There are many tasty types of bread, but Finnish pulla - introduced to the Sault by the Finnish immigrants who settled in this community - is a unique bread with a sweet flavour, often enjoyed with coffee or tea.
“It’s a buttery, sweet bread. It’s very similar to Easter bread Italians make except it has the cardamon in it. Cardamon (also known as ‘cardamom’ or ‘cardamum’) is the spice in pulla bread. It’s a spice from India but the Finnish use it in their bread. I love it,” said Roberta Matthews, who owns and operates Pastry by Roberta at Soo Market on Brock Street.
Lengthy instructions on how to bake pulla can be found on many websites.
Anyone wanting to bake as few as three pulla loaves at home should have patience as the process involves several steps and takes about four hours.
Matthews bakes 50 loaves to sell every Saturday at Soo Market.
“I have a kitchen at home and I’m approved to do all the baking there. I’ll get up at 4:30 in the morning the day before to bake 50 loaves. That takes me until about one or two o'clock. It’s very easy but it’s time consuming. When I make the dough I have to let it rise, then when it gets to a certain point I make it into my bread and I have to let it rise again.”
“I do a variety of pulla breads like plain pulla, cinnamon pulla and raisin pulla. When customers look at the variety I always tell them to try the cinnamon pulla. Pulla is very good as French toast. Really good. I tell all my customers to try that too,” Matthews said.
Matthews is a professional who has baked a wide variety of baked goods but now concentrates on pulla.
“I worked with Tuula Valkonen at Taste of Scandia, a Finnish bakery on Queen Street for 10 years. Whenever she went to Finland I ran her business and did all the baking. She got me in at the Mill Market. She started me off there with my own business. She stayed with me for a couple of months, got me settled in and helped me. I said ‘I’ll try it’ and years later I’m still here, at Soo Market,” Matthews said with a smile.
Valkonen, now retired and living in Toronto, supplies Matthews with cardamon to use in her pulla baking.
A unique aspect to pulla is its ‘braided’ appearance.
“It’s braided and you use two pieces of dough. To this day - and I’ve made pulla for 19 years - if I get distracted I don’t get it right. I think most of the technique involved would be to learn how to braid it,” Matthews said.
Locally, Paul’s Bakery was a longtime favourite spot for Saultites who enjoy pulla, operating in the city’s west end from the 1960s until closing in 2019.
The Finnish treat is still available from Pastry by Roberta at Soo Market and at several bakeries in town including Tuomo’s Stubbornly Finnish Bakery.
The Ontario Finnish Resthome Association Ladies Auxiliary also meets once a month to bake pulla for sale.
As for Roberta Matthews?
“Tuula taught me very well. I usually bring about 50 loaves every Saturday and I sell out every week.”
