Karelian pasties
Encyclopedia
South Karelia
South Karelia is a region of Finland. It borders to the regions of Kymenlaakso, Southern Savonia, North Karelia and to Russia. The term "South Karelia" might also be used to refer to the southern parts of the entire Karelia — the Region of South Karelia is termed "South" because it is the...
n dialect of Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
: karjalanpiirakat, singular karjalanpiirakka; North Karelia
North Karelia
North Karelia is a region in eastern Finland. It borders to the regions of Kainuu, Northern Savonia, Southern Savonia, South Karelia and to Russia.The city of Joensuu is the centre of the North Karelia region.- Municipalities :...
n dialect of Finnish: karjalanpiiraat, singular karjalanpiiras; , singular kalittoa; Olonets Karelian: šipainiekku) are traditional pasties
Pasty
A pasty , sometimes known as a pastie or British pasty in the United States, is a filled pastry case, associated in particular with Cornwall in Great Britain. It is made by placing the uncooked filling on a flat pastry circle, and folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the edge at the side or top...
from the region of Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
. Today they are eaten throughout Finland.
The oldest traditional pasties usually had a rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
crust, but the North Karelian and Ladoga Karelian variants also had wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
alongside of rye to improve the baking characteristics of the available rye bread
Rye bread
Rye bread is a type of bread made with various percentages of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat flour...
s. The common fillings of this era were barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
and talkkuna. The 19th century first introduced potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
and buckwheat
Buckwheat
Buckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...
as new fillings, and later due to trade, also rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
and millet
Millet
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
.
Nowadays in the most familiar and common recipe the pasties are made from a thin rye crust with a filling of rice. Butter, often mixed with boiled egg (egg butter or munavoi), is spread over the hot pasties before eating.
Karjalanpiirakka have Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG)
Protected Geographical Status
Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...
status in Europe.
See also
- Finnish cuisine
- Karelian Hot PotKarelian hot potThe Karelian hot pot or Karelian stew is a traditional meat stew originating from the region of Karelia . It is commonly prepared using a combination of pork and beef, but lamb can also be used...
- KalakukkoKalakukkoKalakukko is a traditional food from the Finnish region of Savonia made from fish baked inside a loaf of bread. The Cornish pasty from Cornwall has the same basic idea of complete packed lunch. Kalakukko is very polular food in Savonia head city Kuopio. There is even Finland "Kalakukko" competition...
- MämmiMämmiMämmi is a traditional Finnish Easter dessert. The Swedish language name for it is memma.Mämmi is made from water, rye flour, and powdered rye malt, seasoned with dark molasses, salt, and dried powdered Seville orange peel. The mixture is then allowed to go through a slow natural sweetening...
- KhachapuriKhachapuriKhachapuri is a filled bread dish from Georgia. The bread is leavened and allowed to rise, and is shaped in various ways. The filling contains cheese , eggs and other ingredients....
External links
- Karelian pasties recipe at WikibooksWikibooksWikibooks is a Wiki hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation for the creation of free content textbooks and annotated texts that anyone can edit....
Cookbook - Karelian pasties recipe and more