Sausages in Finland

Welcome to the vast world of Finnish sausages. People in Finland are often confused about different types of sausages, and here we will clarify everything for you so you will never be confused again.

Grillimakkara

Classical Finnish grill sausage: Every shop has dozens of sausage options. You can cook them at home in the microwave or a pan, but their best purpose is to be grilled on an open fire.

There are many different tastes. They can be made of different meat, like pork, chicken, or turkey, and they might be vegan. Bacon, cheese, different peppers, and even habanero can be added to the recipe.

Nakki

Small and thin sausages with a pretty plain and simple taste. They are the Finnish version of the so-called Vienna sausage.

Lenkki

This is a giant sausage. Sometimes, a few people can get full just by eating one. It is good to cook it in a pan or oven, but don’t attach it to a stick going to a bonfire. It might be cooked on an open fire but must rest on a good surface.

Lenkki is formed by a light homogeneous sausage mass thicker than nakki. It is often loop-shaped.

Ryynimakkara

Finnish black sausage. They are not represented as heavily as other types, but existing operations are still decent.

Ryynimakkara has barley groats, about one-fifth of its weight, lowering its meat and fat content. Also, the fat content is considerably lower than other sausages.

The closest relatives of the ryynimakkara are the potato sausage (perunamakkara) from the Häme region of Finland, which uses potato instead of barley groats, blood sausages (verimakkara), and black sausage (mustamakkara) from Tampere. The use of groats in the ryynimakkara is similar to that of the British black pudding, although its appearance is different because it is a thick and small sausage. Also, the Scottish traditional food haggis has some similarities to ryynimakkara.

Raakamakkara

This is a raw sausage and must be adequately cooked. However, this is easy, although it does take a few minutes longer than preparing its pre-cooked alternatives. This sausage is usually made of meat, including fresh herbs and other tasty additions.

Bonus nr 1: Makkaratikku

Makkaratikku is a telescopic stick for grilling sausage over the fire.

In the picture, an expandable stick for cooking sausage is in the hand of a Finnish resident.

On the right, a freshly arrived student is trying to use a regular fork to hold a sausage over the fire.

Buy your makkaratikku and enjoy Finnish comfort. They can be cheap from Prisma or more expensive or made with different premium materials like multilayered colorful Finnish plywood.

Different makkaratikku, made by Finnish company Wood Jewel.

Bonus nr. 2: Saunamakkara

You can use your kuias (sauna stove) as a cooking device. While enjoying your sauna, you can wrap your sausages in foil and leave them on hot stones. Some saunas have a special plate hanging over kiuas. Remember that you must consider if the owner of this sauna is fine with this. Don’t burn your sausages at stones! It might happen that you will be forced to change them all.