All delicious things Finnish

[Darienne]

Recently I made a recipe found in this season's LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) glossy magazine:  Pannukakku with Birch Syrup and Wild Blueberries.  Incredible.  Delicious.  Eating heaven.  Being completely out of birch syrup,  I subbed Maple Syrup and frozen blueberries and changed a couple of other bits around...of course ...and we loved them.

I mentioned eating the Pannukakku to a young friend who was immediately ecstatic.  I had completely forgotten that she had spent a high school exchange year in Finland.  She at once started talking about this other dish that she also remembered as a favorite with rice on a crusty background and on and on, and by virtue of inputting various terms, I found it online: Karjalanpiirakat or Karelian Pies.  I promised her we would make both the pancakes and pies on her next visit to the farm.

I see online that there are so many variations to both the Pannukakku and Karjalanpiirakat out there, and I'd like to try 'someone's' favorite if there is a 'someone' on eGullet who is familiar with these dishes...or any other traditional Finnish foods.

Another new cuisine to try...  Thanks.

[rotuts]

if you have not had 'properly made' birch syrup, its pretty nice stuff.

 

I would not order it on the internet, as i try not to order any food on the internet, as Im mostly cheeeeeep  also known as  frugal

 

herbs and stuff is a different matter.  they are much lighter

 

( no strik-though any more      that's for the cheeeeep  )

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@Darienne as usual, I'm ignorant of your intriguing subject here, but interested and trying to learn more.

 

I looked for pannukakku images on Google, and they seem more like Dutch baby oven-baked custards than American pancakes. Is that what you're talking about?

Edited February 9, 2016 by Thanks for the Crepes (log)

[Darienne]

Yes, Thanks  for the Crepe.  Wouldn't call them oven-baked custards though...They taste like crepes, with double eggs and sugar.  Here's the recipe from the Ontario magazine: Pannukakku in case you'd like to try it.  I added more blueberries, put them on the batter instead of into the syrup, omitted the icing sugar dusting. 

 

First time (metal pan) they looked like intestinal villae in their surface and the next two times (pyrex dish) they puffed up mightily around the edges. 

 

I must google birch syrup and see how it's made.  We have birch trees on the farm...

[Darienne]

Just went to this website: http://joybileefarm.com/birch-syrup/ and was stunned to see the number of trees which will yield a sweet syrup.  STUNNED!!!  Including Sumac...DH's hated tree which pops up everywhere we look at the edge of our fenced in backyard.  I love them ...he does not .  

OTOH, I think the entire process is just too much work for these old already overtaxed guys.  As it is, DH goes to a neighbor's each year to help with the maple syrup making so I always have a supply on hand.

[Smithy]

I've never had birch syrup, but a friend who makes it says it takes a lot more sap and time than maple syrup because of the much lower sugar content.  It sounds delicately tasty. (I'm allergic to birch pollen and therefore reluctant to try the syrup.) As for the pannukakku - thanks for the link!  That looks like a nice luxury breakfast treat for some time when we have company. 

[Darienne]

I'm going to make the Pannukakku for this August's Dog Weekend.  And, of course, I'll never get around to making any kind of tree syrup anyhow.  And as for birch pollen...on a trip to Sudbury ON some years ago...during Birch pollen season, I quit breathing well about 100 miles south of Sudbury and didn't resume normal breathing until several days later...when again 100 miles south of that Birch laden area.

 

[Deryn]

I have never made Pannukakku but, aside from noting that the LCBO mags often have some very wonderful recipes and I wish I could get them in Nova Scotia - miss picking them up, the picture brings to mind a thinner than normal clafoutis perhaps, a bit crispier but similar. It certainly looks delicious and easy to make. Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Darienne.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[Darienne]

From a quick look at a classic cherry clafoutis recipe...the clafoutis has more fruit, more sugar and less butter and less flour than the pannukakku recipe which I am using.  But then there seems to be a lot of recipes available which might be quite different. 

I'll try to get the latest magazine and send it to you.  (They run out quickly in the boonies.) The recipes in it are getting more avant-garde/eccentric/way out/? in my opinion and it's seldom that I use one now.  Full of ingredients which don't appeal to me and which I probably can't get.  Alas.

 

Do try the recipe.  It's so delicious. 

[ChocoMom]

Having married into a Finnish family some twenty years ago, and living da U.P. amongst mostly Fins, I learned to make Pannukakku years ago. Learning how to make it was pretty much a condition of marriage.    (That, plus enduring the stream-fishing adventures with Uncle Carl aka Kala.)  Its a staple for alot of folks.  And, out of that batter, with some tweeking, you'll get Finnish pancakes- which my FIL excels at making.   Birch syrup is amazing. Some friends down the road from me make it, and sell it locally. Not sure if they have a website, but it would be under "Niemela Family Growers".  They do fantastic maple syrup, as well. 

 

Another addictive food is Nisu (or Pulla in Finnish). Its a sweet bread containing ample amounts of cardamom. My FIL enjoys it with a light icing; my kids like it slathered with butter.  We usually braid it, and that's how you'd find it at most all the stores and bakeries up here.  Sometimes, you'll find the Nisu with raisins or sliced almonds..but I never make it that way. 

edit:  We just celebrated Heikkenpaiva up here, and welcomed the Finnish Consulate General to the festivities. LOTS of Finnish foods in great abundance there were!

Edited February 9, 2016 by ChocoMom
additional comment. (log)

[Smithy]

@ChocoMom, do you have a recipe for Nisu/Pulla that you'd care to share?  Question: if "Pulla" is the Finnish word (I've heard that one) then what language is "Nisu"?  I'd have picked that out as the Finnish.

[ChocoMom]

@Smithy.. I'd have to dig the recipe out, and after I am done with this round of chocolates...I will. (Gotta get a few orders done asap.)

 

Those two words confused me also.   I believe "Pulla" comes from the main Finnish dialect, and Nisu is from another (or the other way around).  I know there are a few different dialects...One is the standard Finnish (which is what my FIL speaks), another in Sweden, and another in Norway.

 

I only know a few words in Finnish....mostly swear words (thanks to FIL), some foods, and the word "welcome".  Uncle Carl looked up all my kids' names in Finnish, and that's what he'd call them by. I only learned 2 out of the 5. 

[Darienne]

"Nisu is the old Finnish word for wheat and this bread. Modern Finns call it Pulla."   Everything is online. Amazing.

And hooray for ChocoMom.  I could certainly use the names of some main meat dishes and/or sides...and recipes would be gratefully received...to surprise my Finland-loving chum when next she comes to the farm.  I should have remembered about her year in Finland.  She still talks about it quite a lot and she's now in her mid-50s.

 

And a much-loved recipe for those Karjalanpiirakat would be awesome.

 

And I'll look up the Birch Syrup situation.  We might have some in Ontario...and UP is not that far if they do mail order.  Although I don't know about mailing liquids in glass bottles.

(I once sent some maple sugar candies to very young friends in New Mexico and the package arrived broken with all the candies missing.  And I'm not thinking breakage either.)

 

ps.  Birch syrup is available in Ontario.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Darienne
additional ps (log)

[EsaK]

I don't know how many Finns there are on eGullet but I'll respond as one of them. Pulla, or nisu, or korvapuusti, whatever you call them, are very Finnish indeed. I think a basic recipe would be something like 50g yeast, 500g milk, 2 eggs, 170g sugar, 8g salt, 7g cardemom, 1000g wheat flour, 200g butter, with a filling made of 100g butter, 85g sugar, 14g cinnamon. Dough made as any other similar dough, and after rising, rolled into flat disks where you put the filling and roll them up, and cut. 

 

For karjalanpiirakka, a recipe would be for example 200g cold water, 4g salt, 135g rye flour, 160g wheat flour, 25g butter. For the rice/porridge, 400g water, 340g porridge rice, 1600-1800g whole milk, 6g salt. There's probably a certain way of getting the pies together. If someone is interested in the method I can try find it out.

 

There are quite a few Finnish dishes that are great, though I'm not sure how originally Finnish they are (but are generally thought of as traditional here). Graavilohi (cured salmon, together with ruisleipä/rye bread), leipäjuusto (bread cheese), mämmi (Easter time dessert, quite distinct flavor!), mustikkapiirakka (blueberry pie, a childhood favorite), hernekeitto (pea soup with pork, every Wednesday in the army with pannukakku).

[Darienne]

Thank you so much EsaK.  I'll look all these items up and see what I can make.  Just part way through watching a video for making Squeaky Cheese.  (Easier for me to say than leipajuusto.) (And I don't know how to make an a umlaut.  And please don't tell me how.)

Thanks.

[gfron1]

@CatPoet was my go to source for all things in that region during my trip last December. 

[Smithy]

Ah, leipäjuusto (bread cheese)!  There is now a brand of cheese sold in northern Minnesota by the name of Juusto.  It's a small flat brick that you bake before slathering over bread.  So far we've tried the smoked and the un-smoked version and liked both.  I hadn't realized the source of the name.  Darienne, I know that border makes a difference in what's available, but since it's in our neck of the continent it may also be in yours.

 

@EsaK, thank you also for that description of and recipe for pulla/nisu/korvapuusti.

[Darienne]

6 hours ago, EsaK said:

For karjalanpiirakka, a recipe would be for example 200g cold water, 4g salt, 135g rye flour, 160g wheat flour, 25g butter. For the rice/porridge, 400g water, 340g porridge rice, 1600-1800g whole milk, 6g salt. There's probably a certain way of getting the pies together. If someone is interested in the method I can try find it out.

 

Didn't even recognize the word when you posted it.  I would be delighted to know how to put the pies together if you can find this out.  Thanks, EsaK

[EsaK]

Now that I thought about it, a video will show the actual method much better than I could ever describe in words. The below clip seemed to show the technique of assembling that's said to be "the right one". Make them as thin as possible (with the help of pasta machine if you wish!), slather a tablespoon of porridge on it, and then go do the finger work (the lady seems to have done those a few times before, judging from the speed at which she goes). Bake in as high temperature as you got, brush with melted butter and rest under a cloth to soften. And, in my opinion, eat with a mix of hard boiled eggs and butter, aka egg butter (munavoi)! 

 

Also, don't put the dough into fridge as it'll harden, so use plenty of flour to avoid sticking. And the dough could be made even with 10 rye to 3 wheat, or something like 3 rye to 2-3 wheat. I imagine the more rye you put in there, the closer you get to what it originally was. 

 

Happy to help if I can!

 

  

[Thanks for the Crepes]

That is a lovely video @EsaK! Thank you for sharing this peek into a Finnish home and their food culture.

 

The wood-fired oven, the adorable dog, the family participation, the experienced and deft hands of the older lady, and best of all, she is passing it on to the beautiful younger lady. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@Darienne

 

Thanks for the link to the pannukakku recipe. It looks good and easy. I'll probably melt the butter in my baking pan after preheating the pan a while instead of melting butter on the stovetop to make it even easier, and I won't search out birch syrup either. I have some TJ's real maple on hand, and I'm looking forward to making this a lot.

 

If it tastes like crepes, you know I'm in. 

[ChocoMom]

I won't bother to post the Nisu recipe....it looks exactly like EsaK's.     I did find a few others while digging around....

Rieksa is a Finnish flat bread my hubby's grandma used to make, and passed on to my MIL. These recipes are old, so not converted to g's.

Oven: 350  Bake time: 25m

3c White Flour

1 1/2c Barley flour

3t. baking powder

1t baking soda

2c buttermilk

1/4 c sugar

2t salt

1/2 c shortening

Mix as for pie crust. Flatten in ungreased pan. Bake. ...  This is right out of the old book, as is. 

We always make the dough into a circle. and baked it on either a pizza stone, or a round pizza pan.

 

Another one was Joulu Limppu bread. Seems like we ate it around Christmas time.  (Not a clue what that translates to- as I am not the Finnish one.)    But, it makes 5 loaves.   There's some serious carb-loading going on here....  but it's right outta the book.

Oven: 400 for 20m, then 300 for 45m.

1 1/2 Qt warm water

10 large potatoes

3 c rye flour

3/4 c molasses salt

1 cake fresh yeast

1/4 Oleo

1/4 lb lard

white flour

Topping recipe (follows)

Cook and mash potatoes. Mix with warm water and rye flour and let sit overnight.  *I am assuming the potatoes are peeled.*

Dissolve yeast with small amount of warm water and add to rye flour and potato mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Knead in enough white flour so dough doesn't stick to hands. Let rise. Shape into loaves. Bake at 400 for 20m, the 300 for 45m.

Topping: While bread is still warm, spread with a mixture of butter, water, brown sugar and dark syrup which has been boiled. Runny mixture.

 

I can't make this stuff up. This is exactly how its written.  No measurements on the topping, so I guess- just wing it. ???

 

Grandma Saimi used to make Fish Head stew, Head Cheese, Blood Sausage, and Squeaky Cheese too. Don't know where those recipes are. Not sure that hubby would like me to resurrect the FIsh Head stew one, either. There was something he mentioned about fish eyes that grossed him out as a kid.

Now, Fish Mojakka is tolerable. If you want me to post that, I certainly will. The directions are a little on the long side, but if anyone wants it, I will be glad to post.

[Darienne]

Dear ChocoMom, thanks for the recipes.  And please, you can keep Fish Head stew, Head Cheese (DH is of French Canadian extract so already has had that one), Blood Sausage  and I have the Squeaky Cheese on fline.  No fish recipes necessary.  We already eat salmon so unless it's salmon, don't bother.  Very kind of you to offer though...

 

Hi ThanksfortheCrepes...you may have TJ's maple syrup...there are no TJs in Canada...but our maple syrup is the result of DH's helping hands and is straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.   Mostly unsaleable for some superficial reason, but excellent.

 

Hi EsaK.  Thanks for the video and all the other help.

And thanks to all the others for help.  I'll get at it all when life here quiets down.  Now that's funny.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Darienne (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

The pancakes sound just like what we used to call "Dutch Babies" in Seattle.  And when I google Dutch Baby I find that it is based on a German puffed pancake (which is probably very similar to a Finnish puffed pancake), but the name was invented at a restaurant that started serving them in Seattle in the early 1900s -- ya learn sumpin every day.    

 

Limpa in Sweden is a rye bread and Jule is Yule or Christmas -- so a  Joulu Limppu would probably be a Finnish Christmas rye bread.

 

Loved that video.  Can't imagine what the little breads stuffed with porridge taste like -- would love to go to THEIR house to find out!

[Darienne]

5 minutes ago, SylviaLovegren said:

The pancakes sound just like what we used to call "Dutch Babies" in Seattle.  And when I google Dutch Baby I find that it is based on a German puffed pancake (which is probably very similar to a Finnish puffed pancake), but the name was invented at a restaurant that started serving them in Seattle in the early 1900s -- ya learn sumpin every day.    

 

Pannukakku has more eggs and more milk to start with.  Haven't googles German puffed pancake. 

I also cannot imagine the stuffed breads with porridge, but my young friend LOVES them beyond belief and she's a dessert lover for one thing...so I have to make them for sure.  They don't sound particularly tasty to me.