Tom Merilahti's Page

By Timo Rautava in Salla

Reindeer meat is the tender, tasty, and nutritional fare of the North

"I have cooked reindeer ever since I was little, and I always prepare the dishes from the heart", says Teija Saaretkoski. She is the daughter of a reindeer herder and is therefore an expert on the traditional reindeer fare of Lapland.
The dishes prepared with reindeer meat represent a traditional lifestyle where the animal has been essential for survival. Sautéed reindeer is still enjoyed by men for breakfast before heading out to the pastures. Air-dried reindeer meat is a light and nutritional snack that helps one wander in the wilderness for even long periods of time.

What about Reindeer ribs straight out of the pot by a campfire in Finnish Lapland?

Fancier dishes served at feasts are also cooked from reindeer, including sautéed roast meat, or a soup prepared from shoulder pieces or other meat with bones, and turnips.
"Reindeer is not just fillet pieces, you need to use the entire carcass", Kaaretkoski explains.
Kaaretkoski owns a catering service that operates in Sodankylä and the Luosto region. She no longer has a herd of her own, as she has sold her animals to her brother. When asked about the numbers, she chuckles in the Northern fashion that there were reindeer "on both sides of a tree".

Kaaretkoski’s favourite dish is reindeer prepared in an oven. It requires pieces of ribs or other back pieces containing the bone, cut into pieces around six centimetres in length. Kaaretkoski takes some of the meat along to a cabin in Salla where those interested in reindeer receive information on the various options for using the meat. The speakers include meat manufacturers and members of the local reindeer herding association.
Kaaretkoski places the meat, with bones still intact, into a 250-degree oven, and lets them grow brown for around half an hour.
"Then I put boiling water into a pot, add salt, and put on the lid. Drop the temperature to 100 degrees, and the meat stews for another four or five hours."

After Kaaretkoski has placed the pot on the kitchen table in the cabin, the meat soon begins to find its takers. "You can eat the meat with your fingers, just like chicken wings."
Soon the crowd in the cabin gnaws away at the bones hungrily. It is amazing that salt is the only seasoning that has been added to the oven-cooked meat. It can be served with potatoes, and lingonberry or blueberry jam, Kaaretkoski explains.
Kaaretkoski shows us how to prepare another very simple reindeer treat. A roast does not necessarily need to be cooked in an oven. The tenderloin of a calf is so small and tender that it can be cooked over embers.
All this dish requires is a pinch of salt, oil, and patience. Pine is burning on the campfire, and the meat is prepared in the glow.

After a good half hour, Kaaretkoski lifts the meat onto a board, lets it sit for a minute, and cuts it into slices. The meat is juicy, and has just the right shade of rose in the middle.
The crowd gathered around the fire has difficulties in deciding which dish is better. The slices of tenderloin make even the professionals grunt with pleasure and nearly wolf down the meat, but in the end, the oven-cooked meat reaps more praise.

On a Fly-fishing camp with my son close to the Russian border in Salla.

And since we are around a campfire, you must eat some meat on a stick. This has been a traditional way to enjoy reindeer meat when it has been salted in preparation for air-drying.
"We would simply grab some prime pieces from a bucket in the cool of the porch and roast them on sticks. It has left me wonderful memories of the taste experiences", Teija Kaaretkoski recalls.
Another traditional dish also involves a stick: tender meat, tongue, and liver is placed on a stick and roasted in the heat of a fire.
In the modern version, one can add bacon, root vegetables, and pieces of bread.

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