Helsinki University gastronomy professor Johanna Mäkelä says that the Finnish food industry bears a great deal of the responsibility – or blame – for ensuring that the Easter tradition of eating mämmi has survived into modern times.
“There are single-serving portions of mämmi, organic mämmi, and mämmi with different flavours. I think this indicates that in its own way, mämmi has kept up with the times,” Mäkela remarked.
Yle invited readers to share their kitchen tips on the best accompaniments for the controversial dessert.
Mämmi straight, with mandarin, ice cream or even whipped cream
Many purists opt for the traditional sides of sugar and milk or cream. Others prefer vanilla sauce or custard, while still others say that they like to top off their servings with ice cream, whipped cream, quark or cottage cheese.
Some dessert renegades said that they like to pair their mämmi with mandarin, orange marmalade or even grated citrus peel.
For head chef Matti Jämsén of the acclaimed restaurant Sundmans which placed fourth in the 2015 Bocuse d’Or competition, mämmi may also be a versatile raw ingredient in adventurous gastronomical compositions.
“The sky’s the limit in terms of what can be done with it. It can be used to flavor just about anything – sauces, mousse or ice cream. Sometimes we’ve even tried dried mämmi. Just put it on a tray, place it in the oven and crumble it,” Jämsén commented.
Jämsén offered his own tip for mämmi-eaters at home: simply used it to flavour your ice cream.
Unsurprisingly, all kitchen professionals aren’t as enthusiastic about mämmi. Restaurateur Teresa Välimäki said that it’s best to accept mämmi for what it is – traditional food – rather than try to make it into something glamorous.
“Mämmi is mämmi and swede casserole is swede casserole. It’s very difficult to dress them up and I don’t need to try either,” she declared.
Mämmi reminiscent of Easter suffering
In spite of the divided feelings the dark brown goop inspires, it seems that mämmi is here to stay. Last year the food retail giant S Group sold more than 1.5 million mämmi boxes of different sizes. Take it or leave it, it’s a dish that leaves no one cold.
“My impression is that everyone has some kind of relationship with mämmi,” Mäkelä noted.
Sundsmans’ head chef Jämsén agreed.
“I believe that even those who don’t like mämmi believe that Easter is all about suffering. So you should at least taste it, even if you find you don’t like it,” he advised.