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First Annual Mojakka Cook-off Is Great Success
On Sunday, March 16, 2003, the first ever St. Urho’s Day Mojakka Cook-Off Potluck was held at the Historic Northeastern Hotel in Cloquet, Minnesota. The Mojakka Cook-Off is an offshoot of a web site that Tim Winker created in November, 2002. (http://www.mojakka.com/cookoff.htm) “It was one of those crazy ideas that I have been known to come up with,” said Winker. “I usually don’t go beyond the talking stage, but this one made some sense, so I searched the Internet, found there was very little on mojakka and that the domain name had not been registered. I took that as an omen and designed the site over a weekend. Within a couple of weeks there were quite a few recipe contributions, so I knew I must be on the right track.
“We were quite pleased with the turnout,” said Winker. “We had just enough mojakka for everyone to try all of the entries. Now we’ll have to challenge the Minnesota cities of Menahga, New York Mills, Embarass and other Finnish-American communities to bring out their best for a State Mojakka Cook-Off. After that we’ll get the best from Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan and make it the National Mojakka Championship. Add a few entries from Thunder Bay and we can crown the ‘World’s Best Mojakka Chef’.”Here are some photos from the Cook-Off. (Photos copyright Gerry Henkel, gerry@kantele.com)
Over 150 people wandered through the rooms of the historic Northeastern hotel this past St. Urho's Day, munching on home made breads and mojakka. The adjacent bar provided beer and soft drinks.
Pat Ekman from Esko. She made the Hamburger Mojakka.
Judges and organizer of the Cook-off: Jennika Soyring, the reigning Miss Cloquet; Tim Winker, event organizer; Connie Wirta, Duluth, features editor for the Duluth News Tribune; and Priscilla Harvala, Esko, poet. Not pictured - Gerry Henkel, Clover Valley, editor of New World Finn.
"Eino Retenttinen" brought two kinds of mojakka to the Cook-Off, one kalamojakka and one lihamojakka.
Finnish-American cooks from the region pulled out old family recipes and perfected them for the first competition of its type. One-hundred fifty mojakka fans showed up to taste eight different variations of the Finnish-American soup.
There were two varieties with fish - one made with northern pike and flavored with dill, the other from a family recipe featuring salmon and crappie. The remaining six were primarily beef, ranging from beef roast to hamburger, with one created using a moose roast as the primary ingredient.
For more about the Cook-Off, go to the official Mojakka Website.
