In this episode of GoGreenfields, River and Terran explore their genealogy results of an Ancestry report, then take some time to study the regions where their ancestors once lived.  This research, of course, is overflowing with food history, which they happily share with you.  Join them in the kitchen to create many traditional, delicious foods, including German pretzels,Israeli Matzo Ball Soup, and Finnish Fish Pie.

Your GoGreenfields’ hosts enjoyed learning about their genealogy and are sure that you would like to do the same.  If you want to give it a try, you can get your own Ancestry DNA kit at Gogreenfields.com/DNA.

For the sake of this genealogy podcast, River and Terran did a lot of research (don’t worry; this did count toward their unschooling!).  The sources included interviews with family, genealogy test results, and the following sources:

Wonderopolis. (2014-2020). Wonder of the Day #200: How Did the Pretzel Get Its Shape? Retrieved from <https://bit.ly/2QI1Juu>

Fountain View at College Road. Matzo Balls as Medicine, Plus Tips for the Best Matzo Ball Soup. Retrieved from <https://bit.ly/3jzXn5k>

Mapes, T. (2020, Jan. 31). 7 Traditional Finnish Foods to Try. Retrieved from <https://www.tripsavvy.com/foods-from-finland-4150098> 

Thomas, R. (2017, Oct. 6). This is Why Wales is Called Wales. Retrieved from <https://bit.ly/32PilWU>

Israeli Matzo Ball Soup

Gluten-Free Matzo Ball Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
• One quarter teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• Quarter cup coconut flour or any gluten-free flour (you can mix almond and breadfruit if desired)
• 2 teaspoons dried herbs of your choice or 2 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs of your choice (e.g. rosemary, thyme, etc.)

Gluten-Free Matzo Ball Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
3. Then, add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and blend well with a spoon.
4. Scoop 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter into a ball, roll in your hands and then place on the baking sheet. Repeat for the remaining batter.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are no longer soft in the middle.
6. Serve in bowls of very warm chicken broth or vegetable broth.

Soup Ingredients

•  4 Pounds Chicken Breasts
•  2 Medium Onions, cut into 1-inch cubes
•  3 Carrots (7-1/2″), sliced
•  2 Stalks of Celery, sliced thick and chunky
•  1 Cup chopped fresh Dill Weed
•  Salt to taste
•  2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
•  2 Tablespoons Chicken Cracklings (Gribenes), finely minced
•  Two Large Eggs, beaten (we substituted with some Hump Fat)
•  1 Teaspoon salt
•  ¼ Cup Vegetable Broth

Soup Directions

1. Cut chicken breasts into quarters. Place meat in a large pot with onions, and cover with about 3-4 quarts of water. Bring water to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 2 hours.
2. After 2 hours, add carrots and celery to the soup, then simmer an additional hour. Remove chicken pieces, and set aside. You may reserve the chicken pieces for another use, or shred the meat for the soup. If keeping the chicken for soup, then be sure to keep covered at room temperature, before shredding.
3. Once your Gluten-Free Matzo Balls are ready, place shredded chicken and
4. Matzo Balls in soup. Heat for ten minutes to allow flavors to blend, then serve!

Finnish Kalakukko Fish Pie

Filling Ingredients

• 2lbs fish (we used cod)
• 1 ½ lbs pork (we used pork bacon)
• 3T salt
• Dash allspice (optional)

Dough Ingredients

• 2 ½ C water
• 3 ¼ C Rye Flour
• 1 ¾ C Whole Wheat Flour
• 4 tsp Salt
• ½ ounce yeast, active dry

Directions

1. Clean the fish, removing fins, large scales and entrails.  You may leave the heads if you dare to eat them.
2. Mix the flours and salt. Add the yeast to the water. When the yeast is fully dissolved, make a thick dough by pouring flour mixture into water and blending well. The ratio of flour to water depends on the nature of the flours. This ratio of 1:2 by volume works well in Finland with Finnish flours. Where flours contain more gluten you should use slightly less water.
3. Set aside about 4 tablespoon of dough to be used later. Roll out the remaining dough into a circular shape about ¾ inch thick.
4. Assemble the meats into the dough: cover the inner half of the dough circle with half of the pork (the pork should cover a circle whose diameter is half the diameter of the rolled dough). Then put all of the fish over top of the pork, and add allspice and extra salt if you are using them. Finish with the second half of the pork.
5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Lift the edges of the dough all around the filling and glue together with a little water so that you have the filling surrounded from all directions with about ¾ inch-thick dough. Put upside down (the seam downwards) on a baking sheet and let it rise about half an hour at room temperature.
6. Put the kalakukko in a 500 degree F. oven for long enough to brown the dough, which will seal it against moisture. Then lower the temperature to about 250 degrees F. and let it bake for 4 to 7 hours depending on the size of the fish (bigger fish need more cooking time). You can brush some melted butter over the top of the dough just after lowering the temperature; this will give it a prettier appearance. If it starts to leak while baking, fill holes with the dough which was set aside.
7. Serve hot or cold.

German Sourdough Pretzels

Ingredients

• 2 C culture from the Culture Proof*
• 2T oil
• 1tsp salt
• 1T sugar
• 1/2C water
• 3C unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4C baking soda
• Coarse salt

Directions

1. Pour the culture into a mixing bowl.  
2. Stir the oil, salt, and sugar into the water; add to the culture and mix well.  
3. Add the flour a cup at a time, until the dough becomes too stiff to mix by hand. 
4. Turn out onto a floured board and knead in the remaining flour until the dough becomes smooth and satiny.
5. Divide the dough into 15 to 20 egg-size balls. Roll each ball into a 14-inch (35 cm) rope by rolling between your hands.  Twist and loop each rope into a pretzel shape.  
6. **Proof for 1 hour at 85 degrees F (29 degrees C) in a proofing box.
7. Add the baking soda to a large pan of water and bring to a boil. 
8. Carefully drop pretzels into the water one at a time.  Simmer briefly, turning once.  Remove them with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels or a cloth until the water drains off. 
9. Transfer the drained pretzels to a baking sheet.  Make several oblique slashes in the crust of each pretzel with a razor blade and sprinkle with coarse salt.  
10. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 40 minutes, or until brown.  Let cool on a wire rack.

*Creating your own Sourdough culture can be a lot of fun, and a great learning opportunity.  Check out this great article that we found that discussed Sourdough culture in greater length.

**In cooking, proofing can also be called ‘proving’, and it refers to the time that baked goods are allowed to rise a final time.  The yeast ferments the dough and causes the dough to leaven.

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