Limppu

Limppu is the everyday Finnish rye bread, a soft, faintly sweet, dark brown loaf that has been a daily staple of Finnish kitchens since the 19th century. It is sometimes called ruisleipä (literally "rye bread") and is baked in a tall, narrow pan that gives the finished loaf its characteristic high, straight sides. The crumb is dense but tender, the crust is glossy with a touch of syrup or molasses, and the flavor is mildly sweet and gently malty — closer to a Polish chleb than to a crisp German pumpernickel.

Traditional Finnish limpa is a mixed-flour loaf, usually about half rye and half wheat, with buttermilk or sour milk, a little molasses or dark syrup, and a small amount of caraway. The dough is left to rise slowly overnight, which is what gives limpa its even, sliceable crumb, and is baked the next morning in a heavy loaf pan. A close cousin is hapankorppu, a twice-baked crisp rye cracker that was historically made from leftover limpa slices, and another is the sweeter, malted saaristolaisleipä from the Turku archipelago, baked low and slow for many hours.

Limppu is found at every Finnish bakery and at every HESBURGER, S-market, and K-market checkout, and is eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is the base of a traditional voileipä (open sandwich), layered with butter, hard cheese, cold cuts, pickled herring, or egg, and it is also served alongside lohikeitto (salmon soup), karjalanpaisti (Karelian meat stew), and dark meat sauces. Look for it at Fazer bakeries in Helsinki, at Pyynikki's observation-tower café in Tampere, at the market halls of Turku and Oulu, and at almost every kahvila in the Lakeland.