Ryynimakkara facts for kids

Ryynimakkara

Ryynimakkara is a special type of sausage from Finland. Its name means "groat sausage," which tells you a lot about what's inside! Unlike many other sausages, Ryynimakkara contains barley groats. These are small pieces of barley grain.

What Makes Ryynimakkara Special?

About one-fifth of a Ryynimakkara's weight comes from barley groats. This makes it different from many other sausages because it has less meat and fat. Usually, its fat content is quite low, around 10 to 15%. Some very old recipes for Ryynimakkara don't use any meat at all!

Ryynimakkara's Sausage Relatives

Ryynimakkara has some "cousins" in Finnish cooking.

• The potato sausage (perunamakkara) from the Häme region of Finland is similar, but it uses potato instead of barley groats.
• There are also blood sausages (verimakkara) and the black sausage (mustamakkara) from Tampere. These are different types of sausages but are also traditional Finnish foods.

Ryynimakkara also shares some similarities with foods from other countries:

• In the United Kingdom, there's a food called black pudding. It also uses grains, like the groats in Ryynimakkara, but it looks a bit different. Black pudding is usually a thick and small sausage.
• Another interesting comparison is with haggis from Scotland. Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish that also uses grains, similar to Ryynimakkara. However, haggis is made in a sheep's stomach, not in a sausage casing.