Sami cuisine
Encyclopedia
Sami cuisine is the cuisine of peoples from the Sápmi territory of the Sami people
, which spans Norway
, Sweden
, Finland
and Russia
. Its traditional cuisine
of each area has individual traits. Traditionally, the cuisine of Sápmi has been based on local materials, like fish
, game
, reindeer
and berries
. Berries
have been important food, because other kinds of vegetables were not available during the long winters. Nowadays berries are parts of delicate sauces and desserts. The most valued berry of Sápmi is the cloudberry
. Milk
consumption was not very common. In eastern parts of Sápmi, reindeer herding became a way of life in the 19th century and, before that, people were hunters
and fishers
. These days reindeer is essential for Sami cuisine, but game, fish and wild birds are also important. The cuisine of Sàpmi consists of a variety of dishes which stem from differences in geography, culture and climate.
and game meats are staple food
s, with literally thousands of recipes and flavors - although spices other than salt are very rare. The local cuisine varies a lot depending of access to food. Sàpmi's history with its many cultural influences has led to an array of dishes. Most dishes are made of reindeer meat, although some also are made of moose or sheep. Smoking
and drying
have historically been used to preserve meat and fish.
, Common whitefish
, Perch
, Roach
, Char
Fishes of the coastal areas of Sàpmi:Cod
bread. The Suovaskebab can be found at festivals and fairs in northern Scandinavia. These days the old food culture is evolving and adapting. Fast food
restaurants in Sápmi can have reindeer hamburger on their menus.
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
, which spans Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Its traditional cuisine
Cuisine
Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...
of each area has individual traits. Traditionally, the cuisine of Sápmi has been based on local materials, like fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, game
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
, reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
and berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
. Berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
have been important food, because other kinds of vegetables were not available during the long winters. Nowadays berries are parts of delicate sauces and desserts. The most valued berry of Sápmi is the cloudberry
Cloudberry
Rubus chamaemorus is a rhizomatous herb native to alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest, producing amber-colored edible fruit similar to the raspberry or blackberry...
. Milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
consumption was not very common. In eastern parts of Sápmi, reindeer herding became a way of life in the 19th century and, before that, people were hunters
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and fishers
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. These days reindeer is essential for Sami cuisine, but game, fish and wild birds are also important. The cuisine of Sàpmi consists of a variety of dishes which stem from differences in geography, culture and climate.
Meat dishes
Reindeer, fishFish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and game meats are staple food
Staple food
A staple food is one that is eaten regularly and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a diet, and that supplies a high proportion of energy and nutrient needs. Most people live on a diet based on one or more staples...
s, with literally thousands of recipes and flavors - although spices other than salt are very rare. The local cuisine varies a lot depending of access to food. Sàpmi's history with its many cultural influences has led to an array of dishes. Most dishes are made of reindeer meat, although some also are made of moose or sheep. Smoking
Smoking (cooking technique)
Smoking is the process of flavoring, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to the smoke from burning or smoldering plant materials, most often wood...
and drying
Drying (food)
Drying is a method of food preservation that works by removing water from the food, which inhibits the growth of microorganisms and hinders quality decay. Drying food using sun and wind to prevent spoilage has been practised since ancient times, and was the earliest form of food curing...
have historically been used to preserve meat and fish.
- Bierggojubttsa- A soup containing meat, potatoes, carrots or other root vegetables.
- Suovasbierggo- Smoked meat, eaten as it is or friedFryingFrying is the cooking of food in oil or another fat, a technique that originated in ancient Egypt around 2500 BC. Chemically, oils and fats are the same, differing only in melting point, but the distinction is only made when needed. In commerce, many fats are called oils by custom, e.g...
- GåjkkebierggoJerky (food)Jerky is lean meat that has been trimmed of fat, cut into strips, and then been dried to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt, to prevent bacteria from developing on the meat before sufficient moisture has been removed. The word "jerky" is a bastardization of the...
- Dried meat, eaten as it is or in soup with potato and rice. - Bierggomales- Cooked meat of various kind, chops and sides are common. Also tongueTongueThe tongue is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. It is the primary organ of taste , as much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly...
, marrow bones, liverLiverThe liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
are a part. The dish is more like a five-dish dinner, with the various parts served in order with hot brothBrothBroth is a liquid food preparation, typically consisting of either water or an already flavored stock, in which bones, meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered. Broth is used as a basis for other edible liquids such as soup, gravy, or sauce. It can be eaten alone or with garnish...
from the pot. - Guorppa- A kind of sausage made of grounded meat wrapped in omentumOmentumOmentum may refer to:* greater omentum* lesser omentum...
. - Mallemàrffe- Blood sausage
- Slåbbå- Blood pancakes
- Sautéed reindeer
- Smoked reindeer
- Mat salong (eating salmon)SalmonSalmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
Fish dishes
Fishes in the mountains and forest areas of Sàpmi:SalmonSalmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
, Common whitefish
Common whitefish
Coregonus lavaretus is a species of freshwater whitefish, in the family Salmonidae. It is the type species of its genus Coregonus.There are widely different concepts about the number of species in the genus Coregonus and the delimitation of the species Coregonus lavaretus.-Lavaret:In a narrow...
, Perch
Perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...
, Roach
Roach (fish)
The Common Roach is a freshwater and brackish water fish native to most of Europe and western Asia...
, Char
Salvelinus
Salvelinus is a genus of salmonid fish often called char or charr; some species are called "trout". Salvelinus is a member of the Salmoninae subfamily of the Salmonidae family. Charr may be identified by light cream pink or red spots over a darker body. Scales tend to be small, with 115-200 along...
Fishes of the coastal areas of Sàpmi:Cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
- Sàllteguolle- Salted fish, either gravsaltedGravlaxGravlax or gravad lax , gravet laks , gravlaks , graavilohi , graavilõhe , graflax is a Nordic dish consisting of raw salmon, cured in salt, sugar, and dill...
or hevay salted. - SuovasguolleSmoked fishSmoked fish are fish that have been cured by smoking.Foods have been smoked by humans throughout history. Originally this was done as a preservative...
- Smoked fish - Guollemales- Cooked fish of any kind.
- Dried fish of different kinds
Bread
- GàhkkoFlatbreadA flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened: made without yeast or sourdough culture: although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as pita bread....
- Soft flatbread, baked in a frying pan or on a flat stone. - Ståmpå- LoafLoafA loaf is a shape, usually rounded or oblong, mass of food. It may refer to a bread, or meatloaf.The term "loaf" sometimes refers to "head" from the rhyming slang "loaf of bread" ....
- GàrrpaTunnbrödTunnbröd is the Swedish version of flatbread. Tunnbröd can be soft or crisp, and comes in many variants depending on choice of grain, leavening agent and rolling pin. The dough is made from any combination of wheat, barley and rye.Soft tunnbröd is commonly used as a wrap for other food, not...
- Thin, crusty bread.
Desserts
- Jåbmå - Leafs of Mountain sorrelOxyria digynaOxyria digyna a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. It is common in the tundra of Arctic...
cooked to a stew, usually served with sugar and milk. - Guompa - angelicaGarden AngelicaAngelica archangelica, commonly known as Garden Angelica, Holy Ghost, Wild Celery, and Norwegian angelica, is a biennial plant from the Apiaceae family Apiaceae family, formerly known as Umbelleferae...
mixed with milk and left in barrels to ferment. - Cloudberrys - Eaten both fresh and as jam. Cloudberry jam goes well warm with ice cream.
- Coffee with cheese
New cooking
In the last decades new influences have been introduced in traditional Sami cooking. A well-known dish of this cross-cooking is the Suovaskebab, which consists of sliced suovasbierggo, cucumber, salad and garlic dressing in a pitaPita
Pita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
bread. The Suovaskebab can be found at festivals and fairs in northern Scandinavia. These days the old food culture is evolving and adapting. Fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
restaurants in Sápmi can have reindeer hamburger on their menus.