Kama (food)
Kama (Estonian), talkkuna (Finnish), tolokno, толокно (Russian), or talqan (in Turkic languages) is a traditional Estonian, Finnish, Russian, and Turkic finely milled flour mixture. The tolokno or talkkuna powder is a mixture of roasted barley, rye, oat and pea flour. The oat flour may be completely replaced by wheat flour, or kibbled black beans may be added to the mixture. In Finland talkkuna is made by first steaming grains, then grinding them up and finally roasting them.[1] Historically traditional Estonian kama was made slightly differently in different regions of Estonia: it could consist of oats, peas, beans or wheat, which were mixed together depending on the region.[2]
"Historically kama was a non-perishable, easy-to-carry food that could be quickly fashioned into a stomach-filling snack by rolling it into butter or lard; it did not require baking, as it was already roasted".[3][user-generated source?] Nowadays, kama can be bought as a souvenir in Estonia, where it is a distinctive national food.[4]
Traditionally, kama was the peasant dish of Southern Estonia and Eastern Estonia, that was also consumed by Ludza Estonians in Latvia, but kama was not consumed in Northern and Western Estonia.[5]
Nowadays it is used for making some desserts in Finland and it is mostly eaten for breakfast mixed with milk, buttermilk or kefir as mush.[6] It is frequently sweetened with sugar and especially with blueberry, more rarely with other fruits or honey or served unsweetened. It is also used for milk or sour desserts, together with the forest berries typical Finland.
A similar product is skrädmjöl, a flour consisting exclusively of roasted oats which is traditionally made in the Swedish province of Värmland. It was brought there by Forest Finns.[7]
In Turkic languages, it is called talqan. It is made of coarse or finely milled flour from roasted barley or wheat. It is common in the cuisine of the Altay people, Nogays, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Tatars, Tuvans, Uzbeks, and Khakas.
See also
References
- ^ "Talkkunasta uusi vanha tuttu". yle.fi (in Finnish). 13 December 2011. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
- ^ Moora, Aliise. Eesti talurahva vanem toit I (Estonian peasant food in the older period, Vol I). Tallinn: Valgus (publisher), 1980, p. 157 (in Estonian).
- ^ "Estonian Secret. Kama. Estonian "muesli"". Estonian Cuisine. Eesti Toit. 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
- ^ Eesti Toit infoserver v2.0.3.0 Archived 2007-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Moora, Aliise. Eesti talurahva vanem toit I (Estonian peasant food in the older period, Vol I). Tallinn: Valgus (publisher), 1980, p. 157 (in Estonian).
- ^ "Rantanen kama flour 1 kg". Suomikauppa.fi. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
- ^ "Skogsfinnar". Minoritet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2021-09-04.