at the Prisma supermarket in Tampere, and she grabs up a small Finnish-produced ham from the cold shelves and puts it into her trolley.
There is no shortage of choice. The biggest rush is not anticipated until the weekend.
"My daughter says it has to be Finnish-raised", explains Antti Jyväkorpi. To be perfectly honest, turkey was in the frame for a while, "But we ate turkey in advance of Christmas and anyway we tend to eat so much chicken..."
There is talk of lightening up the Yuletide table, but still for every second Finn the baked ham is THE special Christmas treat.
The truth, however, is that the favourite type of ham has changed over the years. It might look the same on the outside, with a knucklebone protruding at the end, but otherwise the ham is now boneless, and the fat has been trimmed down to a nominal amount.
Ham particularly appeals to adult males.
Turkey is surreptitiously sneaking onto the Christmas table, particularly in Helsinki and the surrounding cities of the south, but as yet Finland cannot really be divided into a "pork belt" and a "poultry belt".
Eating turkey is not a gender thing: it seems to go down as well with men as with women. This fact emerged when Finfood, the Finnish Food Information Service, ran a questionnaire study on local eating preferences.
The figures indicated that 39% voted for the traditional casseroles as their favourite part of the Christmas Eve feast, and 14% went with the fish hors d'oeuvres.
"A boned ham with a knuckle attached is the favourite buy", says the Prisma sales manager Lea Kitunen without a moment's hesitation.
The top position of the filleted joint has held up well for a few years now. Last year it won out over the traditional ready-salted ham on the bone by 38% to 31%.
Buying home-reared produce has become increasingly important to the Finns. According to Finfood's respondents, it was the most important of the criteria for one in three people, while price was the key factor for around 25% of those taking part.
Buying Finnish was most important among women in the 35-54 age bracket.
It is not possible to read precisely from the joint of ham where the pig has spent its days. The Swan symbol and the attached text tells where the meat is from. At the Prisma in Tampere the "Made in Finland" signs are well in evidence on price-tags and on the wrappers of some of the smaller hams.
Tuula and Markku Urponen look at the logos with an accustomed eye. "There's basically nothing wrong with a Danish ham, but somehow our choice always comes out like this."
The greater part of the thirty-five tons of ham waiting to find a buyer in the Tampere Prisma is from Finland, produced by HK or Tapola. A fifth of the joints are imported from Denmark.
"The Danish hams clearly have their own fans", says Kitunen.
They are appreciably saltier than their Finnish counterparts.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 14.12.2005
IRJA HYVÄRINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
irja.hyvarinen@hs.fi