Mämmi (; sv, label=

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, memma) is a traditional

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 ...

dessert, eaten around

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

. Mämmi is traditionally made of water, rye flour, powdered malted rye, seasoned salt and dried, powdered

Seville orange Bitter orange, Seville orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange is the citrus tree ''Citrus'' × ''aurantium'' and its fruit. It is native to Southeast Asia and has been spread by humans to many parts of the world. It is probably a cross bet ...

zest Zest may refer to: Common usage * Zest (ingredient), the outer peel of a citrus fruit ** Zester, a tool for preparing zest ** Twist (cocktail garnish), a piece of zest * Zest (positive psychology), a component of character Brands * Zest (brand ...

. The mixture is then left to sweeten naturally, before being baked in an oven until set, by when the colour and flavour has developed due to the

Maillard reaction The Maillard reaction ( ; ) is a chemical reaction between Amino acid, amino acids and Reducing sugar, reducing sugars that gives browned food its distinctive flavor. Searing, Seared steaks, fried dumplings, cookies and other kinds of biscuits, b ...

. After baking, the mämmi is chilled for three to four days before serving. Unlike traditional mämmi, which is left to sweeten naturally, commercially made mämmi is usually seasoned with dark molasses. Traditional mämmi has an aromatic and sweet flavour, consisting of just 2% sugar or less, whereas commercially produced mämmi can contain as much as 20% sugar and is therefore much different in flavour. Mämmi has up to 10% protein and is rich in trace elements. Traditionally, mämmi was stored in small boxes made of

birch bark Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''. The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, craftin ...

called ''tuokkonen'' or ''rove'', the appearance of which is now mimicked by commercial packaging. Typically, mämmi is eaten cold, with either milk or cream and sugar, and less commonly with vanilla sauce. Traditionally, it was also eaten on sliced bread as a spread. There is a Finnish society for mämmi founded by Ahmed Ladarsi, the former chef at the Italian Embassy in Helsinki, who has developed around fifty recipes containing mämmi. There are a number of websites with recipes using mämmi, most of them Finnish. Mämmi is also used as a minor ingredient in a mämmi beer by Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas.

History

Mämmi was first mentioned during the 16th century, in a dissertation (in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

). It is claimed that it has been eaten in southwestern Finland ever since the 13th century. Traditionally mämmi is eaten during the

season. Today,

Finns Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...

seldom make mämmi at home and most modern mämmi is factory-made. Traditional versions of mämmi are sold in Finland with the labels ''perinteinen'' (traditional) or ''luomu'' (organic). Some people of Finnish descent in North America and Australia still make mämmi at home.

References

External links

Nutrition of Mämmi (with malt), Sweetened Malt Porridge, Finnish Easter PuddingMämmi Maestro. Ahmed Ladarsi is an expert on a Finnish "delicacy"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mammi Finnish desserts Easter food Rye-based dishes Malt National dishes Citrus dishes