EU leaders dined on a lavish spread of Finnish delicacies such as caviar and cloudberry mousse as the outgoing holder of the EU presidency tried to cast off its reputation as a culinary wasteland.
Helsinki flew in some of its top chefs to woo Europe's political elite, promising to impress even French president Jacques Chirac, who once famously described Finnish cooking as the "worst in Europe".
Finnish food hit the headlines at the 2005 when Mr Chirac, well known for his love of fine wines, joked with Russia president Vladimir Putin that one cannot trust the British, since "after Finland, it is the country with the worst food". His comments were followed by those of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who claimed that he had had to "endure" Finnish food on a trip to Helsinki.