BBQ World Tour #8 - In 2020, Kokko transforms into a globetrotter and offers you a "BBQ world tour" to discover the history of grilling, smoking, and roasting through different gastronomies. For this eighth stage, we put on our parka and head north to Finland. Put on your gloves, heat the charcoal, and set up the grates: let's go!
The Kota-grill, what is it?
The Kota, which translates as 'hunting shelter', is above all a small, hexagonal-shaped wooden cottage that is very popular in Finland. Born in Lapland at the beginning of the 20th century, it serves as a refuge from potentially dangerous wild animals, as well as from the cold. But the Kota is more than just a shelter. Its special feature is a large wood-fired barbecue in the centre of the chalet , topped by a hood that allows smoke to be vented outside. All around the central fireplace, wooden benches allow you to prepare the barbecue, cook your food on the grill, smoke it and share a meal around the fire.
© Camping des Blats
In other words, the Kota-grill is the perfect place to organise a winter barbecue party!
The Kota-grill tradition
The Kota-grill is extremely popular in Finland. Originally intended as a shelter for the Sami, the indigenous people of Lapland who lived by fishing and reindeer herding, the Kota gradually became the ideal refuge for... Partying! Indeed, even when winter temperatures are very harsh outside, Finns gather in Kota-grills with family or friends to share a meal and a convivial moment together. Sometimes, in modern versions of the Kota, the chalets even house a sauna, another great tradition of the country!
© Lechateaudeslumieres
Culinary specialities at the Kota-grill
Finnish gastronomy hasn't always had a good reputation, yet some specialities are worth a try.
Smoked salmon
Fish, caught from the lakes and the Baltic Sea, is a particularly popular Finnish delicacy. Among the most common are herring and salmon. The latter is commonly eaten raw, in Gravlax, i.e. brined and, depending on the region, flavoured with berries, dill, vodka and so on. But salmon is also traditionally smoked, in Kota-grills. If you'd like to try your hand at making homemade smoked fish, have a look at our recipe for trout smoked with applewood, deliciously flavoured with juniper berries and vodka. The perfect introduction to Scandinavian cuisine!
Equipment list for perfectly smoked salmon with Kokko kamado :
Kokko kamado Little, L or XL
Smoking board for salmon
Sawdust for cold smoking
Cold smoking coil
Reindeer meat
As for meat, reindeer is particularly popular with the Finns. It is most often found in stew with « poronkäristys » - « poro » meaning reindeer - but you can find all parts of the animal at the butcher, including steaks, to grill over the fire in the Kota-grill. Reindeer is generally accompanied by potatoes.
What could be better than a magnificent cast-iron cooking grid to mark your meat? And why not a Small cast-iron frying pan to brown delicious new potatoes?
Grillimakkara
It's THE specialty to make at Kota-grill! But what are grillimakkara? Grilled sausages, a Finnish specialty. They're eaten all year round, in summer and winter alike, washed down with beer and served with mustard. If you're wondering whether or not to spike your sausages, we've got the answer . We've got the answer.
Feel free to extend your cooking surface with a Grid extension to cook even more sausages! You can also add delicately woody flavors with our Wood chips for hot smoking and the Smoke Tube.
Grilled cheese and wild berries
Finnish nature abounds in herbs, berries and red fruits, which are often found in traditional Finnish recipes. Lingonberries, cranberries and bilberries are eaten in pies - Mustikkapiirakka is the famous bilberry pie - cakes, jams, dried, fresh or in juice. They are also used to garnish bread cheese, or Leipäjuusto, a pancake-like flat cheese baked over a wood fire and accompanied by red fruit jam before being dipped in coffee!
Use the Cast-iron skillet or the Cast-iron griddle to make your finest pancakes, and turn them over with the magnificent Stainless steel spatula.
Change course and fly to South Korea to discover Bulgogi.
