makkaraperunat isnt really a good example if finnish cuisine, more of a example what people eat when they dont have too much time to contribute for cooking.
things like Karjalanpaisti, dry meat (strips of sun dried meat, typical reindeer meat, salty delicacy from lapland, less common in south), porkkanalaatikko (carrot crate), maksalaatikko (liver crate), rye bread, fried reindeer meat, many soups like kesäkeitto, lihakeitto and such are more of traditional finnish foods that you'll see in in parties where there is food being served, some are more of seasonal dishes; christmas being my personal favorite.
how unique is finnish food culture? not so much, it has its own things but its very much influenced by russian and swedish kitchens, on coast more by the swedish and on east border more by russian.
the food on coast line is more dominant by fish meals, as when you go to eastern border there is influence of eating meat caught from game and such. Also Southern parts of finland are very different when compared to finnish lapland.
It varies a lot, if you were my quest I'd prefer to show you the various fishy treats finland has to offer since Im really fond of fishy things like "voissa paistetut muikut" and such, my mother would cook meals that have heavy russian influence to them and my father would make at least one dish out of mushrooms and some meat cuisine.
so whatever suits you, if you're visiting over ask local for guidelines on what kind of food there is avaiable to you from various ingredients, if you dont like fish for example say so.
