Wikimore

Kalakukko
Type	Savoury pie
Place of origin	Finland
Region or state	Northern Savonia
Main ingredients	Bread (rye flour), fish (usually vendace, European perch, or salmon)
	Media: Kalakukko;

KalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text (Finnish: [ˈkɑlɑˌkukːo]Category:Pages with Finnish IPA) is a traditional Finnish dish from the region of Savonia made from fish (e.g., perch, vendace, loach, smelt, or salmon) baked inside a loaf of bread. KalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is especially popular in Kuopio, capital city of the Northern Savonia region. Kuopio is home to many kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text bakeries. The city also hosts an annual kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text baking contest.^[1]

Flour

Traditionally, kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is prepared with rye flour (like ruisleipäCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text), although wheat is often added to make the dough more pliable. The filling consists of fish, pork and bacon, and is seasoned with salt (unless the pork is already salted). After being baked for several hours, traditionally in a masonry oven, kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text looks much like a large loaf of rye bread. If prepared correctly, bones of the fish soften and the meat and fish juices cook thoroughly inside the bread. This results in a moist filling.

Traditionally, the fish used in kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is either vendace (Finnish: muikkuCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text), or European perch (Finnish: ahvenCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text). Sometimes, salmon is used. In southern Savonia the vendace is advocated as the only fish for the true kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text whereas in the northern parts of the province the same is said about the perch. Instead of fish, combinations of potato and pork, or rutabaga and pork are also used. The appropriate drink to accompany kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is buttermilk or piimäCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text.

KalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text will keep for a long time when unopened. It used to be a practical lunch for workers away from home.

KalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text can be reheated in an oven. It takes about one hour in 130 °C (266 °F) if the size of the kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb). It can also be eaten cold. The usual way to eat kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is to open the top with a sharp knife, eat the top with butter, and then slice some of the bread making the hole on the top larger and eat it with the filling.

Some Finnish speakers today find the name kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text somewhat amusing, as kalaCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is Finnish for "fish" and kukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is "rooster", leading to the often used but non-morphological translation, "fish cock". Previous theories suggested that the archaic form of kukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is derived from the same root as kukkaroCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text (purse). KukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text also might come from a Finnish word of kukkulaCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text, hill, because the dish is elevated. However, in 2008 new research demonstrated that kukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text is a loan from Low German and shares the same origin as modern German kochenCategory:Articles containing German-language text (to cook) and English cake.^[2]

Hanna Partanen's (1891–1969) kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text bakery in Kuopio, Northern Savonia was Finland's most famous kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text bakery at its time. Famous guests have included American presidents and Soviet leaders along with President of Finland Urho Kekkonen. The bakery still bakes kalakukkoCategory:Articles containing Finnish-language text by hand from Finnish materials in the same central location at Kasarmikatu 15 in Kuopio. The bakery is currently run by Hanna's grandson Lauri Partanen and employs 10 to 20 people depending on the season.^[4]

↑ "Perjantaina klo 12.30 - Yle Uutiset Keski-Pohjanmaa". areena.yle.fi. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
↑ "Kalakukko".
↑ EU Profile-Kalakukko (accessed 19 July 2010)
↑ "Hanna Partasen kalakukko elää ja voi hyvin" (in English: "Hanna Partanen's kalakukko is alive and well"), YLE 29 November 2010. Accessed on 21 September 2017.