Bookmark us

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Finnish

Finland: Oven-Baked Mashed Potatoes (Perunasoselaatikko)

A traditional Finnish treatment for mashed potatoes, perunasoselaatikko is often seen as a side dish on Christmastime tables in Finland, where it's served with baked ham. It makes an excellent accompaniment for roasts and stews.

The enthusiastic whipping involved makes these potatoes come out as a very light and delicate dish, just one step away from a soufflé (another egg and a little more cream would make all the difference). The whole business puffs up a little in the oven and develops lovely crispy crackly crevasses and browned bits on the top if you've buttered it enough.

Click on "read more" for the recipe.

Finland: Karelian Ragout (Karjalan Paisti)

This excellent slow-cook ragout or stew combining beef, pork and lamb is native to Finland's rural Karelia region. There, householders would assemble the dish and put it to simmer slowly at the back of a well-banked wood-burning stove while they tended to other work.

The stew features that favorite Finnish seasoning, allspice, in a relatively unusual configuration: as the main seasoning in a meat dish. The long, relaxed cooking process produces perfectly tender meat, and lots of a flavorsome gravy that goes perfectly with the preferred Finnish accompaniments for this kind of meal -- especially perunasoselaatikko, the famous oven-baked mashed potatoes. Slices of a good sour rye bread on the side would go well, too, and a traditional Finnish fruit soup for dessert would be the perfect completion to the meal.

Click "read more" for the recipe.

Finland

Syndicate content

Live European recipe advice