What kind of maaleipä baker are you?

There are many different types of Maaleipä breads and bakers: some are interested in the health of their stomachs, others are inspired by new innovations in farming, and others head to the forest to pick wild herbs and mushrooms for their bread. What kind of Maaleipä baker are you? Discover the different types of Maaleipä bakers and see if you can identify yourself!

Traditional home baker

You are a baker who sticks to tradition. You appreciate traditional local recipes and baking methods handed down by your grandmother, and you may have a rye sourdough starter that has been passed on through your family for more than 100 years. You want to bake real bread made with quality ingredients, so you always use organic flour from your local store. For the Maaleipä Challenge, you might be inspired to adjust an old, familiar recipe to create a new bread of the future!

Healthy baker

Your stomach health is important to you, which is why you prefer high-quality flours, seeds and nuts in your bread. You keep an eye on salt and sugar content, avoid artificial preservatives and additives, and always like to bake with sourdough, which contains good bacteria that are kind to your stomach, add flavour, and help you digest the nutrients in bread. You are interested in the connection between soil and the gut, and you want to bake the bread of the future that takes care of both!

Environmentally conscious baker

The health of the environment is important to you. For your bread, you use flour from a small farm or mill in your local area that practices regenerative farming. You prefer to use regional cereals that are in danger of disappearing, but which are more resilient to climate change than common industrialised varieties. You are aware of the environmental benefits of perennial crops and are happy to use perennial plants, vegetables or seeds in your baking. You may notice chives or chokecherries growing in your own backyard and decide to use them in your Maaleipä. Good luck!

Creative baker

For you, baking is a chance to unleash your creativity! Inspired by different food and bread cultures, in your kitchen you are constantly experimenting with different grains, legumes, root vegetables, and new techniques for making dough rise and for baking it. You are excited by new innovations, and might even experiment with things like sweet lupins or leached acorns in your breads. Will you invent the bread of the future?

Farmer baker

You are a baker who grows your own grain from scratch and grinds your own flour in a local mill. You might be a professional who is carrying on the running of a family farm, or you could have your own vegetable patch in your yard. You are equally concerned about how agrochemicals are depleting the soil and eutrophying water bodies. That is why you only practice organic farming, regenerative farming or agroforestry on your farm. You want to be part of a positive change in farming culture, to provide consumers with ecologically sustainable product choices, and to be part of developing the bread of the future!

Gatherer baker

For you, baking starts in the forest, where you gather wild herbs, mushrooms and berries for your bread. There may be dandelions, rowan berries or lichen in your bread, or you might have struck lucky in the mushroom forest and decorate your bread with chanterelles and milk-cap mushrooms. Either way, you are a responsible gatherer who collects only as much as you need, and with the landowner’s permission when necessary. Can you come up with the bread recipe of the future in the forest?

Translated with DeepL.com (free version). Revised by MG.