The Mystery of Sin Salad is Solved!

Sofia Sampson would make a beet salad that we called “Sin Salad.”  I remember the earthy smell of cooked beets from her house. But a Finnish-speaking friend of Jon and Barbara Sampson, Helena, explains that “Sin” is not a Finnish word. So where did Sofia get it? Maybe Milly mis-heard when she followed her mother-in-law around the kitchen and wrote down what she observed. It turns out that the “Finnish” spoken by many Finns in the Pacific Northwest was a conglomeration of Finnish, Swedish and Danish. Or, it was “Finnglish;” take an English word and tack “ia” on the end. That makes it Finnish. At least that’s what Milly claimed, and Helena has heard it happen. “Hand me the boxi,” a friend said. He meant the box, and “boxi” is not even close to Finnish. Anyway, here is Sofia’s recipe:

 Boil separately, dice and mix:

3 C new potatoes

1 C carrots

½ C new beets

Onions to taste

Pickled or salted herring or smoked salmon

Boiled eggs

Boiled meat

Serve with vinegar at the plate

Barbara found a more complex recipe at Cooks.com called “Finnish Beet-Herring Salad”:

2 medium potatoes

2 Carrots

2 Cups beets

2 tart apples

1/8 tsp. white pepper

1 small onion

2 medium dill pickles

2/4 C. pickled or salt herring (related recipes use other fish, like sardines or salmon)

Lettuce leaves

Dressing:

1 C. sour cream

1 T. lemon juice

2 T. beet juice

Salt and sugar

Cooking the beets separately, cook and dice the potatoes and carrots. Dice the apples, onion, pickles, and fish, and combine them.  Just before serving, add the beets. Serve on the lettuce leaves.

The concoction may be called “Rosolli” until you add the herring; then it is “sillisalaatti,” which is a bona fide Finnish word.

Here is a precaution about eating beets. If you get up in the middle of the night to pee, don’t turn on the light. You will be shocked by passing hot pink! It will startle you out of a good night’s rest.