Three years ago, unstatesmanlike comments by two foreign leaders stuck firmly in Finns' craws.
"I've been to Finland and I had to endure the Finnish diet," said Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
And Jacques Chirac, then France's president, opined that Europe's worst food was to be found in Finland.
The men's culinary examinations were apparently too cursory. In fact, a lively gastronomic scene has developed in the high north, particularly in Helsinki, the Finnish capital.
In the Baltic seaport's trendy new gourmet temples, a generation of young chefs is conjuring up meals able to satisfy discriminating palates.
So is it worth taking a pleasure trip to Helsinki?
Eeropekka Rislakki, editor-in-chief of the Finnish gourmet magazine Viisi Tahtea (Five Stars), answered with a resounding yes: "Helsinki is an insiders' tip," he said. "Gourmets and pleasure freaks are in heaven here."
The harbour is Helsinki's culinary heart. At the daily market at the end of Etelaesplanadi, the city's grand boulevard, are delicacies for the eye, for the shopping basket, and for the small appetite between meals: bright yellow chanterelles, blueberries, and porcini mushrooms from the forests, and whitefish and pike from the lakes.
Fishermen sell sea trout and Baltic herring right off their cutters.
The market hall, next to the market, is a treasure trove for gourmets too. It has fish in all variations, Finnish breads, herbs, berries, mushrooms - and game. A perennial autumn favourite is elk.
Freshly killed and butchered, the animals are brought from the country's forests to display cases in the capital.
A local classic is Lapland reindeer. Expensive delicacies like canned bear meat are also available in the market hall.
"Finnish cuisine has achieved a real breakthrough in the past 10 years," said Jyrki Sukula, a popular TV chef in Finland. "More has happened in this short period of time than during the entire preceding century."
Almost every supermarket now carries items such as tofu and coconut milk, and the number of restaurants in the capital has soared from 700 to about 1,150 since 1998.
"Many restaurants in Helsinki are now excellent in every respect," Sukula enthused.
A major reason for the big improvement, as Rislakki sees it, is the New Nordic Kitchen, which emphasises fresh northern ingredients, sustainable production, and new ideas for traditional recipes.
"This cuisine is light, healthy, and original at the same time," Rislakki said.
So far, so good. Nevertheless, Finnish chefs still have a long way to go on their trek to the summit of cooking's Mount Olympus.
The current issue of Michelin Guide, France's legendary restaurant rating publication, gives 430 domestic restaurants one or more of its coveted stars. By comparison, only four Finnish restaurants - all of which are in Helsinki - have Michelin stars.
But Finland recently won a small victory in competition with another great culinary power - Italy. In June, Finnish bakers unexpectedly took first prize at a pizza-making contest in New York City. Neapolitan bakers finished second and third.
The Finns named their winning entry, which featured a crust of rye flour topped with red onions, forest mushrooms, and smoked reindeer, Pizza Berlusconi.
For more info:
www.visithelsinki.fi.
Restaurants in Helsinki:
www.50bestrestaurants.fi.
