Yes, it is not very common to offer food (like a meal) unless you have invited the guest for a dinner or lunch. However, people almost always offer coffee or tea, often with some cookies, cake or buns.
my mother taught me that it’s unbelievably rude not to feed guests. someone comes over? you offer them food. they refuse? you offer again.
Depends on where you are, here in Eastern-Finland you will definetly be offered food, lots of it.
England and northern France are incorrect
In my experience it depends on the invitation. If I ask you to have dinner, I will give you warm dish. If its coffee time, I will give you something sweet with the coffee. That is how wveryone else I know will also do. Always there will be something to eat.
Does “food” mean a warm meal, or coffee/tea often with something like cookies or sweet bread? For a meal, accurate. For coffee/tee, very inaccurate, assuming you’re staying long enough to sit down.
Every average family you visit will offer their food if it’s meal time, other times it might be snacks and drinks. I’ve been around Europe and it’s no different in Finland than anywhere else.
The average finn eats too much low quality food anyway nowadays making most of them fat. From that point of view it would be better if the eating part was kept light.
Those pesky icelanders on the french coast never offer food.
Most of the time I’ve received food if they ate while I was there.
Actually it depends a lot where it happens. Southern-easterns actually do/miggt give you a food, they live from food. That’s what I’ve experienced. But in common Finns are very hospitable, and everywhere you’ll get at least coffee, tea etc small snacks / buns, cupcakes etc. In Lapland people are also nice and talkative (I live near Muonio) and to reveice food or at least invited to table if the family is having supper isn’t that rare. It always depends a lot.. but if you are expecting such things in Helsinki area I don’t think so.
Here if you go visit a friend / family etc you’ll get a loads of different reindeer products / snacks. 😀 and if you’re going with sled to see someone it’s not a rare thing someone will offer you a drink, beer..
in FInland you will be offered food, atleast i have been offered and i also offer food for guests, it would be very rude not to imo
If you come uninvited probably you will get coffee/tea only. If you are invited then you will be informed what you will be offered.
Usually I will not have extra ingredients and would I abandon my guests for an hour while I’m cooking? And food that I eat is not something I would offer to anyone else, like options are kids leftovers from yesterday or microwaved potatoes that I boiled last week with tuna?
Coffee, tea, cookies, cinnemon rolls, snacks etc. almost allways are offered, but not usually food, in the summers you do get to go to bbq party if someone has a nice yard though …
True af
In my home village it’s very unpolite — and the village people think you are poor — if you don’t provide at least five kinds of baked products with coffee if someone shows up.
Yeah as an Irish guy living in Finland I was surprised when you go to someone’s house that they’re not constantly pushing food/drink on you. Even with my father in law he’s like “just take whatever you want” and I’m like “no you have to offer me first”.
We live on coffee.
There will be coffee!
No. I always serve food if I have guests over. Or snacks at the very least. And everyone I know does too.
This has changed a lot in a short amount of time. There are a lot of grandparent age people, who take offering food for guests as a point of honour. However, many younger finns are not accustomed to offering food.
Older generation: we’re eating, come join us!
Younger generations: please wait while we finish our meal. We’ll join you shortly.
No its not, iceland is way out of place.
Kidding aside, how do you even research this? 😅 my anecdotes tell a different story – i feel like you get offered food/drinks pretty much always going to another persons home here in the nordics.
I was thinking that I don’t necessarily have enough food stocked so first I would need to go store.
I mean, if I’m about to have food I’ll offer anyone who’s there
I think the question might be set wrong. Commonly you would be asked if you’re hungry and if you answer no then you will not be offered food if everyone else is not going to eat. Coffee with cookies / buns is the most common offer if you are not comming from far / you have answered that you’re not hungry. Why to offer food for not hungry person?
Short answer: yes
In southern Finland this is true. It is because cost of living in south are so much higher compared to north so people don’t have money to feed extra people outside family circles.
Everytime when I’m visiting someone, they always ask me have I eaten or would I like to eat or that there is something to eat.
Umm… When I go to my friends I might announce beforehand I’ll bring the food and ask what do you want to eat. I’m gonna stay a few hours.
Also not accurate. If you visit somebody you’ll have the opportunity to tell you don’t need more coffee, in fact you don’t like coffee, after the third cup. Bun also available.
In my experience not at all. A guest will be asked to at least drink coffee if not for a meal.
No
I don’t understand the question.
Why would someone come to my house?
It depends, I for one offer a meal or drink for my guests and my door is always open.
We are bad cooks and lacking the kitchen culture, say japan or Italy, but definitely will give something to guests.
And to someone who is offended by this, our favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla which is basically not a flavor. And we don’t really use many spices in our foods.
I found it to be different than that. My wife is from Finland and everywhere we go they always have pulla, karajalan piirakka, coffe, etc. the coffee spreads in Finland are nothing short of amazing
Yes it’s accurate but it depends what are we doing? Just a friend popping by to hang out for a few hours? There will be coffee, cookies, pastries. Friend coming from another city for a night? There will be food.
“Our humble food isn’t worthy our guests.”
If the host is eating when you get there, I think that as least in northern Finland it custom to offer same also to quest. If they are not eating then it’s gonna be coffee or tea.
Map is BS, Nordic people will most likely serve fika any chance they get.
No
i do it always if i got spare and i kinda never have any visitors.. but i’ve noticed its more a thing amongst older people 35+
Warm food? No.
Coffee? Yes.
This map is not accurate. Iceland is in the wrong place.
Depends entirely on the situation if it’s a casual visit or a dinner date. Regardless there well be coffee and lots of it
I know I am on a Finnish sub, but this is inaccurate for the UK, too. I cannot imagine having someone round to my house (London) and not offering something to eat and drink.
It is always coffee. Good friends might get a beer or even a shot of Jaloviina.
Eh… It’s way too broad.
At least in most of my experience of 40 years of living in Finland, you will _know_ if it’s a ‘food available’ visit or ‘food not available’ visit. And even then, there’s always, *always* coffee. Even if it’s just someone dropping by for five minutes, you might brew a pot just to have a cup of coffee with them while talking on the porch.
Don’t know about others but I always offer dinner to our guests if they are visiting at dinner time. It would be weird to eat while guest is waiting.
If some one stays over night then it’s no brainer, breakfast is included.
Coffee, cakes, buns, sandwiches – sure.
But food as in dinner? Hmm, probably not unless it’s pre-planned.
49 comments
Yes, it is not very common to offer food (like a meal) unless you have invited the guest for a dinner or lunch. However, people almost always offer coffee or tea, often with some cookies, cake or buns.
my mother taught me that it’s unbelievably rude not to feed guests. someone comes over? you offer them food. they refuse? you offer again.
Depends on where you are, here in Eastern-Finland you will definetly be offered food, lots of it.
England and northern France are incorrect
In my experience it depends on the invitation. If I ask you to have dinner, I will give you warm dish. If its coffee time, I will give you something sweet with the coffee. That is how wveryone else I know will also do. Always there will be something to eat.
Does “food” mean a warm meal, or coffee/tea often with something like cookies or sweet bread? For a meal, accurate. For coffee/tee, very inaccurate, assuming you’re staying long enough to sit down.
Every average family you visit will offer their food if it’s meal time, other times it might be snacks and drinks. I’ve been around Europe and it’s no different in Finland than anywhere else.
The average finn eats too much low quality food anyway nowadays making most of them fat. From that point of view it would be better if the eating part was kept light.
Those pesky icelanders on the french coast never offer food.
Most of the time I’ve received food if they ate while I was there.
Actually it depends a lot where it happens. Southern-easterns actually do/miggt give you a food, they live from food. That’s what I’ve experienced. But in common Finns are very hospitable, and everywhere you’ll get at least coffee, tea etc small snacks / buns, cupcakes etc. In Lapland people are also nice and talkative (I live near Muonio) and to reveice food or at least invited to table if the family is having supper isn’t that rare. It always depends a lot.. but if you are expecting such things in Helsinki area I don’t think so.
Here if you go visit a friend / family etc you’ll get a loads of different reindeer products / snacks. 😀 and if you’re going with sled to see someone it’s not a rare thing someone will offer you a drink, beer..
in FInland you will be offered food, atleast i have been offered and i also offer food for guests, it would be very rude not to imo
If you come uninvited probably you will get coffee/tea only. If you are invited then you will be informed what you will be offered.
Usually I will not have extra ingredients and would I abandon my guests for an hour while I’m cooking? And food that I eat is not something I would offer to anyone else, like options are kids leftovers from yesterday or microwaved potatoes that I boiled last week with tuna?
Coffee, tea, cookies, cinnemon rolls, snacks etc. almost allways are offered, but not usually food, in the summers you do get to go to bbq party if someone has a nice yard though …
True af
In my home village it’s very unpolite — and the village people think you are poor — if you don’t provide at least five kinds of baked products with coffee if someone shows up.
Yeah as an Irish guy living in Finland I was surprised when you go to someone’s house that they’re not constantly pushing food/drink on you. Even with my father in law he’s like “just take whatever you want” and I’m like “no you have to offer me first”.
We live on coffee.
There will be coffee!
No. I always serve food if I have guests over. Or snacks at the very least. And everyone I know does too.
This has changed a lot in a short amount of time. There are a lot of grandparent age people, who take offering food for guests as a point of honour. However, many younger finns are not accustomed to offering food.
Older generation: we’re eating, come join us!
Younger generations: please wait while we finish our meal. We’ll join you shortly.
No its not, iceland is way out of place.
Kidding aside, how do you even research this? 😅 my anecdotes tell a different story – i feel like you get offered food/drinks pretty much always going to another persons home here in the nordics.
I was thinking that I don’t necessarily have enough food stocked so first I would need to go store.
I mean, if I’m about to have food I’ll offer anyone who’s there
I think the question might be set wrong. Commonly you would be asked if you’re hungry and if you answer no then you will not be offered food if everyone else is not going to eat. Coffee with cookies / buns is the most common offer if you are not comming from far / you have answered that you’re not hungry. Why to offer food for not hungry person?
Short answer: yes
In southern Finland this is true. It is because cost of living in south are so much higher compared to north so people don’t have money to feed extra people outside family circles.
Everytime when I’m visiting someone, they always ask me have I eaten or would I like to eat or that there is something to eat.
Umm… When I go to my friends I might announce beforehand I’ll bring the food and ask what do you want to eat. I’m gonna stay a few hours.
Also not accurate. If you visit somebody you’ll have the opportunity to tell you don’t need more coffee, in fact you don’t like coffee, after the third cup. Bun also available.
In my experience not at all. A guest will be asked to at least drink coffee if not for a meal.
No
I don’t understand the question.
Why would someone come to my house?
It depends, I for one offer a meal or drink for my guests and my door is always open.
We are bad cooks and lacking the kitchen culture, say japan or Italy, but definitely will give something to guests.
And to someone who is offended by this, our favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla which is basically not a flavor. And we don’t really use many spices in our foods.
I found it to be different than that. My wife is from Finland and everywhere we go they always have pulla, karajalan piirakka, coffe, etc. the coffee spreads in Finland are nothing short of amazing
Yes it’s accurate but it depends what are we doing? Just a friend popping by to hang out for a few hours? There will be coffee, cookies, pastries. Friend coming from another city for a night? There will be food.
“Our humble food isn’t worthy our guests.”
If the host is eating when you get there, I think that as least in northern Finland it custom to offer same also to quest. If they are not eating then it’s gonna be coffee or tea.
Map is BS, Nordic people will most likely serve fika any chance they get.
No
i do it always if i got spare and i kinda never have any visitors.. but i’ve noticed its more a thing amongst older people 35+
Warm food? No.
Coffee? Yes.
This map is not accurate. Iceland is in the wrong place.
Depends entirely on the situation if it’s a casual visit or a dinner date. Regardless there well be coffee and lots of it
I know I am on a Finnish sub, but this is inaccurate for the UK, too. I cannot imagine having someone round to my house (London) and not offering something to eat and drink.
It is always coffee. Good friends might get a beer or even a shot of Jaloviina.
Eh… It’s way too broad.
At least in most of my experience of 40 years of living in Finland, you will _know_ if it’s a ‘food available’ visit or ‘food not available’ visit. And even then, there’s always, *always* coffee. Even if it’s just someone dropping by for five minutes, you might brew a pot just to have a cup of coffee with them while talking on the porch.
Don’t know about others but I always offer dinner to our guests if they are visiting at dinner time. It would be weird to eat while guest is waiting.
If some one stays over night then it’s no brainer, breakfast is included.
Coffee, cakes, buns, sandwiches – sure.
But food as in dinner? Hmm, probably not unless it’s pre-planned.
yes, eat ur own food and dont come to ask me