Sami Flatbread With Syrup and Oats

Sami People, also spelled Saami People and Sámi People, are the Indigenous People of Northern Europe. They have been living in Norway, Sweden, Finland and on The Russian Kola Peninsuela since at least 10 000 BC. Their history can in many ways be compared to that of Native Americans. From Medieval times and all the way to the 70's they had to face ethnic cleansing, assimiliation and huge landgrabs. Discrimination of Sami People is widespread in Norway today, were about 60 000 people, 1.25% percent of the population is Sami. The Sami population in Russia counted tens of thousand before, but under Stalin many were forced to move, even killed. Today, only 1600 Russian Sami are alive, barely 0.001 percent of the population.

I find it highly important to keep Indigenous People's cultures alive. I tend to do so by learning languages, experiment with music and art, as well as cooking. Today, I will guide you through these easy steps, to make a traditional Sami dish; Flatbreads with syrup and oats.

To make four of these flatbreads, you will need:

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of Karo Dark Syrup,(Alternatively molasses.) dissolved in 150 ml/three fifths of a cup.
- A pinch of salt. (A pinch is really enough, these aren't meant to be all salty.)
- 1 teaspoon of oil/margarine. (Traditionally, lard was used)
- 2 heaped spoons of rolled oats.
- 150 grams/5 ounces of all purpose flour, unbleached.

Tools:
- A tablespoon.
- Medium/ sized mixing bowl.
- A pan/tava.
- A stove.

That's pretty much it! Ready to continue? :)

Grab your medium sized mixing bowl and pour the flour into it. Add the rolled oats and a pinch of salt. A small shake with the dispenser is more than enough. Mix throughly, until you have a uniform product.

Make a well-shape in the middle of the bowl with the tablespoon. Add the syrup&water mixture, as well as the teaspoonfull of oil/margarine. Stir it with the large spoon.

When you can't stir the mix with your spoon anymore, it's time to knead the dough. Empty the contents of the bowl onto your table/bench, and start kneading. For some reason, I only poured 75 ml of water into the bowl dry ingredients, so it turned out as crumbles. Hence, I added another 75 ml, as this recipe requires for 150 ml of liquid. Start kneading your dough, until it got a consistence kind of like gingerbread dough. It should be a bit sticky. When you've kneaded it, form it to a ball and let rest for 10 minutes, while you may start cleaning. :)

Put your pan/tava on high heat on the stove. Let it warm up, while you take your ball and divide it into four equal wedges. Form eac one of these into a ball, dust them with a bit more flour and roll 'em out. You want to keep the dough about a half centimeter/one fourth of an inch thick. It doesn't really matter if you can't get them to be perfectly round, that wasn't much of a problem centuries ago, neither now. Pop one at the time onto your preheated pan/tava, and cook it for 30 seconds. Flip it, and cook for additional 20 seconds. You know it's ready, when both sides got dark brown/black spots. Transfer the flatbreads to a wirerack, and let them cool for a bit.

There are plenty of ways to serve these flatbreads. Serve them as dinner, with a traditional reindeer stew, known as bidos among Sami People. You may also serve them as breakfast or a quick evening meal, with blueberries and a little bit of syrup drizzled over. Almost like pancakes, but these are healthier. :)

1. You may replace the rolled oats with rye, and add yeast to your dough. After letting it rise for about an hour, cook it in the same way as the flatbreads. This type of bread is known by Samis as gahkko. 

2. You may add a tiny bit of blueberry juice to your dough, to give it  a fascinating color and a interesting taste.

3. Don't eat too many of these! To much fiber may lead to stomach aches. Trust me on that one...

If you have any comments, suggestions, tips or comments at all, feel free to write! I love getting feedback! Thank you for reading! :)