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Picture heavy, beware. Thirteen pictures of traditional Finnish food.
Illustrated guide: How to make Karelian pasties
DISCLAIMER Karelian pasties, karjalanpiirakat, can be made in many different ways. This is one of them, the way my North-Karelian mother makes them. That does not mean that her way is the only right way, considering that her plentiful sisters (and the thousands of other Karelian women) also have their only right ways ;)
KARELIAN PASTIES, KARJALANPIIRAKAT
Rice filling
1 litremilk
2 dlrice
1 tspsalt
Put milk and rice in a cold saucepan and bring it to slow boil. Stir often, otherwise the porridge will stick to the saucepan. Let it cook for about one hour. Add salt. Let the porridge cool. The porridge should be "done", otherwise it will start to boil in the oven.
Note: The filling can also be barley porridge, or the best filling of them all: mashed potatoes. The mash should be quite stiff for this purpose though. My mother refuses to make potato pasties except for my birthday after I've begged her really hard and long for them :D. Potato pasties were made during the war when rice was not available.
Pasty dough
1 dlcold water
¾ tspsalt
1½ dlwheat flour
1 dlrye flour
Mix salt in water, add flours and mix dough with a wooden fork.
The dough doesn't have to be totally even at this point.
Lots and lots of (wheat) flour are needed to work the dough.
With an ordinary rolling pin, roll 1/3 of the dough to an even 2 mm thick sheet.
In inches that's "quite thin", about the thickness of twenty sheets of paper *grin*
With a thin rimmed glass, Winnie the Pooh or otherwise, cut circles out of the
sheet after having covered the rim with flour.
Now, this is the only special instrument needed for the pasties.
It's called "piirakkapulikka", but I think you can do without it, too.
Some people use a pasta machine for this also ;)
With a (special) rolling pin, roll the circles paper thin
and round by moving the rolling pin in circular movements over it.
Oh, and use a lot of flour, again.
There can't be no holes or tears, otherwise the
filling will leak out of the pasty in the oven.
With the help of a spoon or two and cold water,
spread an even layer of filling on the circles.
Turn the edges over the pasty and tuck it in neatly so that the filling won't leak.
My mother didn't allow me to take pictures of her hands doing the pinching, so I'll
just have to explain it: Turn the edges on top of the pasty by pinching it.
The pinching is done by placing both the middle and fore fingers against
the thumb so that the dough is in between (duh!). Do this simultaneously with both
hands, on either side of the pasty. Remember to tuck in the end of the pasty too!
Pinched pasties
Bake the pasties in 275C (527F, yes, that high!) for about
twenty minutes in the upper part of the oven. The pasties
are done when they are hard and make a hollow sound ;)
Nope, not done yet *grin*. Brush the pasties with butter and place
them in a bowl. Cover the bowl with wax paper, an oven mitten (*head desk*)
and a lid. The hard part is to wait for the pasties to soften a bit :(
A pasty is even better when eaten with egg-butter:
Egg butter
Mash four hard boiled eggs with a dollop of margarine or butter. Add salt, if you want. Done.
Some or all of the egg can be replaced with cottage cheese.
YUM!!!!
Illustrated guide: How to make Karelian pasties
DISCLAIMER Karelian pasties, karjalanpiirakat, can be made in many different ways. This is one of them, the way my North-Karelian mother makes them. That does not mean that her way is the only right way, considering that her plentiful sisters (and the thousands of other Karelian women) also have their only right ways ;)
KARELIAN PASTIES, KARJALANPIIRAKAT
Rice filling
1 litremilk
2 dlrice
1 tspsalt
Put milk and rice in a cold saucepan and bring it to slow boil. Stir often, otherwise the porridge will stick to the saucepan. Let it cook for about one hour. Add salt. Let the porridge cool. The porridge should be "done", otherwise it will start to boil in the oven.
Note: The filling can also be barley porridge, or the best filling of them all: mashed potatoes. The mash should be quite stiff for this purpose though. My mother refuses to make potato pasties except for my birthday after I've begged her really hard and long for them :D. Potato pasties were made during the war when rice was not available.
Pasty dough
1 dlcold water
¾ tspsalt
1½ dlwheat flour
1 dlrye flour
Mix salt in water, add flours and mix dough with a wooden fork.
The dough doesn't have to be totally even at this point.
Lots and lots of (wheat) flour are needed to work the dough.
With an ordinary rolling pin, roll 1/3 of the dough to an even 2 mm thick sheet.
In inches that's "quite thin", about the thickness of twenty sheets of paper *grin*
With a thin rimmed glass, Winnie the Pooh or otherwise, cut circles out of the
sheet after having covered the rim with flour.
Now, this is the only special instrument needed for the pasties.
It's called "piirakkapulikka", but I think you can do without it, too.
Some people use a pasta machine for this also ;)
With a (special) rolling pin, roll the circles paper thin
and round by moving the rolling pin in circular movements over it.
Oh, and use a lot of flour, again.
There can't be no holes or tears, otherwise the
filling will leak out of the pasty in the oven.
With the help of a spoon or two and cold water,
spread an even layer of filling on the circles.
Turn the edges over the pasty and tuck it in neatly so that the filling won't leak.
My mother didn't allow me to take pictures of her hands doing the pinching, so I'll
just have to explain it: Turn the edges on top of the pasty by pinching it.
The pinching is done by placing both the middle and fore fingers against
the thumb so that the dough is in between (duh!). Do this simultaneously with both
hands, on either side of the pasty. Remember to tuck in the end of the pasty too!
Pinched pasties
Bake the pasties in 275C (527F, yes, that high!) for about
twenty minutes in the upper part of the oven. The pasties
are done when they are hard and make a hollow sound ;)
Nope, not done yet *grin*. Brush the pasties with butter and place
them in a bowl. Cover the bowl with wax paper, an oven mitten (*head desk*)
and a lid. The hard part is to wait for the pasties to soften a bit :(
A pasty is even better when eaten with egg-butter:
Egg butter
Mash four hard boiled eggs with a dollop of margarine or butter. Add salt, if you want. Done.
Some or all of the egg can be replaced with cottage cheese.
YUM!!!!