December is already far enough away that now is the best time to start thinking about Christmas food preparations.
The Christmas cake is flavored with, among other things, dried lingonberries and rosemary. Rosa Bröijer
Since the days leading up to Christmas are busy, it’s worth preparing the food in advance, if at all possible. You can, for example, bake a wonderfully warm Christmas bread in advance.
– Of course, you can buy Christmas bread at the store, but homemade bread is the best, chef Risto Mikkola states.
He reminds that you don’t need any special tools to bake bread. It’s actually quite easy. The bread is also good to take to the village or to give as a Christmas present to neighbors or friends.
– I personally really appreciate the food gifts I receive. If you bake bread now, put it in the freezer to wait for eating, Mikkola reminds.
Christmas bread is an important part of the Finnish Christmas table. Finland eats and drinks – website says that baking bread has been part of the New Year even before the arrival of Christianity. With Christmas, old meanings have transformed into new traditions.
Bread is a great hearth and Christmas memory. Rosa Bröijer
Bread, especially rye bread, has played an important role in Finnish food tradition. It was eaten at almost every meal.
Bread had its place of honor at the Christmas dinner table, for which a large Christmas bread was baked. The traditions related to Christmas bread, like other food and drink traditions, have varied from house to house and from owner to owner, but their main features are similar.
Christmas bread is still eaten in many homes today. Varikoislimpu, or maustelimppu, was once the most important Christmas bread. Rye and barley were used for it, with syrup or sugar as a spice. Fennel and orange were added. It is indeed the ancestor of the current Christmas tree, or setuuri.
The ceremonial role of Christmas bread is indicated by its traditional decoration with a large cross. The cross was usually pressed on the bread with large barn keys, but sometimes it was also cut with a knife.
Mikkola offers his own Christmas bread seasoned with rosemary and licorice with butter. The oven-roasted lantu is mixed with butter. Delicious.
On Christmas night, this Mikkola bread is also delicious covered with a slice of ham and mustard, or with chives mousse.
Butter seasoned with roasted fennel is a great spread on bread. Rosa Bröijer
Lingonberry-rosemary roll (recipe makes 2 pieces)
5 dl buttermilk
50 g of yeast
2 dl dark syrup
1 dl beer malts (or malted malts)
1 dl wheat bran
1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
1 tablespoon of anise seeds
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons of salt
2 dl rye flour
10 dl wheat flour
1 pnt rosemary, chopped
2 dl dried lingonberries
For lubrication:
1 tablespoon of syrup
1 tablespoon of water
1. Warm the buttermilk to hand temperature and dissolve the yeast in it.
2. Add syrup, beer malt, wheat bran, crushed spices, dried lingonberries, chopped rosemary and salt. Mix well.
3. Add the rye flour and mix into the dough. After that, gradually add wheat flour and knead the dough until soft and elastic.
4. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place for about 1–1.5 hours.
5. Turn the dough onto the baking table and knead out the air bubbles. Shape the dough into two round or oblong balls.
6. Place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and let rise for another 30 minutes.
7. Bake the meatballs in a 175-degree oven for about 45–60 minutes.
8. At the end of baking, grease the limpets with a syrup-water mixture so that the surface gets a nice shine.
9. Let the meatballs cool before cutting. This bread tastes especially good with butter or on the Christmas table with other traditional Christmas dishes.
Roasted butter
250 g of butter
1 large linguine (about 500 g)
salt
1. Put the lantu in the oven at 180 degrees with the crust and cook for an hour or until the lantu is completely cooked.
2. Cool and peel the leek. Grate the lantu with the small blade of the grater.
3. Put the room-temperature butter in a bowl, beat it with a hand mixer until it becomes light foam, add the grated cheese and mix well, you can add a little salt to taste.
Oslo Dream Porter, Norway (€4.69)
The chef recommends a Norwegian porter with a Christmas leaf. Porter’s mocha, malty and rich flavor world is an excellent partner for bread and is an excellent food drink with other Christmas dishes.