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Rieska – Finnish Potato Flat Bread

Maria Laitinen serves up a Finnish flat bread traditionally made with oat, barley or potato. Say hello to “Rieska”.
Text And Photo By Maria Laitinen

Back in Finland, one of my favourite things to have is my granny’s “Rieska“, which is a Finnish flat bread traditionally made with oat, barley or potato. My granny would bake the bread in her giant wood-fired oven and it was the best thing to have with ‘gravlax’ (salt cured salmon). In Sydney, I make this simple version of Rieska, which is so easy and quick to make but takes me right back to Finland. Served with smoked or cured salmon and fresh dill it is simply delicious!

Finnish Potato Flat Bread 

300g (1 1/2 cup) mashed potato, cooled
100g (3/4 cup) whole spelt flour or barley flour
1 large free-range egg
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 220C/428F.

2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and divide the dough into 4 portions.

3. Place the portions on a baking tray lined with baking paper and flatten each portion with flour dusted fingers into a round disk.

4. Prick the breads with a fork and bake for 15 minutes.

5. Serve warm with butter, smoked or cured salmon and fresh dill.

View Comments (20) View Comments (20)
  1. I will have to try this. it looks like fun. It’s probably weird, but I have a tendency to have trouble using up potatoes (maybe I should just buy fewer). Have you ever used leftover mashed potatoes (to which milk/cream/butter etc has been added) and if so how does that affect things in comparison with using just a potato that you’ve mashed up?

    1. Hey Sara!

      Well there’s no harm trying ;-) I think you could give it a go with the same ratio, it shouldn’t make much difference, just add to the flavour ;-) Good luck and let me know how you go!

      Maria
      x

  2. I tried this with gluten free flour + it worked a treat. We enjoyed it with duck pate + fig compote! A lovely treat + great to find an alternative to yeasted bread. A

  3. I’m so glad I found you on this site. I tried your potato flat bread last night but wasn’t sure of the measurements. It turned out to be quite soft and didn’t look at all like it does in the picture but the flavour was really nice. I’m going to try it again. Thanks you so much.

  4. That looks perfect! My dh loves rieska. Could it really be that easy? Varhaisperunat are still available. I’ll bet he’d love it made with those.

  5. Seeking permission to publish this recipe in Scandinavian Press magazine, which goes to press later this week! (Deadlines!!!) Would also like to use the photo. What credits do I need to attribute to photo and recipe? Hoping to hear from you later today if possible. Thank you!!!
    —Desperate editor!!!!!

  6. I teach wood-fired baking and am interested in what a ‘not simple’ – perhaps more authentic – version would be like. Do you have one to share?

  7. I’ve made this many times. I freeze the pieces with baking paper between them. They defrost nicely and are just like freshly baked when toasted. My Finnish husband has always been a fan of the perunarieska, but I wasn’t until I made my own. Thank you again for sharing the recipe.

  8. I have a recipe for “pulla”. ,a coffee bread and would really like a authentic Rieska recipe to add to my recipe box
    Thank you

  9. What a great recipe! Made it for the first time today and they came out perfect! Niin helppoa ja hyvää! Varmasti mä teen taas! Kiitos :)

  10. Hi Maria,
    I have made this several times, but recently modified it to make it gluten-free for my son, by using chickpea flour. The mixture of potato and chickpea flour is actually common in Indian cooking. The result was a very good riesca, probably better than with wheat flour.

    Kiitos. Pidin siitä paljon. Seuraavalla kerralla käytän reseptiäsi tumman ruisleivän valmistamiseen. Ystävällisin terveisin, Robert

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