PELKIE — The Keweenaw National Historical Park and the Calumet-Keweenaw Sportsmen’s Club held an event focusing on the Finns’ approach to fish diets in both the Upper Peninsula and in its European homeland.

The program on Friday morning had the goal of cultural education regarding the local natural resources. Visitors gathered at Hanka Homestead Finnish Museum and listened to lessons and stories from Oscar Heikkinen, a volunteer for the Homestead Association. Heikkinen is a descendant of Finnish immigrants beginning with his great-grandfather and is very knowledgeable about the cultural differences and similarities between the native Finnish culture and its transitioned form in the Upper Peninsula.

Before Heikkinen began the cultural and cuisine lessons, he reminded the visitors of the local species in the area of the Keweenaw and which of them were likely to be brought up quite a bit in the discussions. He mentioned lake trout, smelt, northern pike and burbot and how because most of the water they are harvested from is cold water that they have a more appetizing flavor and hold many similarities to the quality of fish in Finland.

He said the region of Finland most Yoopers have ties to is the central-north portion of the country, where crop failure and famine were common in the mid- and late 1800s. Because of this, many Finns had to rely on fish as their main source of food, and Heikkinen brought a hoop net that many in Finland and even here in the Upper Peninsula have used to catch fish called a ryysä. The way it works is to place the funnel end facing downstream of a river and the fish will swim through the funnel and become entrapped in the surrounding cage.

One of the fish that is a favorite to catch in a ryysä is the burbot. The fish can be caught in both Finland and the Upper Peninsula and is a coveted species for its particular flavor. A Finnish preference for the burbot however does not only include the meat itself, but also its eggs. A way to enjoy the eggs is to clean them up and mix them with salt and spread them on bread with onion and butter.

“It’s very fishy but some say it’s better than caviar,” Heikkinen said. “Some people who couldn’t get burbot used sucker eggs instead.”

He joked and said he found much Finnish cooking to be bland when it came to seasoning because traditionally only salt and pepper were used. Heikkinen said though that frying and boiling the fish with carrots and potatoes did add some flavor to the dishes. Because burbots tend to have not too much meat on them, they are often cooked with a multitude of ingredients to make a more filling meal. However, Heikkinen said that another way to enjoy burbot if there are not many ingredients on hand is to boil them in chunks with a teaspoon of salt. Once the burbot is firm, the diner can take it out and dunk it in butter, as it is known as “poor man’s lobster.”

Another dish Heikkinen discussed was Mojakka, which is a fish soup. However, he explained that that term is not currently used in Finland. When he had visited Finland, no one had known what he was talking about when he had mentioned it. Its origin term was brought over to America and continued to be used here, but the name became rarely used if at all in its country of origin. Heikkinen also explained that much of the Finnish language here in the United States is far more old fashioned compared to what current Finns use in Finland due to the removal of many Swedish aspects of it in the early 1900s.

Heikkinen finished the discussion with a sampling of his own fish chowder made with lake trout and a Finnish breakfast treat called Pannukakku. While the visitors ate, he handed out little booklets he made of fish recipes for the guests to try on their own.