Kalakukko is a traditional Finnish dish from the region of Savonia made from fish (e.g., perch, vendace, loach, smelt, or salmon) baked inside a loaf of bread. Kalakukko is especially popular in

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cu ...

, capital city of the

Northern Savonia North Savo (or Northern Savonia; fi, Pohjois-Savo; sv, Norra Savolax) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the r ...

region. Kuopio is home to many kalakukko bakeries. The city also hosts an annual kalakukko baking contest.

Flour

Traditionally, kalakukko is prepared with rye flour (like

ruisleipä Bread is a staple food of Finland. It is served with almost every meal and many different types are produced domestically. In the Swedish-speaking region of Åland, there are other varieties of bread, the majority of which owe much to Swedi ...

), although wheat is often added to make the dough more pliable. The filling consists of

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...

and

bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...

, and is seasoned with

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

(unless the pork is already salted). After being baked for several hours, traditionally in a

masonry oven A masonry oven, colloquially known as a brick oven or stone oven, is an oven consisting of a baking chamber made of fireproof brick, concrete, stone, clay (clay oven), or cob (cob oven). Though traditionally wood-fired, coal-fired ovens were ...

, kalakukko looks much like a large loaf of

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 ...

. If prepared correctly, bones of the fish soften and the meat and fish juices cook thoroughly inside the bread. This results in a moist filling.

Fish

Traditionally, the fish used in kalakukko is either vendace ( fi, muikku), or

European perch The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply th ...

( fi, ahven). Sometimes

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...

is used. In southern Savonia the vendace is advocated as the only fish for the true kalakukko whereas in the northern parts of the province the same is said about the perch. Instead of fish, combinations of potato and pork or

rutabaga Rutabaga (; North American English) or swede (British English and some Commonwealth English) is a root vegetable, a form of ''Brassica napus'' (which also includes rapeseed). Other names include Swedish turnip, neep (Scots), and turnip (Scott ...

and pork are also used. The appropriate drink to accompany kalakukko is

buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most m ...

or ''piimä''. Kalakukko will keep for a long time when unopened. It used to be a practical lunch for workers away from home.

Baking

Kalakukko can be reheated in an oven. It takes about one hour in if the size of the kalakukko is about . It can also be eaten cold. The usual way to eat kalakukko is to open the top with a sharp knife, eat the top with butter, and then slice some of the bread making the hole on the top larger and eat it with the filling. Some Finnish speakers today find the name kalakukko somewhat amusing, as ''kala'' is Finnish for "fish" and ''kukko'' is "rooster", leading to the often used but non-morphological translation, "fish cock". However, the archaic form of ''kukko'' is derived from the same root as ''kukkaro'' (purse). ''Kukko'' also might come from a Finnish word of ''kukkula'', hill, because the dish is elevated. Kalakukko obtained Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status in Europe in 2002.EU Profile-Kalakukko
(accessed 19 July 2010)

Hanna Partanen's kalakukko bakery

Hanna Partanen - kalakukkoleipomo - Kasarmikatu - Kuopio - m

Hanna Partanen's (1891–1969) kalakukko bakery in

was Finland's most famous kalakukko bakery at its time. Famous guests have included American presidents and Soviet leaders along with

President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as prime minister ...

. The bakery still bakes kalakukko by hand from Finnish materials in the same central location at Kasarmikatu 15 in Kuopio. The bakery is currently run by Hanna's grandson Lauri Partanen and employs 10 to 20 people depending on the season."Hanna Partasen kalakukko elää ja voi hyvin"
(in English: "Hanna Partanen's kalakukko is alive and well"), YLE 29 November 2010. Accessed on 21 September 2017.

References

External links