The karelian

East Finnish or Karelian cuisine combines the culinary traditions of not only Karelians, but also Izhorians, Vepsians and partly Komi-Izhemites who inhabit the Kola Peninsula. The process of preparing Karelian cuisine is built on an ancient national basis and has much in common with Old Russian cuisine. The characteristic features of the cooking of this country include the universal love of fish dishes and the insignificant use of meat. In addition, instead of wheat flour, which is so popular in Russia, the local population still uses barley and rye, and when preparing almost all dishes.

In the recipes of Karelian cuisine there is a considerable amount of forest wealth - mushrooms and berries. In addition, its main difference from Estonian cuisine, for example, is considered to be a much smaller variety of dairy diet and the lack of methods of culinary processing of products that are inherent in Germans and Swedes. Interestingly, here, as in Permian cuisine, fish fermentation is widely used, resulting in a sour-salty product. But the widespread smoking of Karelian cuisine in the Baltic states is unknown.

The most popular first dish of Karelian cuisine, which is mandatory for all guests, is the ear - "Kalaruokka. " There are a lot of options for its preparation, but the most typical use of whitefish fish. In addition, milk ear and sauerfish ear also stand out. A rather unusual combination for our person, isn't it? Nevertheless, such a dish is not inferior in taste to the traditional Russian ear.

The secret of cooking Karelian ear is as follows: five minutes before readiness, fish broth is passed through a thick layer of birch coals. Unlike the Russian ear, which is more transparent, the tastier, "Kalaruokka" is slightly cloudy: it includes not only eggs and Icelandic moss, but also rye flour, birch or birch buds, as well as dried fish.

Interestingly, despite the rather diverse range of first fish meals, there are few recipes for Karelian cuisine for cooking second dishes. First of all, these are fish pies, which are usually made from the same fish acting as a filling, and fresh dough based on rye flour. Not many people know that, as in Udmurt, in Karelian cuisine, fish is put in pies without peeling - along with scales. Other variants of pies are baked with porridge, but unlike elongated fish, they are usually made sickle-shaped or semicircular.

Karelians eat turnips, radishes, potatoes, cabbage and spring onions from vegetables. But local residents practically do not know fruits and confectionery. So, malted dough - "Mammy" is used as sweets here.

A popular drink in Karelia is kvass, which is prepared from completely different raw materials: turnips, malt or bread. In addition, it is not against here to enjoy a cup of hot fragrant coffee or tea. Karelians prefer wine and vodka from alcohol, but beer is in no less demand.