Viking Line’s Christmas buffet is faithful to tradition and also updated to reflect the latest food trends – as much as 80 per cent of ingredients are locally sourced

Traditional Christmas dishes sourced locally, vegan ham made of celeriac and desserts served to order – the Christmas buffet on Viking Line’s vessels honours passengers’ beloved traditions but at the same time offers new experiences inspired by the latest food trends.

This year, the Christmas buffet on board Viking Line’s vessels consists of 75 different dishes. In choosing ingredients, priority is given to Nordic products, and year after year an ever growing share of them is sourced locally. As much as 80 per cent of the ingredients for the Christmas buffet come from the company's home market area – that is, Finland, Sweden and Estonia.

"Our customers are increasingly interested in what they eat and where their food comes from. We’re focused on finding additional locally sourced products, and the percentage we use is constantly growing. Along with meeting our stringent quality criteria, producers must also be able to supply a sufficient amount of the ingredient," says Janne Lindholm, Restaurant Manager at Viking Line.

Viking Line’s Christmas buffet features a strong traditional offering, with well-known dishes and flavours that are an integral part of Christmas.

"Last year, our wide-ranging Christmas buffet was particularly praised by customers. They especially appreciated that our Christmas buffet has the right balance of traditional dishes and that, unlike many other restaurants, we don't experiment with all the flavours of the world. For us, Finnish beetroot salad (rosolli) is rosolli and not root vegetable salad flavoured with mulled wine spices. On our vessels, customers can be sure they get exactly what they expect," says Janne Lindholm.

"It's interesting to note that the amount of Christmas ham consumed has shown no sign of decreasing. Last year, we served ham prepared in two different ways on all of our vessels. It turned out that Finnish passengers ate traditional grey-salted ham while Swedes chose red-salted ham. This year we’re serving red-salted ham only on Cinderella, which sails under a Swedish flag. As an alternative to ham, this year for the first time we’re serving vegan celeriac ham on all of our vessels," Janne Lindholm adds.

"Alongside ham, the fish dishes are the most longed for and sought after delicacies in the Christmas buffet, year after year. This year, we have ten herring dishes, marinated with ingredients such as onion, aquavit, rosehip and sherry. We’re also serving different kinds of fish roe, traditional lutefisk, shrimp and of course salmon – charbroiled and marinated (gravlax).

"We would never dare leave herring in mustard sauce out of our Christmas buffet!," says Janne Lindholm.

The development of food culture is reflected in Viking Line’s Christmas buffet mainly in the number of vegetarian and vegan dishes, which has grown year after year, and in the greater ambition that has gone into their preparation. Along with the traditional casseroles, Finnish beetroot salad and vegan ham, vegetarians can fill their plates with dishes such as cabbage braised in molasses with crispy onions or fennel flavoured with saffron in a white wine sauce.

At Viking Line, the aim is also to reduce food waste, so this year cooks are serving up single-size portions of Christmas desserts like raspberry, lemon and ruby chocolate while customers look on. Other dessert options are rice à la Malta, flavoured with candied orange peel – a favourite with Swedes – as well as ice cream and Christmas sweets.

"And if you’re not particularly fond of Christmas food or perhaps have already had your fill, then we have regular menus in our other restaurants," Janne Lindholm points out.

10 facts about Viking Line’s Christmas buffet

• The Christmas buffet is served on our vessels until December 26, 2023 – after that, the winter buffet is available.
• The Christmas buffet has been served on Viking Line’s vessels since the 1970s.
• Each year, an estimated 200,000 restaurant guests eat the Christmas buffet.
• There are 75 dishes on offer: fish with various fixings, cold cuts, green alternatives, hot dishes, bread and cheeses, and desserts.
• This year, ten different kinds of herring are being served: along with the traditional herring marinated in mustard, dill or onion, there is also herring marinated in aquavit, sherry and rosehip.
• Traditional lutefisk continues to be popular. More than 2,000 kilos are served each year.
• There are four Christmas casseroles: potato, turnip, carrot and the Swedish favourite, Jansson’s Temptation (potatoes with cream and sprats). People are fairly evenly divided in their casserole preference, but surprisingly enough more carrot casserole is consumed than potato casserole.
• There are 21 cold and hot vegetarian dishes being served in the Christmas buffet.
• Two kinds of ham are being served: traditional Finnish grey-salted (Swedish red-salted on Cinderella) and vegan "ham" made of celeriac.
• People can choose their favourite dessert from some twenty different sweet options.

For further information:

Janne Lindholm, Restaurant Manager

janne.lindholm@vikingline.com, tel. +358 400 744 806

Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications

johanna.boijer@vikingline.com, tel. +358 18 270 00

Christa Grönlund, Press and PR Manager
christa.gronlund@vikingline.com, tel. +358 9 123 51