Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

« Finnish whipped porridge with lingonberries and milk. »

There are few foods that are so basic as to transcend their lower station on the food chain and become something just about anyone and of which everyone has fond childhood memories. Porridge is just such a food. It's a hot and filling treat on a cold winter's day which can be either sweet with fruit or savoury with meat and cheese. Finland is a cold place for 9 months a year so it's no big surprise that porridge is popular here.

I was somewhat amused that aside from the Helsingin Sanomat running an article about porridge in September, two of the 'gourmet' sort of magazines in Helsinki have also printed articles about porridge in the past two months. People out in the countryside must be wondering what kind of dorks live in the cities where porridge needs to be rediscovered. Of course, in true cityfolk fashion, some of the recipes try to doll up a decidedly proletarian dish that no modern urbanite hipster would want to be caught preparing or eating. The attitude towards porridge is much the same in the US, though it is thought more of as a wholesome food for children, rather than adults.

Porridge is much more than a breakfast food in Finland which is both interesting and strange. The mannasuurimo, cream of wheat more or less, can be whipped and served with milk as a dessert. Latvia also features this in their national cuisine so I suspect that it is a Baltic regional specialty. I never even knew you could whip cream of wheat into such a pretty, billowy mound. I had tasted the vispipuuro from the supermarket where it comes ready-made in a plastic dish but I don't know how they can be compared as the texture and taste are very different.

One new thing I tried was the spelt manna/cream of wheat. Spelt is a sort of ur-wheat that has begun being cultivated again because it is more hardy and disease resistant. I don't know that I can go back to the plain stuff again as it has a slightly nutty flavour that is really, really good. If you can get your hands on a sack of it, I highly recommend giving it a try.

Aside from the whipped porridge, I gave a pancake recipe with mannasuurimo a try and also found it excellent. What's not to love about milk, eggs, sugar, spice and porridge baked together? There are also porridges made from rolled oats, rice, rye, potato and barley. Rice porridge is very traditional around the holidays and is served with fruit, cinnamon and milk.

I'd bet that porridge mixed with onions, carrots, blue cheese, sausage with a bit of mustard and lingonberry sauce then baked like a casserole would be pretty delicious and a nice change from the usual potato accompaniment.

A non-food related aside; I've had a week from hell at work so I've not answered much email in about 2-3 weeks now and my apologies to those expecting replies. (If anyone has a tale of woe regarding the absolutely abominable enterprise-level 'support' Apple sells with their systems in Finland, talk to me. Who knew that 30-minute response time would translate to 4+ weeks waiting for a replacement Xraid? ) If I survive the office pikkujoulu and subsequent hangover, I'll try to answer email and such soon.

Debessmanna / puolukka vispipuuro / whipped cranberry porridge

Makes: 2 servings
Time: about 15 minutes
Source: The Cuisine of Latvia

• 75g or 2.65oz lingonberries or cranberries or red currants (or just use about 3/4 cup berry juice)
• 2 dl or .85 cup water
• 1/2 dl or 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 dl or 1/4 cup mannasurimo/semolina/cream of wheat

1. Rinse cranberries. Crush and squeeze out juice. Place cranberry solids in a saucepan, cover with water, boil for five minutes and strain.
2. Add sugar. Gradually add semolina/cream of wheat. Heat until the semolina thickens, then add cranberry juice. Pour mixture into a bowl and cool rapidly.
3. Whip mixture until it becomes light and airy and has doubled or tripled in volume. Serve in bowls with cold milk.

« Pannukakku made with porridge and served with cranberry sauce and whipped cream. »

Ahvenanmaan pannukakku / Åland pancake

Makes: 1 9-in/23cm pancake
Time: about 10 minutes
Source: Ruoka & Viini, nro. 33

• 2 dl or .85 cup prepared manna- or rice porridge
• 5 dl or 2.1 cups milk
• 1,5 dl or 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 dl or 7 tablespoons sugar (reduce by half if you want a less sweet pancake)
• 2 teaspoons finely ground cardamom
• 3 eggs, whisked together

1. Heat oven to 225C/435F.
2. Mix porridge, milk, flour, salt, sugar and cardamom in a medium bowl. Blend in the whisked eggs with a fork until smooth.
3. Pour batter into a buttered pan and bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. The pancake first cooks around the edges and puffs up, then it develops puffy domes in the center. When these rise and join together, the pancake is done.