Beatrice Ojakangas

Last updated

Beatrice Ojakangas
Born1934 (age 8990)
Alma mater University of Minnesota Duluth
Occupation(s)Cook, cookbook author, writer, television cook
Known forWriting a number of cookbooks on Scandinavian cooking, inventing pizza rolls
Honors James Beard Foundation's Cookbook Hall of Fame

Beatrice Ojakangas (born 1934 [1] ) is an American cookbook author, writer, television cook, and inventor of pizza rolls, from Floodwood, Minnesota. Of Finnish heritage, Ojakangas has focused on Nordic and Scandinavian cooking, and particularly preserving its culinary traditions in the United States. She has been referred to as the "Scandinavian Julia Child". [2] As of 2016, she has written 30 cookbooks. [3] In 2005 she was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Cookbook Hall of Fame for The Great Scandinavian Baking Book. [4] [5]

Contents

Biography

Beatrice Luoma grew up in a Finnish American family in Cedar Valley Township, Minnesota, near Floodwood. The oldest of ten children, she learned Finnish at church and home. [1] She grew up on a farm and found an interest in cooking at a young age. She was encouraged to experiment in the kitchen – as long as she cleaned up afterward. [6] Her interest in food led her to refine her baking skills over the course of several years in order to win the 4-H contest at the county fair. [2] While attending the University of Minnesota Duluth, she met her husband Richard Ojakangas; she studied home economics, graduating in 1956. [7] The following year, she won second grand prize in the Grand National Bake-Off. [8] The family lived in Finland for a year, where she taught American cooking to Finnish women for the U.S. Information Service. While giving demonstrations, she also learned more about Finnish recipes from the women she taught. [9] [10] The family then moved to California; her writing career began there at Sunset magazine, where she was a food editor. While working for Sunset, Ojakangas wrote her first book, The Finnish Cookbook, which was published in 1964 and was later described by the University of Minnesota as "the absolute source on Finnish cooking in the United States". [11] The book remains in print. [9] [12]

Returning to Minnesota, in the mid-1960s Ojakangas worked as a product developer and home economist for Minnesota food industry magnate Jeno Paulucci's Chun King, which sold American Chinese food. Her younger brother also worked there as an engineer and had developed a machine for producing egg rolls. When Paulucci wanted to find new uses for the egg roll wrapping machine, Ojakangas was given the responsibility. She started with a list of over 50 possibilities, many of them sandwich flavors such as peanut butter and jelly, cheeseburger, or Reuben. Some of her other ideas were various pizza flavors like Italian sausage or pepperoni. Her taste test of the pizza rolls for Paulucci and Chun King executives was well received, and Jeno's Pizza Rolls soon became popular. [13] [9] [14]

In the 1960s and 1970s, Beatrice and Richard Ojakangas founded and ran a restaurant in Duluth, Minnesota, called Somebody's House. It featured 36 types of "Scandinavian-style open-face ground beef patty with a variety of toppings." [15] [9] The Minneapolis Star first covered her in its Taste column in 1978 and would go on to publish a number of profiles on her over the following decades. [6]

Ojakangas has written at least 30 cookbooks, and also published her memoirs, Homemade, in 2016. [3] [9]

Media

Ojakangas has written for a number of nationwide American magazines such as Ladies' Home Journal , Southern Living , and Bon Appétit as well as worked as a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. [1] [16] She has also worked in the food industry as a consultant for companies such as Pillsbury and Louis Kemp Foods. [17]

Ojakangas hosted the Food Network's 1997 program "The Baker's Dozen". [16] In addition, she has been a regular guest on Martha Stewart Living , a featured guest on Julia Child's Baking with Julia , and has been on Finnish cooking shows. [7] [16]

Awards and honors

Her book Scandinavian Feasts received the Minnesota Book Award in the Cuisine category in 1993. [18] In 2005 Ojakangas was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Cookbook Hall of Fame. [4] [5] She was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2007 and received the Distinguished Alumni Award. [11] In 2016 Ojakangas was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame [3] and received the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award in the Memoir category the same year. [19]

Cooking Light listed her book The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever among its Top 100 Cookbooks. [20]

Works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of the Midwestern United States</span> Regional cuisine of the United States

Midwestern cuisine is a regional cuisine of the American Midwest. It draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of New England</span> Northeastern US food culture

New England cuisine is an American cuisine which originated in the New England region of the United States, and traces its roots to traditional English cuisine and Native American cuisine of the Abenaki, Narragansett, Niantic, Wabanaki, Wampanoag, and other native peoples. It also includes influences from Irish, French, Italian, and Portuguese cuisine, among others. It is characterized by extensive use of potatoes, beans, dairy products and seafood, resulting from its historical reliance on its seaports and fishing industry. Corn, the major crop historically grown by Native American tribes in New England, continues to be grown in all New England states, primarily as sweet corn although flint corn is grown as well. It is traditionally used in hasty puddings, cornbreads and corn chowders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finnish cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Finland

Finnish cuisine is notable for generally combining traditional country fare and haute cuisine with contemporary continental-style cooking. Fish and meat play a prominent role in traditional Finnish dishes in some parts of the country, while the dishes elsewhere have traditionally included various vegetables and mushrooms. Evacuees from Karelia contributed to foods in other parts of Finland in the aftermath of the Continuation War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soufflé</span> Baked egg-based dish

A soufflé is a baked egg dish originating in France in the early 18th century. Combined with various other ingredients, it can be served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler, which means to blow, breathe, inflate or puff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totino's</span> American brand of frozen pizza

Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza products owned by General Mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jansson's temptation</span> Swedish potato casserole

Jansson's temptation is a traditional Swedish casserole made of potatoes, onions, pickled sprats, bread crumbs and cream. It is commonly included in a Swedish julbord, and the Easter påskbuffé, which is lighter than a traditional julbord. The dish is also common in Finland where it is known as janssoninkiusaus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoonbread</span> Cornmeal pudding from the Southern United States

Spoonbread is a moist cornmeal-based dish prevalent in parts of the Southern United States. While the basic recipe involves the same core ingredients as cornbread – namely cornmeal, milk, butter, and eggs – the mode of preparation creates a final product with a soft, rather than crumbly, texture. As the name implies, the consistency is soft enough that it needs to be served and eaten with a spoon.

<i>Companys Coming</i> Series of cookbooks

Company's Coming is a popular line of cookbooks that has sold over 30 million copies since 1981. The series is produced by Company's Coming Publishing Limited based in Edmonton, Alberta. The series was written by Jean Paré.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinnamon sugar</span> Spice mix made up of ground cinnamon and granulated sugar

Cinnamon sugar is a mixture of ground cinnamon and granulated sugar used as a spice to flavor foods such as Belgian waffles, Snickerdoodle cookies, tortillas, coffee cake, French toast, and churros. It is also used to flavor apples, cereals, and other fruits. As McCormick describes cinnamon sugar, "it’s the comforting scent of Sunday morning cinnamon toast and mid-summer’s peach cobbler...the aroma of the holidays, with cinnamon cookies and spice cake."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egg butter</span> Mixture of butter and chopped hard boiled eggs, eaten in Finland and Estonia

Egg butter is a mixture of butter and chopped hard boiled eggs. It is a well known spread in Finnish cuisine and Estonian cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizza snack rolls</span> Food product

Pizza snack rolls are a frozen food product consisting of bite-sized breaded pizza pockets with an interior of tomato sauce, imitation cheese and various pizza toppings. They are sold in a variety of flavors including cheese, pepperoni, sausage, supreme, multiple imitation cheeses, and mixed meats. Other flavors included hamburger, cheeseburger, ham and cheese, and combination. Pizza snack rolls are designed to be quickly cooked in the oven or microwave. The name "pizza rolls" is a trademark of General Mills, current owner of the original product.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Silverton</span> American chef, baker, and author (born 1954)

Nancy Silverton is an American chef, baker, and author. The winner of the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Chef Award in 2014, Silverton is recognized for her role in popularizing sourdough and artisan breads in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baking stone</span>

A baking stone is a portable cooking surface used in baking. It may be made of ceramic, stone or, more recently, salt. Food is put on the stone, which is then placed in an oven, though sometimes the stone is heated first. Baking stones are used much like cookie sheets, but may absorb additional moisture for crispier food. A pizza stone is a baking stone designed for cooking pizza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardamom bread</span> Bread or pastry flavored with cardamom

Cardamom breads, including the Finnish pulla and Swedish kardemummabröd and kardemummabullar, are a group of enriched breads or pastry flavored with cardamom. They are eaten throughout the year, typically with coffee or tea.

Luigino "Jeno" Francesco Paulucci was an American food industry magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Paulucci started over 70 companies; his most well-known ventures included the frozen food company Bellisio Foods as well as food products such as pizza rolls and the Chun King line of Chinese foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of Minnesota</span>

The cuisine of Minnesota is a type of Midwestern cuisine found throughout the state of Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaalilaatikko</span>

Cabbage casserole is a traditional Finnish oven-baked casserole dish, typically made of cabbage, ground meat, rice or pearl barley, and additional flavourings—such as onion, marjoram—and a small amount of syrup or molasses. Kaalilaatikko is usually served with lingonberry aka. cowberry jam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Applesauce cake</span> Dessert cake

Applesauce cake is a dessert cake prepared using apple sauce, flour and sugar as primary ingredients. Various spices are typically used, and it tends to be a moist cake. Several additional ingredients may also be used in its preparation, and it is sometimes prepared and served as a coffee cake. The cake dates back to early colonial times in the United States. National Applesauce Cake Day occurs annually on June 6 in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire Saffitz</span> American pastry chef and video host

Claire Saffitz is an American food writer, chef, and YouTube personality. Until mid-2020, she was a contributing editor at Bon Appétit magazine and starred in several series on the Bon Appétit YouTube channel, including Gourmet Makes, in which she created gourmet versions of popular snack foods by reverse engineering them. Since leaving the company, she has published two cookbooks, Dessert Person and What's for Dessert, which both became New York Times Best Sellers. She has continued work as a video host on her own YouTube channel and as a freelance recipe developer, including for New York Times Cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron Range cuisine</span>

Iron Range cuisine refers to the cooking traditions and dishes of the Arrowhead region and Iron Range of Minnesota. Iron Range cuisine is based on Italian, Cornish, Scandinavian, and Slovenian cuisine. It was heavily influenced by Native American cuisine, seen in the use of wild rice. Many of the dishes were brought by immigrants. Other dishes were invented by the iron mine workers because they needed nourishing foods that they could bring on the go.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Halgrimson, Andrea (June 24, 2009). "Halgrimson: Chef to add Finnish-ing touches". InForum. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  2. 1 2 LeMay, Konnie (February 1, 2017). "Beatrice Ojakangas: Our Scandinavian Julia Child Bakes Sisu into a Career". Lake Superior Magazine. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Cadeau, Teri (September 23, 2016). "Simple cooking leads to success". Duluth News Tribune . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Beatrice Ojakangas". James Beard Foundation . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Salonen, Eeva (June 23, 2005). "KIRJAT | Pohjoismainen leivontakirja palkittiin Yhdysvalloissa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Nelson, Rick (January 27, 2010). "Recipe for success: Start early". Star Tribune . Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Alumni: Beatrice Ojakangas | College of Education and Human Service Professions". University of Minnesota Duluth . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  8. "Mattapoisett Woman Is Winner Of $2000 National Bake-Off Prize". The Boston Globe . October 16, 1957. p. 7.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Dean, Lee Svitak (October 9, 2016). "Adventure of a lifetime". Star Tribune . pp. E7. Retrieved March 1, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  10. Worley, Sam (October 5, 2016). "That Time a Scandinavian Baking Icon Also Invented Pizza Rolls". Epicurious . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  11. 1 2 "Beatrice Luoma Ojakangas: University Awards & Honors". University of Minnesota . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  12. Goetzman, Amy (November 4, 2016). "'Homemade': A modest memoir about Beatrice Ojakangas' amazing life in food". MinnPost . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  13. Johnston, Louis D.; Riley, Susan E. (May 19, 2021). "How (American) Chinese cuisine gave birth to the Minnesota-invented pizza roll". MinnPost . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  14. Possis, Ann (December 5, 2016). Beatrice Ojakangas on her big Finnish family, pizza rolls (Radio broadcast). WTIP.
  15. "JFP Enterprises Acquires Duluth Restaurant Firm". Star Tribune . January 13, 1970. p. 4. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  16. 1 2 3 "Beatrice Ojakangas at North Wind Books". Ironwood Info. Hancock, Michigan. June 19, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  17. "Beatrice Ojakangas". Baker & Taylor Author Biographies. January 3, 2000.
  18. "Minnesota Book Awards Winners & Finalists". The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. September 4, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  19. "NEMBA Winners Announced". University of Minnesota Duluth . May 17, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  20. Wu, Phoebe; Davis, Tiffany Vickers; Goodbody, Mary; Pittman, Ann Taylor; Mowbray, Scott; Hickman, Adam; Grimes, Julianna (August 2012). "Top 100 Cookbooks". Cooking Light . Vol. 26, no. 7. ISSN   0886-4446.