Finnish Rye Bread with Homemade Buttermilk Cheese - Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular bread in Finland? ›

Ruisleipä (rye bread) is a dark sourdough rye bread produced extensively in Finland. It is the most popular type of bread in Finland. It is a staple in Finnish cuisine, and holds the status of the national food, as determined by a 2017 vote.

It's a dark, flat sourdough bread made from a few very simple ingredients. The tradition of the rye bread started over 2000 years ago when Finnish agriculture was not yet fully developed, and the climate restricted farmers to growing only crops that are able to ripen fast. Rye grains were perfect for that!

Rye bread, known as ruisleipä, is a popular dark and sour bread in Finland, distinguishing itself from German rye breads by its less greasy and moist texture and differs from Swedish rye breads by not being sweet and lacking spices like caraway.

If you cut into a bread with a high % of rye flour too early, it may be gummy and have an unpleasant texture. Therefore, recipes often recommend letting it rest 1-2 days so the crumb can set up[2] and moisture can distribute within the bread.

Porridges. The Finnish breakfast traditionally includes a substantial portion of porridge. Rolled oats, rye or multi-grain porridge are most common. However, there are other options such as the milk-based mannapuuro (semolina-milk porridge) and helmipuuro (starch grain-milk porridge).

Jokes aside, typical breakfast is bread (often rye bread) with something on top of it (usually cucumber, cold cuts or cheese) or oatmeal, though many (like my grandfather!) enjoy muesli as well. Adults tend to drink coffee or tea with their breakfast, though there's often a glass of juice too.

Latvian rye bakers, whom many Europeans regard as the world's best, are known for their dark, dense loaves, complex sweet-sour flavor profiles and sophisticated centuries-old techniques for controlling rye's quirky chemistry.

In Israel, rye bread is very popular due to the large Jewish population of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. It is popular with Israelis of Middle Eastern and North African Jewish descent (Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews) as well. It is also commonly used in restaurant kitchens and is a staple at many bakeries.

Ruisleipä is extremely nutritious

Not only is there additional fiber in rye flour, it's also packed with nutrients.

Bread cheese (Finnish: leipäjuusto or juustoleipä; Meänkieli: kahvijuusto; Swedish: kaffeost or brödost), known in the United States as Finnish squeaky cheese, is a Finnish fresh cheese traditionally made from cow's colostrum. In America, cow's milk is generally used but can also be made with goat milk.

How do you eat Finnish bread? ›

How do you eat Finnish bread? Finnish bread is incredibly versatile. It can be enjoyed at any meal, often served with butter, cheese, cold cuts, or paired with traditional toppings like pickles and salmon. Some Finns even incorporate it into sweet treats like cinnamon rolls.

The long fermentation helps develop the sour, tangy taste that is a hallmark of Finnish rye bread (some recipes use a shorter fermentation period).

Those white spots are mold… it usually means that the bread bag, or whatever container you store the bread in, was not properly sealed and this allowed mold to grow on the bread. Note that whether we are talking about white spots, or light green or yellow furry sections or worse, please do NOT eat the bread.

Once your bread has finished baking, remove the lid to your Pullman pan (if used) and let sit on a wire rack until cool to the touch. Gently remove the bread from the pan, wrap in a kitchen towel or baker's linen (couche) and let it rest on the counter for 24-48 hours.

Kneading and baking

There's not much point in extensive kneading, because there's so little gluten to develop in a rye bread dough. Nevertheless, it's worth making sure everything is well mixed.

Baking took place once a week in eastern Finland and twice a year in western Finland, so people ate dried bread in the west and soft loaves in the east. Bread, especially rye, was part of almost every meal. Even today, rye ranks as the country's favourite bread.

In Finland, bread is an essential element on the Finnish food tables, throughout the typical day from breakfast until dinner. Breads based on rye, oat, barley, wheat, spelt, and buckwheat are available in broad forms such as basic loafs, toasts, buns, baguettes and tons of more.

Pulla Bread is a staple in Finland. Soft and aromatic with cardamom, the loaves get a sprinkling of traditional pearl sugar and almonds to make it special. The Harris family makes this recipe into 6 small loaves.

Whether it's tasty salmon soup, fillets of perch, pickled Baltic herring or smoked vendace, the list simply goes on and on. Best consumed fresh at food markets, delis and restaurants throughout the country, fish dishes are the heart of the Finnish diet.