Subject: RECIPE: KALAKUKKO (Finnish fish-and-pork pie)
From: [email-masked] (Heikki Putkonen)
Date: 8 Jul 88 05:32:02 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.gourmand

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.RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE MEAT-PIE-4 M "4 Jul 88" 1988
.RZ "KALAKUKKO" "Rye bread pie with fish and pork filling"
This is an ancient national food prepared and eaten in Savo (eastern
Finland).
.IH "Serves 4\-6"
.SH		FILLING
.IG "2 lb" "small fish" "1 kg"
.IG "1\(12 lb" "pork," "0.75 kg"
sliced into strips like bacon, but about
.AB "\(14 to \(12 inch" "0.5 to 1 cm"
thick. 
.IG "3 Tbsp" "salt" "50 g"
(omit salt if pork is already salted)
.IG "" "allspice"
(optional. Traditionalists omit this)
.SH		DOUGH
.IG "2\(12 cups" "water" "600 ml"
.IG "3\(14 cups" "rye flour" "300 g"
.AB "(sifted)" "(800 ml)"
.IG "1\(34 cups" "wheat flour" "200 g"
.AB "(sifted)" "(400 ml)"
.IG "4 tsp" "salt" "20 g"
.IG "\(12 oz" "yeast" "10 g"
(2 standard packages)
.PH
.SK 1
Clean the fish, removing fins, large scales, and entrails. You may leave the
heads if you dare to eat them.
.SK 2
Mix the flours, and salt. Add the yeast to the water.
.SK 3
When the yeast is fully dissolved, make a thick dough by pouring
flour mixture into water and blending well.
The ratio of flour to water depends on the nature of the flours. This ratio
of 1:2 by volume works well in Finland with Finnish flours. Where flours
contain more gluten you should use slightly less water.
.SK 4
Set aside 
.AB "4 Tbsp" "5 cl"
of dough to be used later.
Roll out the remaining dough into a circular shape
.AB "\(34 inch" "2 cm"
thick.
.SK 5
Assemble the meats into the dough: cover the inner half of the dough circle
with half of the pork (the pork should cover a circle whose diameter is half
the diameter of the rolled dough).
Then put all of the fish over top of the pork, and add allspice and extra
salt if you are using them. Finish with the second half of the pork.
.SK 6
Preheat oven to 
.TE 500 250 .
Lift the edges of the dough all around the filling and glue together
with a little water so that you have the filling surrounded from all directions
with
.AB "\(34-inch-thick" "2-cm-thick"
dough. Put upside down (the seam downwards) on a baking sheet
and let it rise about half an hour at room temperature.
.SK 7
Put the kalakukko in a 
.TE 500 250
oven for long enough to brown the dough, which will seal it against moisture.
Then lower the temperature to about
.TE 250 125
and let it bake for 4 to 7 hours depending on the
size of the fish (bigger fish need more cooking time).
You can brush some melted butter over the top of the dough just after 
lowering the temperature; this will give it a prettier appearance.
If it starts to leak while baking, fill holes with the dough which was 
set aside.
.SK 8
Serve hot or cold.
.NX
Kalakukko was used as travelers food because it stays edible very long
when unopened. Also in medieval times salt was the only way to preserve
meat and it was expensive, so with this way you could use all the salt
in salt pork. The word kala-kukko means fish-cock (the bird).
.PP
You can use any small fish (shorter than
.AB "8 inches)." "20 cm)."
Small scales and spikes don't matter because they soften during the
prolonged cooking. Make sure you use unsmoked pork.
.SH RATING
.I Difficulty:
moderate (some skill with dough is required).
.I Time:
45 minutes preparation, 30 minutes attended baking, 4\-7 hours unattended
baking.
.I Precision:
Careful measurement not necessary, but the consistency of the dough (which
will depend on the nature of your flours) is important. If the dough is
either too soft or too hard, the kalakukko will leak.
.WR
Heikki Putkonen
University of Oulu, Finland
[email-masked]