Lörtsy, a delicacy from Savonlinna

The Olavinlinna medieval castle surrounding the amazing Lake Saimaa makes a delightful attraction to invite and drag people worldwide to the famous Savonlinna Opera Festival each year. The harbor close to it gives a magnificent view. Visitors usually enjoy eating the authentic Savonlinna's renowned delicacy, lörtsy, which comes in savory or sweet flavors.

Lörtsy

Lörtsy is a delicious street food in the Savonlinna region, and they are sold mainly on the market square. However, buying them from grocery stores in Savonlinna is possible, where the options might be fewer than in the market (tori).

Lörtsy is quite a thin, half-moon-shaped, deep-fried pastry with various fillings, such as sweet or savory ones. The sweet version comes with various types of jam, such as apple and berry jam. The traditional savory filling comes with rice, pickled, and meat, or the more modern vege (kasvis) version comes with rice, pickled, and beans.

Nowadays, there are many varieties of lörtsy available. Typically, people enjoy starting with a savory one and then having a sweet one as a dessert with coffee or tea.

The vendors usually offer various ingredients, such as pickled cucumber (suola kurkku), chopped slices of onions, and different dressings and condiments. Then everything is folded and wrapped around like a taco to eat and enjoy.

Enjoying lörtsy in the relaxed atmosphere of the Savonlinna Market Square of all places while observing the amazing Lake Saimaa and meeting other tourists and friends is a beautiful experience.

Some people prefer to buy lörtsy as a tasty snack to take with them and enjoy during the opera performance or eat it after a long night sightseeing in the city.

If you can not travel to the Savonlinna region and taste lörtsy there, buying it in regular supermarkets is also possible. However, with less variety, the options are smaller. However, in supermarkets, usually, it is easy to buy the sweet version with apple jam; some shops also sell the savory version.