When I saw this thread I remember one Finnish traditional food and story about it:
Mammi is a very traditional Finnish Easter time dessert made from rye flour and malt. It has a brown and sticky appearance and as far as mammi is concerned there are two types of people: those who love it; and those who hate it. There's no middle ground. If your Finnish host/friend/loved one offers you mammi, try it. But remember that 50% of the Finnish population loathes the stuff and it's quite possible that you will too. It is perfectly acceptable to dislike mammi (but not saunas) and the following rural legend shows how this controversial foodstuff has divided Finnish opinion.
Mammi and the Foreign Relief Worker
Just after the Second World War a foreign relief worker was checking how Finns were getting along for food and so on. During Easter this foreigner ended up staying with a family on a small farm in the middle of nowhere ('the middle of nowhere' being a very common place in Finland during those days). The family had just finished the main course of their Easter meal, and there was only mammi left on the table when the relief worker stepped in. He took a look around, saw the mammi and rushed to his car and told the driver to drive to the nearest city as soon as possible. There he went straight to the telegraph office and send the following message to his headquarters.
Immediate food aid needed, people up here are eating something that has all ready been eaten once!
Actually it is made by rye malts, syrup, water etc and we eat it by cream.
;D