Title: Kalakukko
 Categories: Fish, Finnish
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
MMMMM--------------------------FILLING-------------------------------
      2 lb Fish, small
  1 1/2 lb Pork, sliced into
           -strips like bacon,
           -but about 1/4 to 1/2
           -inch thick
      3 tb Salt (omit salt if
           -pork is already salted)
           Allspice (optional;
           -traditionalists omit
           -this)

MMMMM---------------------------DOUGH--------------------------------
  2 1/2 c  Water
  3 1/4 c  Rye flour (sifted)
  1 3/4 c  Wheat flour, about
           -(sifted)
      4 ts Salt
    1/2 oz Yeast (2 standard
           -packages)
 
  Clean the fish, removing fins, large scales and entrails. You may
  leave the heads if you dare to eat them.
  
  Mix the flours and salt.  Add the yeast to the water. 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.
  
  Set aside about 4 T of dough to be used later.  Roll out the remaining
  dough into a circular shape about
      3/4    inch thick.
  
  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.
  
  Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.  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 about
  3/4-inch-thick dough. Put upside down (the seam downwards) on a
  baking sheet and let it rise about half an hour at room temperature.
  
  Put the kalakukko in a 500 degree F. oven for long enough to brown the
  dough, which will seal it against moisture. Then lower the
  temperature to about 250 degrees F. 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.
  
  Serve hot or cold.
  
  NOTES:
  
  *  Rye bread pie with fish and pork filling -- This is an ancient
  national food prepared and eaten in Savo (eastern Finland).
  
  *  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).
  
  *  You can use any small fish (shorter than about 8 inches). Small
  scales and spikes don't matter because they soften during the
  prolonged cooking. Make sure you use un-smoked pork.
  
  : Difficulty:  moderate (some skill with dough is required).
  : Time:  45 minutes preparation, 30 minutes attended baking, 4-7 hours
  unattended baking.
  : 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.
  
  : Heikki Putkonen
  : University of Oulu, Finland
  : putko@tolsun.oulu.fi
  
  :