Karelian pasty
|
A store-bought Karelian pasty | |
| Type | Pasty, pirog |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Finland |
| Region or state | Karelia |
| Main ingredients | rye flour or wheat flour, rice, butter |
 Cookbook: Karelian pasty  Media: Karelian pasty | |
Karelian pasties, Karelian pies or Karelian pirogs (South Karelian dialect of Finnish: karjalanpiirakat, singular karjalanpiirakka; North Karelian dialect of Finnish: karjalanpiiraat, singular karjalanpiiras; Karelian: kalitta (singular);[1] Olonets Karelian: šipainiekku; Russian: Карельский пирог Karelskiy pirog or калитка kalitka; Swedish: Karelska piroger) are traditional pasties or pirogs from the region of Karelia. Today they are eaten throughout Finland as well as in the neighbouring Estonia and northern Russia.
The oldest traditional pasties usually had a rye crust, but the North Karelian and Ladoga Karelian variants also had wheat alongside of rye to improve the baking characteristics of the available rye breads. The common fillings of this era were barley and talkkuna. The 19th century first introduced potato and buckwheat as new fillings, and later due to trade, also rice and millet.
Nowadays in the most familiar and common recipe the pasties are made from a thin rye crust with a filling of rice. Butter, often mixed with boiled egg (egg butter or munavoi), is spread over the hot pasties before eating.
Karjalanpiirakka have Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status in Europe.[2] This means that any product outside of specific regions and bakeries that make a similar product cannot call them karjalanpiirakka and instead call them riisipiirakka ("rice pasties")[3]
See also
References
- ↑ Sallinen-Gimpl, Pirkko (2000). Karjalainen keittokirja. Helsinki: Tammi. p. 59. ISBN 951-31-1540-2.
- ↑ EU Profile-Karjalanpiirakka (accessed 07/06/2009)
- ↑ Food Safety Authority Evira (accessed 1/19/2016)
