Ruisleipä

Ruisleipä is the dark sourdough rye bread of Finland, baked from whole grain rye flour and eaten daily across the country. It is the most widely eaten bread in Finland and was named the national food in a 2017 public vote, and Finland marks a rye bread day on 28 February. Compared with German rye loaves it is drier and less oily, and most versions leave out sweetening and spices such as caraway, which sets them apart from Swedish rye. The traditional shape is a large, round, thick loaf, a soft weekly staple in Karelia and Savo where it was often called simply leipä or musta leipä. In western Finland the characteristic form is the ring-shaped reikäleipä, once threaded on poles under the kitchen ceiling to dry for winter storage and moistened before eating. Softer limppu loaves and modern angular supermarket slices such as Vaasan Ruispala sit alongside them.