Mama's Rye Pies.

Memories I remember of my childhood days are filled with mums home cooking, smelling the aromas wafting from the kitchen. We would wake up in the morning and discover the delights for our tummy for that day. It was so wonderful, especially on a Sunday morning when we didn't have be anywhere, like school. It was the 1970's and we lived near Sydney. My dad, mum and I immigrated from Finland in 1968, I was nearly two years old then.

My favourite Finnish food that mother cooked was Karjalanpiirakka, which translated is Karelian Pie. It originated in the town of Karjala, as the Finns call it, on the border of Finland and Russia. Karelia is the the more common name for it. And these Karelian Pies started around a few centuries ago, and are regarded as Finland's national dish. They are very popular, and delicious.

I would beg mum to cook these Rye Pies for me nearly always, they are a real treat. I would help sometimes to make them, it was a wonderful memory of hanging out with my mother, cooking great food together. Then eating them as a family.

We started calling them Rye Pies because our Australian friends couldn't pronounce Karjalanpiirakka. It was so funny listening to them trying to say it. They were happy to eat them when they visited, anything mum cooked was fabulous. She mainly cooked Finnish food, and we hardly ever got takeaway food.

These Rye Pies are like a thin bread like pastry, filled with a savoury rice filling, my favourite. They can also have a mashed potato filling, just as delicious. Then after they come out of the oven, we ate them with an egg butter freshly made. It is spread across the top of the Pies, the most popular way to eat them. There are a few different versions that other people like to make, but we mainly only had the rice and potato ones. We would sometimes like to top them with smoked salmon or fresh delicatessen ham also.

The recipe for Karjalanpiirakka, or Rye Pies is as follows.

☆Ingredients.

For The Dough.

2 cups of rye flour

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of salt

About 1 cup of cold water

*Mix both flours with the salt and water, have extra flour of either sort dusted onto the bench to avoid dough sticking. Add less or more of water, if needed to make a firm dough. Then roll dough into small thin ovals. Fill with the rice mixture, leaving an empty edge all the way around the dough. You then fold the edges over, and crimp the dough with your fingers, little pinches, to create the look, like in the photo. Don't worry if they don't look perfect, my first ones weren't picture perfect. It's the taste that really matters. Bake in the oven at about 245° for around 15 minutes. Just keep an eye on them constantly, as ovens and times can vary. So when they look and feel cooked, mainly the dough, take them out. Place the oven tray next to the frying pan with the warm mix, and dip them in with the help of an egg flip, small shake as you take it out to let excess dipping drain off. Then place them on a plate, and cover with a tea towel. Eat while warm, as is, with butter, egg butter, or even with egg and ham or smoked salmon. Enjoy!

☆The Filling.

1 cup of white rice

water

A teaspoon of salt

Milk

*Rinse rice until the water is clear under the tap. Then add salt to the rice and water, and boil until water is nearly gone, and rice should be just tender. Add milk, and simmer to a porridge consistency. Then put aside until ready to fill the small dough ovals. (You can also make mashed potato to fill them also.)

☆Quck dip mix, after baking pies.

Milk

Real butter

Large frying pan

*Warm the milk with a few knobs of real butter in a large frying pan. Do not boil or cook it, just warm it up, and melt in the butter, and keep it warm, then put aside until pies are cooked. This is for dipping each pie straight away after they come out of the oven. I use an egg flip to dip them, and draing excess dipping off, before transferring them onto a plate. Then put on a plate and cover with a tea-towel. This makes them soften a bit, and more delicious. If you run out of this mix, just make more.

☆For The Topping (optional)

2 hard-boiled eggs, or as many as you like

Real butter

*Mash the boiled eggs with real butter, season with salt if required. Put aside until pies are cooked, and ready to eat. Top the pies with this egg butter.

Now I wish you all good luck with this recipe, as this dish requires patience and precision, but the end result is worth it.

These humble little open Finnish pies, started with a few staples my ancestors had available at the time when they created these pies, are now a cherished food to savour. Over time they were refined as more ingredients came available, to finally rest on a favourite by Finnish families every where. The rice ones seem to be the number one favourite, with the potato one second. I think so anyway.

These Karjalanpiirakka, or Rye Pies as my Aussie friends call them, remind me of my late mother, and the cooking she taught me. Our fun times in the kitchen, with many more recipes to teach my own daughter, to keep my mother's spirit alive. The culture it adds to my generation, it was always fresh wholesome, natural ingredients in our food always.

I can still feel the feeling in those years long ago, biting into one of Mama's homemade Rye pies, topped with that freshly made warm egg butter. It was like fresh thin flat bread straight out of the oven, with a delicate rice filling, melting into my mouth. I could not stop at one, we ate them until our bellys were so full.

We would take some on picnics and outings we went to also, as they were nice cold too. Along with cold meats and salad to accompany the Rye Pies. On special occasions, mum would make a homemade Finnish type of lemonade in advance, to take with us, called Sima. Now that is another story you will have to wait for. Cheers to you all, Enjoy!