Lörtsy: is there a future for this traditional Finnish food?

Lörtsy: is there a future for this traditional Finnish food?

Piitu Metsälä¹, Ella Simonen², Julia Talvitie³, Aino Tarkkio⁴

1. University of Turku. E-mail: piitu.e.metsala@utu.fi. 

2. University of Turku. e-mail: emsimo@utu.fi.

3. University of Turku. e-mail: julia.talvitie@utu.fi. 

4. University of Turku. e-mail: aaktar@utu.fi 

*Correspondence: julia.talvitie@utu.fi. 

The aim of this study is to reformulate the traditional Finnish food lörtsy to better align with the principles of planetary health. The work examines the biodiversity and health impacts of key ingredients in the original recipe and evaluates how modifying these ingredients can enhance the dish’s contribution to both human and environmental well-being. The reformulated lörtsy was prepared by baking in the oven instead of traditional deep-frying. Traditional wheat dough was modified by substituting part of the wheat flour with whole-grain flour, and a plant-based filling was chosen instead of meat. Changing the preparation method and the ingredients of the filling resulted in a higher fiber content and decreased total and saturated fat content. Replacing meat and rice reduced the product’s nature footprint by 48 % and 26 %, respectively, compared to the original.

Keywords
biodiversity, health, lörtsy, traditional food

Edited by: 
Anonymous

Reviewers: 

1. Anonymous
2. Anonymous

Received: 
17 December 2025

Accepted : 
12 October 2026

Published: 
22 October 2026

Section:
This article was published in the “Edible Ideas” section of the International Journal of Molecular and Physical Gastronomy 

Citation: 
Metsälä P, Simonen E, Talvitie J, Tarkkio A. 2026. Lörtsy: is there a future for this traditional Finnish food?, International Journal of Molecular and Physical Gastronomy, 12(1), 10, 1-15. doi: 10.17180/ijmpg-2024-art10