Bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

is a

staple food A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is served with almost every meal and many different types are produced domestically. In the Swedish-speaking

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

, there are other varieties of bread, the majority of which owe much to

Swedish cuisine Swedish cuisine () is the traditional food of Sweden. Due to Sweden's large north-to-south expanse, there are regional differences between the cuisine of North and South Sweden. Historically, in the far north, meats such as reindeer, and other ...

Rye bread

Rye bread Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions 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 f ...

(''ruisleipä'', ''ruisreikäleipä'', ''reikäleipä'', ''jälkiuunileipä'' or ''näkkileipä'' and ''hapanleipä'' () in

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

) is a dark, sour bread produced in quantity in Finland. It is very popular, like in other Nordic cuisines. Compared with the more internationally popular

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

style, Finnish rye-breads tend to be less oily or moist in texture. The most common types of Finnish rye bread are not sweet nor do they contain spices like

caraway Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Etymology The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been ...

, unlike Swedish rye breads. As well as traditional breads more modern, softer breads exist as well these days.

Limppu

Traditional Eastern Finnish rye bread is called ''limppu''. The closest translation to English would be "loaf" (although ''limppu'' is always round and bulbous, while rectangular loaves are available). This bread is dark, sour in taste, dense, heavy and comparatively dry. Its mouthfeel still remains soft enough to be bitten off easily, and leavening is easily discernible by eye. This kind of bread was usually produced at steady intervals throughout the year, whereas Western Finnish tradition stressed less frequent baking sessions combined with long-term storage. ''Limppu'' is common in the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

due to high levels of Finnish immigration and may be found in many

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s and diners across the peninsula.

Reikäleipä

''Reikäleipä'' (), a traditional Western Finnish rye bread, is dried near the kitchen ceiling and preserved over the long winter. Nowadays ''reikäleipä'' is available in many forms and stages of aging throughout all of Finland, regardless of season.

Popular commercial rye bread

Vaasan Ruispala (lit. ''rye piece'') is Finland's most popular bread according to the company. It is similar to ''reikäleipä'' but caters for an easy single-portion meal with a smaller size and rectangular shape. It borrows from the German rye bread tradition with a more humid and greasier texture than is traditional in Finland, and is made as a pre-cut pair of two halves which preserves the humidity inside but can still be easily separated. Two competing products are

Fazer Fazer () is one of the largest corporations in the Finnish food industry. The company was founded by Karl Fazer in 1891, as a "French-Russian confectionery" in central Helsinki. Today, it employs over ten thousand people across Finland, Sweden, R ...

's Ruispuikulat (a newer competitor) which are oblong in shape, and Oululainen's Reissumies (preceding the Vaasan formulation by about a decade) which are round. Both are distinctly more traditional in formulation than Ruispala, mainly changing the size and shape of a traditional ''reikäleipä''.

Jälkiuunileipä

In western Finland, people used to bake a lot of bread at a time, but rarely. In the east, they used to bake less, but at least weekly. The old tradition was that all bread in the house for the year was baked over a few days, in a large oven that took a long time to cool. ''Jälkiuunileipä'' () could still be baked in the residual heat. The longer baking time in the lower temperature gives it a darker color, higher density and hardness than regular rye bread, comparable to a

fruit cake Fruitcake (or fruit cake or fruit bread) is a cake made with candied or dried fruit, nuts, and spices, and optionally soaked in spirits. In the United Kingdom, certain rich versions may be iced and decorated. Fruitcakes are typically served ...

. In addition to the traditional ''reikäleipä'' shape, there are also rectangular variations available.

Crispbread

Crispbread (''näkkileipä'') is leavened rye bread that is dried into a thin crisp. They are sometimes made using sourdough. Crispbread is very common throughout the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

and if stored properly will not spoil for a long time. A variant of crispbread is a thin sour rectangular crisp called ''hapankorppu''. Rectangular crispbread is often associated with schools and other institutions, for example the Koulunäkki and Kunto brands.

Wheat bread

Because traditionally

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

was not as abundant as rye or barley, wheat is mainly used for baking of pastry, scones, and ''

pulla Cardamom breads, including the Finnish (or ) and Swedish and , are a group of enriched breads or pastry flavored with cardamom. They are eaten throughout the year, typically with coffee or tea. Cardamom is a spice used in several Nordic count ...

''. Nowadays it's often combined with other types of flour to make things like

Karelian pasties Karelian pasties, Karelian pies or Karelian pirogs ( krl, kalittoja, singular ''kalitta''; Olonets Karelian: ''šipainiekku''; fi, karjalanpiirakat, singular ''karjalanpiirakka''; russian: карельский пирожок ''karelskiy pirozhok' ...

and

meat pies A meat pie is a pie with a filling of meat and often with other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide. Meat pies are usually baked, fried, or deep fried to brown them and develop the flavour through the Maillard reaction. Ma ...

Vesirinkeli

''Vesirinkeli'' () is a small ring of yeast leavened wheat bread which resembles a

bagel A bagel ( yi, בײגל, translit=beygl; pl, bajgiel; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into a roughly hand-sized ring from yeasted wheat dough that is first ...

. They are available in several different varieties.

Other breads

There are many varieties of breads throughout Finland, and here are some important types which do not fit other sections.

Oat bread

In 2019, Finland produced 1.19 million tonnes of

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...

(''kaura''). They are the most commonly produced

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

in Finland and bread based on oats is popular, although not as popular as rye breads. The most common use of oats in bread is in rolls, sometimes flat and pre-cut into two halves.

Potato bread

The

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

, although a late introduction to Finland, features heavily in the diet and has found its way into many kinds of breads. Usually dough made with potato will be very soft and the bread will be moister and fluffier than plain wheat or oat bread.

Christmas bread

There are several varieties of Christmas breads. Most are made in a similar way to a basic ''limppu'', however they typically include

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

and other Christmas time flavours like

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

aniseed Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and tar ...

and

Korppu

''Korppu'' is a dried, hard and crisp

rusk A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake, rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the UK, the name also refers to a whea ...

that resembles a small halved bread roll. The sweet versions are often sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. There are also variations of ''korppu'' which are totally flat and unleavened, usually made of rye or oats.

Rieska

''Rieska'' (pronounced ries.ka is unleavened, usually

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

-based, soft

flatbread A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread. Flatbreads ran ...

. Simple ''rieska'' contains only flour, salt, and water, but industrial bakeries usually use yeast as well. ''Rieska'' has many local varieties in different parts of Finland regarding ingredients and preparation. It is usually baked in the oven, or alternatively on a frying pan (like pancake) or even on a heated stone. The dough is sometimes made from rye or potato.

Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

''rieska'' is a traditional food in the

Ylivieska Ylivieska () is a town and municipality of Northern Ostrobothnia region, Finland. It has a population of (), and it serves as the administrative centre for Kalajokilaakso and Pyhäjokilaakso, an area with a population of about 90,000 inhabitant ...

area, and is made with milk instead of water.

Confectionery

Pulla

Pulla Cardamom breads, including the Finnish (or ) and Swedish and , are a group of enriched breads or pastry flavored with cardamom. They are eaten throughout the year, typically with coffee or tea. Cardamom is a spice used in several Nordic count ...

'' is a

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are rec ...

-flavoured, yeast-leavened sweetened bread, often served with coffee. The usual recipe is based on milk, sugar, wheat flour, butter, with yeast and a very small amount of salt as additives, and cardamom or saffron as spices. ''Pulla'' is similar to but drier than a

brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and ...

, as eggs are not added into the dough. In contrast to many other nationalities' sweetened breads, ''pulla'' isn't buttered. When flavored with cinnamon and sugar and cut into spirals before baking, it becomes ''korvapuusti'' (

cinnamon roll A cinnamon roll (also known as cinnamon bun, cinnamon swirl, cinnamon Danish and cinnamon snail) is a sweet roll commonly served in Northern Europe (mainly in Nordic countries, but also in Austria and Germany) and North America. In Sweden it is ...

Sokerikorppu

A ''korppu'' (see above) sweetened with sugar and spiced with cinnamon is called ''sokerikorppu''.

External links

Traditional Rye
Ruokatieto

References

*{{Cite book , last1=Tanttu , first1=Anna-Maiju , last2=Tanttu , first2=Juha , title=Food from Finland , publisher= Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava , year=1988 , location=Helsinki

Flatbreads