Poronkäristys. Sautéed reindeer - Magic of the taiga
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Besides gardening the career options for reindeer include tourism, pulling sleighs
and being petted and obsessively photographed by Japanese tourists. Some serve
in the police force. I particularly remember a female reindeer called Maija,
who sadly died in the line of duty after being run over by a car. Her death was
doubly unfortunate and ironic as Maija’s main job was to act as an ambassador
for traffic safety. Maija’s young son Artturi will follow in his mum’s
hoofsteps visiting events and spreading the important message of safe driving
in the often challenging arctic conditions. Due to his heartbreaking family
history his word is bound to carry some extra weight.
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| By SA-kuva. (MTV3) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
There are some professional athletes among them as well –
reindeer racing may not be exactly as lucrative as the F1 and they never end up
living in Monte Carlo, but the fastest and strongest reindeer and their jockeys
are definite celebrities. The winners also get chosen for breeding for their
herding co-ops – the reindeer, not so much the jockeys. I remember reading somewhere
that the ideal weight for a reindeer jockey is 60kg. You can do what you like with
this piece of information.
But the most obvious career for a reindeer is within the food industry. Having the choice you definitely want to aim to be a so called “live reindeer”. They get to live and breed. The alternative is less attractive. Reindeer meat has a strong gamy taste and may not be to everyone’s liking, but it still is a very popular meat all over the country.
The most popular way of cooking reindeer is sautéing thin
slices in butter, with or without onion and simmering it in stock or beer until
its tender. The authentic accompaniment to the meat is buttery and creamy
mashed potato and lingonberry jam, but you can also serve it with pasta or rice
and replace the lingonberries with cranberries.
This dish is widely available in restaurants all over Finland, not
just in Lapland, and the meat can be bought from the freezer in most
supermarkets.
Some recipes don’t call for the meat to be cooked for long at all, but I simmer it for up to two hours to make it really tender. It is very thinly sliced so technically it’s done quickly, but particularly the meat you get from the supermarkets down south is not cut from the most tender parts so patient simmering will bring the best out of this tasty and wholesome dish.
Sauteed reindeer recipe (serves 2)
250-300g reindeer meat (thinly sliced)
1 yellow onion
1 clove of garlic (optional)
Salt and pepper
Butter
1-2 cups beef or game stock (or lager)
Melt butter in a lidded pan. Add the reindeer meat, chopped onion
and minced garlic. You can add the meat frozen if you like. Saute until meat is
brown and onions soft. Season with salt and pepper, pour a cup of water or beer
on top. Cover and simmer for 1½ -2 hours adding water if necessary until the
meat is tender.
I served it this time with a potato and broccoli mash with cheese.
1 comments
I loved this recipe and I made it at home, I was looking for a page where they sold a different salt and I found a page where I bought himalayan pink salt online and it was delicious!
ReplyDeleteHighly recommended!
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