Kama (food)
{{Short description|Traditional Estonian, Finnish and Turkic finely milled flour mixture}}
{{Lang|et|Kama}} (Estonian), {{Lang|fi|talkkuna}} (Finnish), {{Lang|ru-latn|tolokno}} ({{Langx|ru|толокно}}), or {{Lang|trk|talqan}} (in Turkic languages) is a traditional Estonian, Finnish, Russian, and Turkic finely milled flour mixture. The {{Lang|ru|tolokno}} or {{Lang|fi|talkkuna}} powder is a mixture of roasted barley, rye, oat and pea flour. The oat flour may be completely replaced by wheat flour, or kibbled black beans may be added to the mixture. In Finland {{Lang|fi|talkkuna}} is made by first steaming grains, then grinding them up and finally roasting them.{{Cite web|title=Talkkunasta uusi vanha tuttu|url=http://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2011/12/13/talkkunasta-uusi-vanha-tuttu|access-date=2021-09-04|website=yle.fi|date=13 December 2011 |language=fi-FI}}
Historically, traditional Estonian kama was made slightly differently in different regions of Estonia: it could consist of oats, peas, beans or wheat, which were mixed together depending on the region.Moora, Aliise. Eesti talurahva vanem toit I (Estonian peasant food in the older period, Vol I). Tallinn: Valgus (publisher), 1980, p. 157 (in Estonian).
"Historically kama was a non-perishable, easy-to-carry food that could be quickly fashioned into a stomach-filling snack by rolling it into butter or lard; it did not require baking, as it was already roasted".{{Cite web|date=2017-08-11|title=Estonian Secret. Kama. Estonian "muesli"|url=https://estoniancuisine.com/2017/08/11/kama-estonian-muesli/|access-date=2021-09-04|website=Estonian Cuisine. Eesti Toit.|language=en}}{{User-generated inline|date=January 2024}}
Nowadays, kama can be bought as a souvenir{{Clarify|reason=This doesn't make sense - like a souvenir to display and take home? Wouldn't it expire?|date=February 2025}} in Estonia, where it is a distinctive national food.[http://www.eestitoit.ee/pages.php/010201,8 Eesti Toit infoserver v2.0.3.0] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217022649/http://www.eestitoit.ee/pages.php/010201%2C8 |date=2007-12-17 }}
Traditionally, kama was the peasant dish of Southern Estonia and Eastern Estonia, that was also consumed by Ludza Estonians in Latvia, but kama was not consumed in Northern and Western Estonia.Moora, Aliise. Eesti talurahva vanem toit I (Estonian peasant food in the older period, Vol I). Tallinn: Valgus (publisher), 1980, p. 157 (in Estonian).
Nowadays it is used for making some desserts in Finland and it is mostly eaten for breakfast mixed with milk, buttermilk or kefir as mush.{{Cite web|title=Rantanen kama flour 1 kg|url=https://suomikauppa.fi/en/product/rantasen-talkkuna-flour-1kg/|access-date=2021-09-04|website=Suomikauppa.fi|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904045702/https://suomikauppa.fi/en/product/rantasen-talkkuna-flour-1kg/|url-status=dead}} It is frequently sweetened with sugar and especially with blueberry, more rarely with other fruits or honey or served unsweetened. It is also used for milk or sour desserts, together with the forest berries typical of Finland.{{Cn|date=February 2025}}
A similar product is {{Lang|sv|skrädmjöl}}, a flour consisting exclusively of roasted oats which is traditionally made in the Swedish province of Värmland. It was brought there by Forest Finns.{{Cite web|title=Skogsfinnar|url=https://www.minoritet.se/6906|access-date=2021-09-04|website=Minoritet.se|language=sv}}
In Turkic languages, it is called {{Lang|trk|talqan}}. It is made of coarse or finely milled flour from roasted barley or wheat. It is common in the cuisine of the Altay people, Nogays, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Tatars, Tuvans, Uzbeks, and Khakas.{{Cn|date=February 2025}}