Grillimakkara

Ingredients

Sausage

• 4thick grilling sausages
• about 400 g each
• or any fat mild sausage

To fill, optional

• 150 gcheese, in strips
• 2 tablespoonsmustard
• 1onion, finely chopped
• bacon, to wrap

To serve

• strong Finnish mustard
• ketchup
• pickled cucumber
• rye bread
• cold beer
• potato salad

Directions

1. Cut diagonal slashes across the sausage. Cut about halfway through each one. It also stops the skin bursting untidily.
2. Cut the sausage lengthways, not right through. Spread mustard in there with it. Add chopped onion if you like. Wrap the whole thing in bacon.
3. Wait until the coals are covered in grey ash. Spread the embers into an even bed.
4. Leave one area cooler than the rest. Grilling it takes real patience. Lay the sausage onto the hot grill.
5. Use a medium rather than fierce heat. Give it about fifteen minutes in total. Turn it over every few minutes. Wait for the flames to die down. Never squirt water onto the coals.
6. Hold it out over the hot embers. Turn it slowly and constantly. Let it sit for two minutes off the grill. It is extremely hot inside it.
7. Put strong mustard on the table. Serve pickled cucumber with it. Cold beer is the fixed drink with it.

Technique

• The sausage is deliberately fat, finely emulsified and mild, and already fully cooked when bought, so grilling is about heating and browning rather than cooking it through.
• Scoring it diagonally gives more surface to brown, stops the skin bursting untidily and lets fat render out through the cuts.
• Fat dripping onto coals causes flare-ups that blacken the sausage fast, so keep a cooler area of the grill to move it to and never squirt water onto the coals.

Substitutions

• Any fat mild sausage grills the same way.
• A gas grill or a heavy pan works where charcoal is not possible.

Variations

• Split and filled with cheese, mustard and bacon is a cottage tradition of its own.
• Some cooks cut a spiral rather than diagonal slashes.
• Cooking it on a stick over the embers is how children do it.

History

Fat grilled sausage eaten at the summer cottage with mustard and beer, cooked over the coals after the sauna.

Frequently asked questions

What is Grillimakkara?

Grillimakkara is a snack from Finland: plump sausages grilled at the summer cottage, with mustard. Fat grilled sausage eaten at the summer cottage with mustard and beer, cooked over the coals after the sauna.

How long does Grillimakkara take to make?

Grillimakkara takes 10 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Grillimakkara?

Yes, within limits. Any fat mild sausage grills the same way. A gas grill or a heavy pan works where charcoal is not possible.

What is the most important thing to get right in Grillimakkara?

Cut the sausage lengthways, not right through. Spread mustard in there with it. Add chopped onion if you like. Wrap the whole thing in bacon.