Porkkanalaatikko

Porkkanalaatikko, called morotslåda in Swedish, both meaning carrot casserole, is a traditional Finnish dish mostly eaten at Christmas. The main ingredients are mashed carrots mixed with boiled rice or barley and a liquid, usually milk or cream. Butter and eggs may be mixed into the mash, which can also be flavoured with sugar, salt, white pepper and grated nutmeg. The mash is put into a casserole dish and baked in the oven. The carrots need not be boiled first, because they can be grated and mixed in raw with the other ingredients. Ready-made porkkanalaatikko is also sold in Finnish food stores around the Christmas season, as well as in parts of Sweden with a large ethnically Finnish population. The source article says the dish seems to have originated in the nineteenth century and gives no more exact date.