bornintheusa

When I travel I enjoy bringing home edible souvenirs for family and friends--something that will travel well on a carry on, isn't too heavy, can be found in a local grocery store and not easily available in the US--will be going to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Tallinn, Helsinki and St Petersburg Russia--any suggestions??

Melnq8

I've never been to Finland, but I love their Fazer mints and Fazer Liqueur Fils - I load up on them in duty free every time I fly through Germany.

https://en.fazer.com/

I'm not a licorice fan, but Scandinavia is known for its salty licorice.

bornintheusa

Melnq8-- thanks for the link to the fazer company--never had salted licorice but I like licorice so will give it a try--saw the liqueur fils but couldn't find the mints on the website...think those would be a safe bet to bring home.

fourfortravel

My memories of places traveled to are mostly photographs and food; I have to be quite inspired to purchase something else! I have been to Tallinn, Helsinki and St. Petersburg recently (within the last year). For Tallinn I can suggest jams and honey from Balti Jaama Turg along with Kalev candies (marzipan candies that come in a large variety of flavors) that you can find "everywhere." Similarly, I love the Fazer licorice, but it is indeed an acquired taste. From St. Petersburg I brought back (more) honey and a few of the Lebkuchen-like sweets. You'll also find the Alyonka chocolate, which I like (the wrappers are adorable) but may seem "ordinary" to others.

hetismij2

Salted licorice is very popular in the Netherlands too. Vast arrays of it in any shop. It can be an acquired taste and probably not something to give to friends and family unless you are sure they like licorice in the first place, and salty foods as well.

Odin

I don't like salty liquorice at all, it is very much an acquired taste and something alot of Scandinavians have grown up with so are accustomed to it. For a milder, more palatable (IMO) version of liquorice, the brand Haupt Lakrits (lakrits is Swedish for liquorice) have some great flavours (eg combos with roses, strawberries and white chocolate, gingerbread with chocolate was an Xmas version) and they make lovely gifts as the container is pretty. The ones I have tried are delicious.
https://www.lakrits.com/

You can get boxes of chocolates by Marabou in Sweden, selections called Aladdin are popular at Christmas.

Chocolate is very popular in Russia too, they have their own very famous brand called Red October, it's really quite good.

bon_voyage

bornintheusa

Thanks for all of the great suggestions.....keep them coming!! I have done the jelly beofre but this trip we are only doing carry on so have to avoid things that may get thrown out at the airport security station

ileen

Great ideas. I am headed to Estonia and Finland and enthusiastic to buy some of the suggested items.
Last trip to Estonia was memorable as I bought a variety of chocolates that were from Russia and they were delicious.
This time I would like to buy some sort of cookies/biscuits and would love to get some names so I get the best ones someone has tried.
Thanks again for your suggestions. Have a great weekend and enjoy planning trips.

BDKR

Zefir

Zefir ? light and healthy national Russian dessert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zefir_(food)

jc_uk

It's not the saltiness of Scandinavian liquorice that I dislike but rather the ammonia taste, I ordered a large variety of it from a specialist store once because I love liqourice and read how popular it was in Scandinavia. Some were more tolerable than others, I used to hand them out to visitors and not one person liked any of it. It's definitely an acquired taste and one that I suspect needs to be introduced from an early age in order to adopt a fondness.

Odin

Marzipan products are popular in Scandinavia too. It tastes much nicer than the stuff you can buy in the UK for instance, it has a much higher almond content. You can buy tubes of it eg Odense Mandelmassa (Odense is one of the best makes) or you can buy pastries with it in eg dammsugare. Some Anton Berg chocolates have marzipan fillings

napoxoguk

For SPB - both Krupskaya confectionary and Alyonka (United Confectionaries) have stores on Nevsky. Lots of good stuff there - their dark chocolate and chocolate-based candy are very good. They should also have zefir, khalva, pastila, and pryanik (gingerbread). Don't get too excited about the Museum of chocolate nearby - it's a tourist trap.

menachem

At least buy a swedish wooden butter spreader. Not edible but so typically swedish.

miles99

In Finland and Sweden I always buy cloudberry jam. In my family we use it as a tasty addition for tea, especially when somebody is sick. It has a ton of vitamin C.