Porridges

The Finns & Porridges

Porridge of various kind has been one of the corner stones of Food. Filling the stomach nicely with a warm porridge on a cold day.

Porridge is not only a breakfast thing, but also eaten as a “välipala” or “iltapala”. Which means literally in-between-piece or evening-piece. The evening piece is eaten shortly before bedtime, because many Fins have lunch and dinner quite early i.e. at 11.00 and 17.00, so they are of course a little bit hungry shortly before they go to bed.

Often the porridge is decorated with a butter-eye (voi-silmä) or some berries. In particular lingonberries were in old times a typical add-on, as they could be stored well for winter in big casks. Today porridge is still very popular, but of course cereals and bread have a firm place on the breakfast table.

Porridges

Barley Porridge – Ohrapuuro

This is a very classical porridge for breakfast or as a late evening snack before going to bed. Due to the cold climate barley was one of the main grains in Finland for centuries. Barley was the most important food grain until the 1800s, when rye took its place. Rice replaced barley in cooking in Finland in the 1950s. Wheat was for a long time mostly imported from abroad and considered a delicacy for the rich people. Ingredients: 1 l Water 3 dl Fine barley flour ½ tsp Salt Be

silke943

14 hours ago1 min read

Oat Porridge – Kaurapuuro

This is THE classical Finnish breakfast. Nowadays, you find all kind of additions like berries, nuts, cottage cheese or similar. Every day care serves this to their kids for breakfast. It is even sometimes served at business meetings, if they are very early in the day. It is usually done with water and then topped with berries or cinnamon-sugar. Ingredients (for one bowl) 1 dl Oat Flakes 2 dl Water A pinch of salt Instructions: Mix the ingredients in a bowl. Put them into the

silke943

Jan 311 min read

Semolina Porridge – Mannapuuro

Semolina porridge is pretty popular in Finland. Often it is crowned with a butter-eye (some good dollop of butter into the middle of the bowl) or topped with sugar, berries, yam or honey. In old times (before the general health-food-wave), butter was a common Finnish expert and trade good to be sold. Butter usage was something special, so many old people remember fondly the butter-eye in their porridge. If you prefer a more healthy version add some fresh blueberries or lingon

silke943

Jan 251 min read