Mammi

A bowl of Mämmi

Mammi with sugar and cream

Mämmi ( Swedish memma ) is a baked malt pudding that is eaten cold in Finland during Lent .

tradition

Mämmi is traditionally eaten on Good Friday , as this day was previously considered too sacred to prepare warm food. For this reason, people ate cold throughout Lent. Originally the custom comes from the south-western part of Finland; it was first mentioned in a document in the 17th century.

Components

Mämmi is made from water, brewing malt , rye flour , salt, sugar syrup and bitter orange . The mixture is soaked lukewarm in several stages, boiled and then baked in the oven for a few hours and then has to stand in a cool place and steep for a few days.

With its rye taste, Mämmi is similar to Guinness beer. Many Finns eat Mämmi as a traditional dish with cream , sugar or vanilla ice cream to round off the distinct rye taste.

sale

Around two million kilograms of Mämmi are sold in Finland every year, most of them from the Kymppi brand . Around a fifth is sold outside of Easter . The largest factory for Mämmi is located in Toijala in western Finland. In the production of this pulp you're so proud of in the city, one that in 2005 in Toijala the world championship in Mämmi- eating contest organized. There is also a Finnish Mämmi society (Suomen Mämmiseura) that collects recipes relating to Mämmi.

Others

Finns often tell the anecdote of how Americans became aware of Mämmi. This is said to have been at the end of World War II , when President Harry S. Truman sent a delegation to Finland around Easter time to investigate the situation. The delegation is said to have believed that people in Finland have to eat their own excrement . As a result, food deliveries are said to have started immediately for aid to Finland.

Traditionally, Mämmi was kept, transported and served in small boxes made of birch bark ; today only a birch bark pattern is printed on the packaging box.

Quotes

“It tastes sweet and bitter at the same time. It sticks to the palate, I was the only one of us Mammi liked. But everyone ate it, it belongs to Easter. "

- Marjaleena Lembcke