Suomi 100 - Runeberg's torte

Runeberg's Torte

The national poet of Finland, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, was born on 5th of February, 1804. The poet is known for the epic The Tales of Ensing Stål (written between 1848 and 1860) which contains tales from the war between Finland and Russia (1808-09). Runeberg's epic is a praise to Finnish heroism and the first poem 'Our Land' (Maamme) later became the Finnish National anthem.

To commemorate the birth of this great poet, the Finns bake the poet's favorite cake every year on his birthday (5th February). The cake is available in stores from late January to late February.

To honor Runeberg and Finland's 100th birthday, I decided to try out the poet's favorite dessert.

The recipe to this delicious and unique dessert can be found HERE.

SUOMI 100!

CONGRATULATIONS FINLAND!

Nuuksio national park 

In December 2017 Finland will celebrate its 100th birthday. A variety of events will be taking place throughout the year to mark this milestone. Being a Finnish citizen for a few years now, I have been exploring more of the culture of the country I now call home. I am feeling compelled to make an effort and get to know even more about this beautiful country. 

The thing I love the most is cooking. I am not perfect but when I have the time to cook I really put all the love and effort into it. It is something I do to relax and learn. So, I thought this could be a good way of doing my bit to celebrate Finland's most important milestone and get to know this country's  culinary traditions. 

This idea was strengthened even more when a dear colleague of mine gave me a present for Christmas. I received a rolling pin (kaulin) which is specially made to roll out Karelian rice pies.

Karelian pie rolling pin 'kaulin'

Then I got the idea to honor Finland's milestone by trying out one Finnish recipe per month. 

I have already listed a few very Finnish foods/desserts I could try:

Karelian (rice) Pies

Karelian Stew

Cabbage Rolls

Salmon Soup

Rye Bread

Sailor's Stew 

Blueberry Buns

Cinnamon & Cardamon buns

.... any other ideas of recipes I should try? Just drop a note here and I will have a look. I will be looking into traditional recipes in Finnish and will be explaining the process in English. I am open to any suggestions for my list and, of course, any tips from my Finnish friends who know and have tried some of these recipes. 

First up is the Karelian rice pies so go ahead and visit the SUOMI 100 page on the right-hand side of the blog to have a look and, why not, try it out yourselves. 

Enjoy!