MAKKARA aka Finnish Sausage

Some of you know and some of you don't know that I am half Finnish. My mother is from Finland and I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to visit Finland every summer to see my relatives and enjoy my summer vacation at a lake house.

Summer is short in Finland, so when it arrives the Finns spend the majority of their time outside by their lake houses relaxing, drinking and grilling. What do they grill you ask? Makkara. That's Finnish for sausage. Makkara comes in different flavors, sizes and colors. They even have a blood Makkara made with rice. It can be eaten plain, but usually with ketchup or Finnish mustard. 

Here's what they look like in their packages.

Straight from the grocery store. Two popular brands.

Let the grilling begin.

Some of them have been flipped, others take their time.

Extreme close up. Looks good right?

Here they are almost finished (get it, FINished).

An easy way to tell when they are ready is when the skin cracks open like this.

Here is a typical Finnish lunch in the summer. Makkara, ketchup, mustard, bread, butter, cheese, beet root salad, and cottage cheese. Really really good.

Here are some bonus pictures from another makara grill session at my friends lake house.

Look! Bacon too!