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 (nutrition), diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of ...

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 Bot ...

. 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 an ...

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and 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 1,580 km2, and a populat ...

, 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 ...

(''ruisleipä'', ''ruisreikäleipä'', ''reikäleipä'', ''jälkiuunileipä'' or ''näkkileipä'' and ''hapanleipä'' () in Finnish) 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 **Ge ...

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, 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 ...

due to high levels of Finnish immigration and may be found in many pubs 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'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. 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''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sw ...

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''. Nowadays it's often combined with other types of flour to make things like Karelian pasties and meat pies.

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 fi ...

. 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 co ...

(''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 Uni ...

, 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,

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, breakf ...

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 t ...

and caraway.

Korppu

''Korppu'' is a dried, hard and crisp rusk 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 p ...

-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 r ...

. 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 digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

''rieska'' is a traditional food in the Ylivieska area, and is made with milk instead of water.

Confectionery

Pulla

'' Pulla'' 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 ar ...

-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, 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 ...

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