Mulligan Stew or Mojakka
Makes 8 servings.
Ingredients:
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
Cold water
4 medium-sized potatoes, quartered
4 medium-sized carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 small onions, quartered
1 small (1/2-pound) rutabaga or turnip, cut into 1-inch dice
3 parsley sprigs
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
Method:
Put meat into a 4-quart pot. Add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes, carrots, onions, rutabaga or turnip, parsley, salt, pepper and sugar to boiling mixture.
Simmer, tightly covered, over low heat 2-1/2 hours or until meat is tender. In a cup, blend flour and 1/2 cup water until smooth. Stir into boiling stew. Cook 15 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently.
While researching the word "mojakka", I found your page, which pointed me in the direction of Kalajoki, Finland. After several hours of reading related articles, I've found several sources that all indicate that mojakka was a fish soup cooked by fishermen over a fire at fishcamps during their midday breaks between pulling and setting nets at sea. One source cited an old fisherman verbatim that this was a soup containing fish, salt, whitewash (a flour and water mixture for thickening) and onions.
ReplyDeleteIt was stressed that no potatoes were added, which seems to have been a source of pride that the fishermen ate only the fish they caught without the need to carry potatoes with them.
The word is somewhat obscure and unknown in the rest of Finland, and even being forgotten in the Kalajoki region since commercial fishing there has died out. But it is definitely a Finnish word, originally only used for this specific fisherman's soup.
In Calumet, Mich. I've heard mojakka only as associated with fish soup, normally with the heads and all. That you would say lihamojakka in Minn. came as a surprise to me. We called beef or venison stew booyah, which comes from the French bouillir to boil or bouillon, a broth.