Finnish Cuisine Meal - A gourmet Meal of Rye and Fish - Portable and fast.

Is this a real Finnish cuisine meal the Vikings used to take with them, reminding them of their victims? Is this what the original fast food was like in Finland?

The Finnish Ahvenkukko

At home or on the road. Here is a food steeped in the culinary tradition of Finland. A food in Finland on the 'must' try list, a Finnish food innovation worth discovering.

Whether you are visiting for a few days or have been in Finland for five years. Assuming you like Rye bread, fish mixed with bacon.

This Finnish cuisine meal is a pasty, or pastie depending on where you are from in the Anglophone world. A meal encased in rye bread. The Finns call it Kalakukko, or fish-rooster. No crowing in the early morning!

The types of Kukko fillings under the thick, dark rye crust include:

• Vendace- muikku. A 5 centimeter(2 in.) long, fine-scaled silvery lake fish which looks like a miniature salmon and lives off zooplankton.
  
  
• European Perch- Ahven. A large-mouthed fish. The perch has larger bones compared with the Vendace. (We chose the Ahvenkukko)

Unlike the traditional Cornish pasty, this Finnish cuisine meal also contains bacon, to give it extra layers in its palette of flavors.


With this portable Meal you can...

• Carry your meal anywhere you go. It becomes an edible lunch box.
  
  
• Have an entire meal encased in a thick rye shell. The insides are made of fish and bacon.

Obviously, to make this from scratch takes time. Another option is to buy one at a shop and warm it up in your oven for 20 minutes at 250 Celcius(480 F)



While Aura visited Kuopio, she stopped over at Kasarmikatu 15, (the address). This is what our Ahvenkukko looked like fully clothed, after Aura made her purchase.

The Ahvenkukko treat packaged up. What it's like when you buy it!

The Ahvenkukko weighs almost one kilo, cost 18,45 euros, and needs to be stored at a temperature of less than 8 Celsius(46 F). The refrigerator works fine for storage until you are ready to eat it.

Buy the Ahvenkukko portable Finnish cuisine meal in eastern Finland to ensure you get the most authenticity of look and taste.

Since this one is store bought, all you need to to is unwrap it like this.

The Ahvenkukko treat getting unwrapped!

I prefer a softer crust, so instead of following the instructions to the T. I will warm up the oven up to 200 Celsius(390 F), and leave the loaf in for 25 minutes like this.

Our Finnish Ryebread treat in the oven

For the store bought version like our version in the oven, the loaf and fish come pre-baked. Usually you can follow the warming instructions which comes on the package. If you want the crust to be softer and not too hard, just turn down the heat to 200 Celsius(390 F) or less.

Get it out of the oven, unwrap and cut like this.

Inside the Ahvenkukko. Fish and bacon surrounded by thick rye bread crust!

The Vendace inside our rye-loaf!

In this photo you can see how the Vendace is lined up across from each other.

Shell of our Ahvenkukko

Veeeeeery thick layer of crust. The surface of the outer side is more firm and tough, while the inner contains more moisture and flavor. Also lighter in color.

Tastes like...Hmmm? Finnish rye, fish and bacon all mixed together.

Eating Tip: Beware of the thick and robust crust. Often, a knife will not do the trick. After making an end cut with a sharp serrated knife, break the rest off by hand.

Guests eating Ahvenkukko with a knife and fork.

Serve it up for the guests!

After cutting, serve on a plate.

When/where does one this fine Finnish rye bread food delicacy:

• As a snack at a field trip.
  
  
• While you work far from home, like in the forest or remote area.
  
  
• For a special event or evening food.
  
  
• While doing physically hard work.

If you cannot manage to eat it up in one meal session, just wrap it up and store it in the open for max. one day or in the refrigerator. It tastes fine the day after, even served cold.

Microwave heating instructions: For the pre-baked Kalakukko, unwrap the loaf entirely and use baking paper leivinpaperi 38 x 29 centimeter(15 x 20 in.) size to wrap it in. Fold the paper under the flat end of the loaf and set into the microwave oven. Heat up the loaf for 15 minutes on medium setting.



Beware, this recipe feeds a viking army of more than 10 people.

First we will create our saucer shaped rye shell and after filling the saucer we will fold up the dough to wrap the filling.

Important: The loaf gets baked twice. Filling ingredients always get baked after they are wrapped in the pastry casing.

Ingredients for the Shell (which is made of Rye and wheat in our case)



Inside of our Finnish cuisine meal - The filling.

Use 2 kilograms(70 ounces) of either Vendace or Perch, American bass or other fish works. One package of bacon either between 200 - 400 grams (7 to 14 ounces). 4 teaspoons of sea salt.

For the rye shell, knead the ingredients together into a tight and tough dough.

Form the dough shell into an oval shaped saucer 1 centimeter(0.4 in.) thick in the middle and thinner at the edges. Scatter rye flour in the middle of the disc. Pile bone free fish and layers of bacon in the middle of the saucer periodically adding salt.

Closing up the filling:

Use the sides of the saucer to cover the filling. Use water and flour to smooth the surface. Bake in an oven 200-225 Celsius(390-437 F) until the Ahvenkukko gets some color.

Remove it, and wrap it inside aluminum foil. Put it back into an oven for 4-6 hours at 100-150 Celsius(212-302 F).

After taking the Ahvenkukko loaf is out of the oven, cover it to keep the shell soft.

This Finnish cuisine meal will keep in the fridge for many days, even outdoors for more than 48 hours if the temperature is no more than 10 Celsius(50 F). Remember to keep the loaf out of the sun once the it is cut open or else the fish dries out.

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