Turku launches national day for local piispanmunkki pastry

Turku is celebrating the first national Piispispäivä on Friday, a day dedicated to the piispanmunkki pastry, Yle reports. The event is coordinated by the City of Turku.

The aim is to make the pastry, locally known as piispis, a food culture symbol in the same way that cinnamon buns are associated with Sweden.

Piispanmunkki is particularly well known in the Turku region, while a similar pastry is called a Berlin doughnut elsewhere in Finland.

Restaurants and bakeries in Turku have developed at least 16 versions of the pastry’s familiar flavours, including shots, cocktails, mocktails and biscuits.

Anu Hopia, a research professor at the University of Turku’s Centre for Food and Nutrition Research, said promoting the pastry was a good example of keeping food culture alive.

“Food culture is at its best when it is living, changing and transforming. It must not be put in a museum,” Hopia said.

Hopia said pastries such as piispanmunkki reflect a Finnish confectionery tradition dating back to the 19th century. At that time, master confectioners travelled as apprentices through the Baltic countries, Viipuri, St Petersburg, Finland and Sweden to learn their skills.

A model from Sweden

The organisers hope Piispispäivä will develop into a nationally recognised themed day, following the example of Sweden’s cinnamon bun day.

The Swedish day was established in 1999 by Kaeth Gardestedt while she was project manager at the Home Baking Council. The aim was to encourage home economics teachers to bake with children at school.

Gardestedt said the event quickly drew public attention, prompting bakeries to bake large quantities of cinnamon buns. Today, Swedish bakeries sell more pastries on Cinnamon Bun Day on 4 October than on Shrove Tuesday.

Hopia said Piispispäivä should not be seen as a rival to Cinnamon Bun Day, which has also spread to Finland.

“It can be a sister, brother or friend. We are part of the same happy group,” she said.

The different versions have also prompted debate over what counts as an “authentic” piispanmunkki. Hopia said the discussion reflected how food culture changes across different environments and communities.

Finland already has themed days for pastries and other baked goods, including Runeberg tarts, Shrove buns, waffles, blueberry pie and cinnamon buns. Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway also celebrate days dedicated to traditional pastries.