Ingredients
Sausage
- 600 mlfresh pig’s blood
- 400 gpearl barley or rye groats, cooked
- 300 gpork fat, finely diced
- 200 gonion, finely chopped
- 150 mlmilk or stock
Seasoning
- 2 tspsalt
- 1 tspground white pepper
- 1 tspmarjoram
- ½ tspground allspice
- a pinch of ground ginger
Casings
- natural pork casings, soaked and rinsed
To serve
- lingonberry jam
- cold milk
Directions
- Keep it refrigerated throughout, use it within a day or two of collection, and do not let it sit at room temperature at any point. It is often sold with a little salt or vinegar added to stop it clotting, which is what you want.
- Strain the blood through a fine sieve to catch any clots. Strain it and mean it. Cook the barley until soft and let it cool completely.
- Cook the grain fully in advance, because it will not soften properly inside the casing and undercooked barley is the commonest fault.
- Fry the onion gently in a little of the pork fat until soft and golden, then cool it. Mix the cooled barley, onion, diced pork fat, milk and all the seasonings. Keep everything cold while you work, and the mixture should never be allowed to warm up.
- Fry a small spoonful in a pan and taste it before filling any casings. Tasting a test spoonful is the only way to check the seasoning of a raw mixture, and it takes a minute.
- Fill the soaked casings loosely using a funnel or a sausage stuffer, and tie them off. Fill them no more than two-thirds full. Prick each sausage several times with a needle. Poach them in water held at 80°C (175°F) for 40 to 50 minutes. Never let the water boil.
- Lift them out, cool them in cold water briefly, and chill them. Now grill them over charcoal or fry them in a dry pan until the skins blister and char in patches. Serve hot with lingonberry jam and a glass of cold milk.
Technique
- Buying it ready-made from a Finnish butcher is what almost everyone does.
- The sweet-sour lingonberry against the iron of the blood is the whole pairing.
- It is eaten with the fingers, from paper, at the market stall.
Substitutions
- Dried blood powder reconstituted, which is sold for sausage making.
- Rye groats in place of barley, which is also traditional.
Variations
- Verilettu, Finnish blood pancakes, from a similar mixture.
- With rye flour worked in for a firmer sausage.
- Served with fried onion as well as jam.
History
A Tampere speciality sold at the Tammela market square since the industrial era, when cheap blood sausage fed the city’s mill workers.
Frequently asked questions
What is Mustamakkara?
Mustamakkara is a street food from Finland: grilled blood sausage eaten with lingonberry jam and milk. A Tampere speciality sold at the Tammela market square since the industrial era, when cheap blood sausage fed the city’s mill workers.
How long does Mustamakkara take to make?
Mustamakkara takes 45 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes about 8 sausages. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Mustamakkara?
Yes, within limits. Dried blood powder reconstituted, which is sold for sausage making. Rye groats in place of barley, which is also traditional.
What is the most important thing to get right in Mustamakkara?
Keep it refrigerated throughout, use it within a day or two of collection, and do not let it sit at room temperature at any point. It is often sold with a little salt or vinegar added to stop it clotting, which is what you want.
