Mämmi refers to Finnish brown malted
porridge that is typically served at Easter.
Mämmi, a traditional Finnish Easter dessert. It is made of water, rye flour, and powdered rye malt. It's the kind of food you have to have eaten all your life to be able to enjoy it. It looks, well, peculiar. Like something a cow leaves behind on the meadow. But for most Finns the taste is simply delicious.
Sweet, malty and special. Because of the looks and malt
taste it is not for people who don't like to try out new things. If you, however, are open for odd and new things, you should try it! It is best eaten with cream or milk and a bit of sugar. Mämmi is normally served with vanilla cream and sugar.
Mämmi is a very traditional Finnish Easter time dessert made from rye flour and malt. It has a brown and sticky appearance and as far as mämmi is concerned there are two types of people: those who love it; and those who hate it. There's no middle ground. If your Finnish host/friend/loved one offers you mämmi, try it. But remember that 50% of the Finnish population loathes the stuff and it's quite possible that you will too. It is perfectly acceptable to dislike mämmi (but not saunas or
Koskenkorva ) and the following rural legend shows how this controversial foodstuff has divided Finnish opinion.
Mämmi is a Finnish traditional Easter
dessert, a malt porridge which is baked in an
oven. It is made of
water, malt and rye
flour and is dark brown in appearance. The
Swedish name for it is memma.
Spices such as Bitter orange
peel,
syrup or
molasses and
orange rind are often added. After the exposure to heat and several days of storage in the refrigerator, small quantities of generated
alcohol often result within the puddinglike condiment. This is not considered a fault.
Mämmi is consumed cold, either bare or with added
sugar and/or
milk or
cream.
The usefulness of the dish stems from it keeping well for days, and thus serving as a substitute for porridge which does not require firing up a stove, when religious observances prohibit fire. Its precursors can be traced all the way to medieval
Germany. But as its use
spread with Catholicism to the far northern reaches, the food fell gradually into disuse there, so that it remains as a relic chiefly in Finland.
Mämmi was mentioned the first time during the 17th century, in a dissertation (in Latin). As the result of domestic product development mämmi has graced the Finnish
dinner table for at least 300 years. Originally mämmi was consumed during the whole lent period. Its laxative properties doubtless helped the purging of "poisons". Later it was a convenient
food for Good Friday, when firing up the stove was against custom. In modern times it is purely a traditional seasonal delicacy.
Interest in it has risen even in non-Scandinavian settings, due to Finns' eager attempts to offer the idiosyncratic foodstuff to foreigners. Some have served it as an exotic specialty; others, a joky test (due to its superficially unappetizing appearance). The growing interest in reviving old recipes and the general enthusiasm for past ages may also play a part in this.
Mämmi is
traditionally eaten in Easter time. There is a
recipe given below, but most Finns in the modern world buy their mämmi ready-made from the store, where it is available as a seasonal product during that time. (Wikipedia)
Links to Mämmi
* Mämmi
ingredients
* Mämmi Maestro. Ahmed Ladarsi is an expert on a Finnish "
delicacy"
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