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In the calm silences of downtown Oulu in December, a bunch of local history buffs–average age 55–meet to commemorate fires, shipwrecks, and mad mayors. Ata Bos gloves up to investigate.
 Members of the Bread and Porridge association
Shortly before 5pm on the corner of Rantakatu and Hallituskatu, workers leave their offices and cars speed off to the traffic lights on the way out of town: a normal Wednesday evening at first glance, but further scrutiny reveals two grand-looking women in their sixties standing around in their best coats. Their names? Aino LehtoSaari and Kaisu Mikkola. Their backgrounds? Owner of Oulu’s Russian restaurant Zakuska and ex-culture editor of Kaleva newspaper. Their mission?
“We’re Jankkiyhdistys, the Bread and Porridge Club,” declares LehtoSaari. “Jankkiyhdistys was set up by Kaisu and me after we had seen the concept in Helsinki, where there’s a ‘Rössypottuseura’ for people whose roots were in Oulu,” she explains. “Rössypottu soup is traditionally made of potatoes and blood cakes and our porridge club is a reaction to that.”
The reason for today’s meeting is the commemoration of the flooding in 1878 in Oulu, Mikkola explains. Or at least, it will be when the other members arrive. In its current state, the porridge club is looking quite thin. Dr. Mikkola–she has an honorary PhD for her journalism–assures me they’ll come.
“Let’s have a sip already,” interjects Aino, then picks up a wicker basket at her feet and hands Kaisu and I a wine glass and napkin. Hot glögi is poured from a glass bottle and piparkakut, traditional ginger bread biscuits, are distributed.
 At 5 pm sharp, things start to happen. Seppo Mäki, former director of economic development for the city of Oulu arrives from around the corner, greets the ladies with a twinkle, then points out a small plaque on the front wall of a blue building. “That’s why we are here,” he tells me.. “This is how high the water level was in 1878.”
Several times a year, the ten members of the porridge club meet to commemorate local events, such as the fire in 1822, the flooding (Talavitulva) on December 2, and Jankki Day on June 16, the anniversary of the setting up of the porridge club.
At 5.10, the entire gang is assembled. Glasses are raised, photos are taken, and passersby turn, reacting to the commotion.
So how can someone become a member of your club, I ask Jukka Ukkola, columnist for Suomen Kuvalehti. “It’s by invitation only,” he says. “And we are very, very selective,” says Aino. “Yeah, and newcomers need to recite two lines of the tierna poika poem,” says local historian and club chair Markus H. Korhonen. “A new member must be interested in local history and must eat bread porridge,” he continues, smiling vilely.
Mäki has a metallic thermos flask with him, from which he dispenses a yellow liquid someone calls ‘glögi,’ but turns out to have a high percentage of alcohol. “Seems like pure brandy to me,” says a colleague of mine, along for the experience. I’m not complaining: it’s cold at the corner of Rantakatu and Hallituskatu.
Flushed with the burning sensation of the drink, we cross the street to examine a Christmas stall behind the house of the bishop of Oulu, where Jukka Ukkola unwraps the making of bread porridge in detail–and apologises for not having any with him.
When is the next meeting of the society, I ask? Confusion ensues. “I’ll send you the calendar,” says Jukka. Do you meet each other privately as well. “On birthdays we meet,” declares Kaisu. “We offer each other a neat present in the form of a Myrna teacup. Myrna is an old-fashioned-looking porcelain branch with a lot of flowers. Really, not many people like them, but we do.”
The Jankkiyhdisty is an eccentric bunch, but fun.
 Appearing year after year at the corner of Rantakatu and Hallituskatu in freezing conditions to display your loyalty to the city and its history does seem a little wacky. Then again, anyone who can stand about in the cold deserves praise, I think.
I go online afterwards and look up the recipe for Rössypottu, which actually sounds quite good. The Helsingin Sanomat recipe asks for 500g potato, 200g ham, 200g leek, 400g black pudding, 4 anchovy fillets, butter, and salt. Boil and fry the pork with the anchovies, boil the leek and potato, mash the soup, oven-cook the black pudding, and combine it. “We’ll have to try that,” I tell my husband.
Bread porridge itself, according to Kotikotti.net, is a snack for any time of the day, and involves boiling hard bread, then adding sugar and berries and salt, a dose of water and potato flour, and more sugar.
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