Lihapiirakka - Karelian Fast Food

Here's what fast food meant in South East Finland before the invasion of hamburgers. The quintessential place to buy something like this is the Lappeenranta market square.

This pie is what's called a hydrogen ("vety"), meaning it has two fillings: ham and egg, or the proton and the electron, if you will. The simpler version is called the atom ("atomi") and only has one of the two. These names were invented thanks to the proximity of the Lappeenranta University of Technology.

If you want to buy this in Finland, the incantation to summon it goes like this: "Vety keittokinkulla, ketsuppia, sinappia ja kurkkusalaattia, pieni maito", meaning "A hydrogen with cooked ham, ketchup, mustard, pickle relish and a small milk".

What you'll need:

• A meat pie
• Some (cooked) ham
• 1 egg
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Pickle relish

Microwave a meat pie. Don't have a meat pie? I can't help you with that. Go google "Finnish meat pie recipe" or something.

Cut it open. Watch out, it's hot!

Add some pickle relish. Don't go overboard or it will leak out when you eat the thing.

Add egg slices. To my knowledge the order of the ingredients isn't an exact science, but the arrangement described here gives a nice balance of fluid and solid ingredients. Adding the relish on the meat filling helps fight spillage, and mustard should of course go with ham.

Add ketchup. Again, no need to soak the thing.

Add ham. There are traditionally two choices: cooked or smoked, of which I prefer cooked.

Add mustard to taste. Other common spices include pepper, butter, and garlic, but this is the recipe I grew up with, so we'll go with this.

Wrap with a few sheets of kitchen paper. When you buy these at the market square they will usually have one sheet of wax paper and one of kitchen paper.

Eat with milk. Like with any fast food, there is a certain level of skill required to eat it without dropping pieces and/or smearing your face. Some spillage is to be expected. Enjoy!