Finnish Christmas Porridge

Christmas is all over again for yet another year, but I thought I'd share a couple of traditional Finnish Christmas recipes with you nevertheless. Last year I prepared a full Scandi feast in Sydney and posted quite a few recipes for dishes that always feature in Finnish Christmas meals.

In Finland we celebrate Christmas already on Christmas Eve. In my family the day usually consists of taking candles to the cemetery in the morning, then having a sauna and listening to the Declaration of Christmas Peace on tv or the radio and having Christmas porridge for breakfast or lunch. In the evening we enjoy a full Christmas dinner and unwrap all the gifts (that's right, we do that already on Christmas Eve!).

This year Christmas here in Lapland was quite cold, around -22C, and it is the perfect weather to be sitting next to a fire place sipping hot glögg (mulled wine). We've truly enjoyed our peaceful White Christmas!

Finnish Christmas Porridge

130g white porridge rice (short-grain rice)
water

1 litre full cream milk (in Finland full cream means 3,5 g fat)
pinch of salt

Rinse the rice in cold water. Place rice in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to boil and simmer for a few minutes or until the water has almost disappeared. Add milk and let simmer for about an hour or until the rice has cooked and the porridge is thick and creamy. Season with a pinch of salt and serve with the fruit soup.

Fruit Soup

1 litre water
dash of black currant juice concentrate
300g dried fruit (apple, prune, pear, apricots, etc)
cinnamon stick
1-2 tbsp potato starch (potato flour in Finland & Australia)
dash of cold water

Bring water and black currant juice to boil, add the dried fruit and the cinnamon and let simmer for 20 minutes or until the fruit has softened a bit. Mix the potato starch in a dash of cold water to form a runny but smooth paste. Mix the paste into the soup and bring to a "bubble" (don't let boil). Remove from heat and serve with the porridge.


At Christmas dinner we enjoyed a selection of fish; including three types of herring and delicious gravlax, Christmas casseroles (swede, carrot and potato), Christmas ham and Christmas salad (rosolli). Mum's prune tarts are another must at Christmas. They have a flaky buttery crust and a sweet prune filling. Perfect treat with a cup of Christmas coffee!

Finnish Prune Tarts