Nutrition psychology. Are [Swedish] meatballs and mashed potatoes part of the Uralic-Finnish heritage?

On a Facebook page called I love my Finnish heritage, a post reads as follows: “traditional Finnish Meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam”. Language explains culture. The potato was introduced in the western part of the Swedish kingdom in the middle of the 17th century and the meatballs (köttbullar) was documented 1755. Finland was at that time the eastern part of the Swedish kingdom, and hence mainly Swedish speaking. Russia's invasion and later rule over Finland was likely fueled with anti-Swedish propaganda. That suppressed the language and culture which brought potatoes and meat balls to the eastern part of the kingdom. In homes which mainly speak Uralic-Finnish, mothers teach their kids that Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes is typically Uralic-Finnish.

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On a Facebook page called I love my Finnish heritage, a post reads as following:

“traditional Finnish Meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam”

The sentence may look simple, but from perspectives of chronostratigraphy, history, ethnology, and psychology it's becomes complex and interesting.

Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that studies the ages of rock strata in relation to time. History is the systematic study and documentation of the human past. Ethnology is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different scenarios peoples and the relationships between them. Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Collapse them into one and you get an interesting concept.

Finland is part of Fennoscandia which during the Pleistocene (2.58 Mya - 11 600 years ago) was covered with ice four to five times. The most recent ice maximum dates ~20 000 years ago, and after several melt pulses (14 400 - 7000 years before the present), the ice went away. Ergo. It's unlikely that anyone lived in this area during the Pleistocene.

During the last ice maximum, Hunters and gatherers had populated Europe for decades. As the weather became warmer, they migrated northwards. 8000 years before the present they were joined by farmers from Anatolia (Lamnidis et al. 2018). But migration also came from other places. Findings from southern Sweden which dates ~5000 years before the present show that farmers from Sardinia as well as hunters and gatherers from the area around lake Baikal lived there:

“In 2012 whole genome data arrived, covering about 200,000 times more DNA letters. That study compared hunter-gatherers and farmers who lived in southern Sweden 5,000 years ago. The farmers were not at all like present-day people from Sweden, and instead were much more similar to present-day people from Sardinia, an island off southern Europe. The hunter-gatherers were not like present-day people from Sweden either” (Reich, 2018, p. 41).

500 years later, a huge migration into Europe from the Pontic steppe occurred. They brought with them horses, languages, and likely blue eyes (iberg et al. 2008; Haak et al. 2015; Hanel and Carlberg, 2020). Most people in northern Europe are ancestors of a mix of these people. Thousand years later, nomads from northern Siberia migrated into Fennoscandia, bringing with them Uralic languages which no longer exist (Lamnidis et al. 2018).

During Vendel period (540-750 AD) population size grew in Uppsala - Vendel, Tiundaland, Svitjod (the precursor of Sweden). Tiundaland means “land of the ten hundreds and referred to its duty of providing 1000 men and 40 ships for the Swedish king's leidang” (Wikipedia).

“The institution known as leiðangr (Old Norse), leidang (Norwegian), leding (Danish), ledung (Swedish), expeditio (Latin) or sometimes lething (English), was a form of conscription (mass levy) to organize coastal fleets for seasonal excursions and in defense of the realm typical for medieval Scandinavians and, later, a public levy of free farmers” (Wikipedia).

When populations increase, it triggers entrepreneurial thinking. They started to build long-ships, which they used to explore the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic sea. Boat graves in Salme, Estonia, show that high ranked people paid a visit, suggesting that the purpose was diplomatic, like a crusade (Mägi, 2018;Watson, 2016; Wikipedia). Findings from Haga borg in Janakkala, just south of Tavastehus, Finland, suggest settlements during the same time period.

The areas around the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic sea were integrated into Svitjod, which from 1384 (Harrison, 2018) was called The kingdom of Sweden. Swedish also became the trade language around the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic sea. In 1550, king Gustav Vasa (1494-1560) founded Helsingfors, the capital of Finland.

Culture is based on language (Stanford report, 2019; Liu, 2024). The implication in a bi-lingual country is a bi-lingual culture. While most people in the eastern part of the kingdom spoke the trading language, tribes in the inland, towards Karelia, spoke other Uralic languages which no longer exist. In 1543-48, a Swedish priest from Pernåbygd, Mikael Olofsson (1507-1557) decided to try to baptize people in these tribes. For that purpose, he created a standardized version of their different Uralic languages. He also changed his name to Agricola.

In 1560, Erik XIV (1533-1577) succeeded his father on the throne. Erik was raised to be a king and he opened the door for renaissance movement. The renaissance was followed by the science revolution, during which the Royal Academy in Åbo was founded (1640), and the enlightenment (McKneown, 2009; Pinker, 2018; Widmalm, 2012).

In parallel to the Royal Academy in Åbo being founded, Olof Rudbeck the Elder (1630-1702), professor at Uppsala University, introduced potatoes in Uppsala University's medicinal garden, now known as the Linneträdgården. Dr. Rudbeck called the potatoes 'Peruvian Night Treasure' ('Peruansk Nattskatta') (Österberg, 2018).

In 1755, during the enlightenment, Kajsa Warg (1703-1769) published a cookbook: 'Help in the household for young women' (Hjelpreda I Hushållningen För Unga Fruentimber), in which meat balls (köttbullar) are mentioned for the first time (Tellström, 2018). It's likely that the book was also distributed in the eastern part of the kingdom, which at that time was mainly Swedish speaking.

But as Finland's main population spoke Swedish, Agricola's initiative to Christianize the pagan tribes had evolved with Henrik Gabriel Porthan (1739-1804), rector for The Royal Academy of Åbo, a professor of philosophy, and a Fennophile. Using mythology and folk poetry as references, Dr Porthan claimed that Finnish history originated from the east. (According to Finnish Red Cross blood service (2023), 16% of the Finns originate from the East).

In 1808, Russia invaded the Swedish fortress Sveaborg and likely launched anti-Sweden campaign's to sway the minds of the population in the former eastern part of the Swedish kingdom. They likely used Dr Porthan's myths and folk-songs. The implication: traditions which had arrived from the western part of the kingdom was likely relabeled as something native to the Uralic-Finns.

Foundational emotional and social adjustment and cognitive development, which together forms the executive functions, happens during the first four years of living (Ardila, 2008, Ardila et al. 2018; Adornetti, 2016; Barkley, 2001; Baumrind, 1966; Coolidge and Wynn, 2018; Gopnik, 2016; Hart och Risley, 1995).

That's when mothers typically are in control of children's upbringing. The implication, kids in families who do not use Swedish are taught that meatballs and potatoes are part of the Uralic-Finnish heritage.

Conclusion. Language explains culture. The potato was introduced in the western part of the Swedish kingdom in the middle of the 17th century and the meatballs (köttbullar) was documented 1755. Finland was at that time the eastern part of the Swedish kingdom, and hence mainly Swedish speaking. Russia's invasion and later rule over Finland was likely fueled with anti-Swedish propaganda. That suppressed the language and culture which brought potatoes and meat balls to the eastern part of the kingdom. In homes which mainly speaks Uralic-finnish, mothers teach their kids that Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes is typically uralic-finnish. 5 pages. 

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