TempoLife › Cultural foods of Estonia and Finland › Karask
Karask
What karask is
Karask is a quick bread from barley flour, baked in a pan or oven — a dense, crumbly loaf or scone that was the everyday bread of Estonian farmhouses before wheat was affordable. It rises with buttermilk or kefir and sometimes a pinch of soda, which keeps it soft inside while the barley gives it a warm, slightly sweet flavour.
How it is eaten
Warm, cut into wedges, with butter, honey, or a glass of cold milk or kefir on the side. It is a classic accompaniment to soups and summer meals, and it stales quickly — which is why it was always baked small and eaten the same day. In Finland the same barley bread tradition lives on as ohraleipä, often baked in a skillet.
How to log it
Karask is essentially barley flour plus cultured milk: in our database barley flour is 345 kcal per 100 g and kefir 52 kcal per 100 g, so a modest wedge lands roughly between bread and scone. Log it as barley bread and adjust the portion to your slice.
Closest foods in our database
| Food | kcal / 100 g | As it is usually eaten here |
|---|---|---|
| Barley flour | 345 | the flour karask is made of |
| Kefir | 52 | the classic wet ingredient |
| Barley | 123 | the grain before milling |
Calories per 100 g come from the real rows in our food database (no invented values). This page describes food culture — it is not medical advice, and no single food decides anyone's weight.
