Kalakukko
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Template:Lang (Template:IPA) is a traditional Finnish dish from the region of Savonia made from fish (e.g., perch, vendace, loach, smelt, or salmon) baked inside a loaf of bread. Template:Lang is especially popular in Kuopio, capital city of the Northern Savonia region. Kuopio is home to many Template:Lang bakeries. The city also hosts an annual Template:Lang baking contest.<ref name="areena">Template:Cite web</ref>
Flour
Traditionally, Template:Lang is prepared with rye flour (like Template:Lang), although wheat is often added to make the dough more pliable. The filling consists of fish, pork and bacon, and is seasoned with salt (unless the pork is already salted). After being baked for several hours, traditionally in a masonry oven, Template:Lang looks much like a large loaf of rye bread. If prepared correctly, bones of the fish soften and the meat and fish juices cook thoroughly inside the bread. This results in a moist filling.
Fish
Traditionally, the fish used in Template:Lang is either vendace (Template:Langx), or European perch (Template:Langx). Sometimes salmon is used. In southern Savonia the vendace is advocated as the only fish for the true Template:Lang whereas in the northern parts of the province the same is said about the perch. Instead of fish, combinations of potato and pork or rutabaga and pork are also used. The appropriate drink to accompany Template:Lang is buttermilk or Template:Lang.
Template:Lang will keep for a long time when unopened. It used to be a practical lunch for workers away from home.
Serving
Template:Lang can be reheated in an oven. It takes about one hour in Template:Convert if the size of the Template:Lang is about Template:Convert. It can also be eaten cold. The usual way to eat Template:Lang is to open the top with a sharp knife, eat the top with butter, and then slice some of the bread making the hole on the top larger and eat it with the filling.
Etymology
Some Finnish speakers today find the name Template:Lang somewhat amusing, as Template:Lang is Finnish for "fish" and Template:Lang is "rooster", leading to the often used but non-morphological translation, "fish cock". Previous theories suggested that the archaic form of Template:Lang is derived from the same root as Template:Lang (purse). Template:Lang also might come from a Finnish word of Template:Lang, hill, because the dish is elevated. However, in 2008 new research demonstrated that Template:Lang is a loan from Low German and shares the same origin as modern German Template:Lang (to cook) and English cake.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Lang obtained Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status in Europe in 2002.<ref name="DOORTSG">EU Profile-Kalakukko (accessed 19 July 2010)</ref>
Hanna Partanen's Template:Lang bakery
Hanna Partanen's (1891–1969) Template:Lang bakery in Kuopio, Northern Savonia was Finland's most famous Template:Lang bakery at its time. Famous guests have included American presidents and Soviet leaders along with President of Finland Urho Kekkonen. The bakery still bakes Template:Lang by hand from Finnish materials in the same central location at Kasarmikatu 15 in Kuopio. The bakery is currently run by Hanna's grandson Lauri Partanen and employs 10 to 20 people depending on the season.<ref>"Hanna Partasen kalakukko elää ja voi hyvin" (in English: "Hanna Partanen's kalakukko is alive and well"), YLE 29 November 2010. Accessed on 21 September 2017.</ref>