Nokia for dummies, part 2: Kuuma koira

This is not a Finnish, but a Nokian culinary dish. It's called 'kuuma koira' which is a translation of 'hot dog'. However, it has very little to do with a hot dog as we know it. It's a grill kiosk product invented by a man called Teutori in early 70's. He served this 'kuuma koira' along with basic grill products, such as meat pies, hamburgers and, I assume, genuine hot dogs too. Nowadays some other people have taken over, but the name of the grill kiosk is still 'Teuto grilli'. See the small picture of it, lying close to Nokia's railway station (PIP).

I hadn't tasted it before I moved to Nokia, so it wasn't that famous even in Tampere which is located right next to Nokia. Actually, my then-future wife wanted to introduce it to me. She didn't care for it that much herself, but I liked it from the first bite on.

A picture tells more than a 1000 words, they say, but I still want to describe it textually too. The basic idea of the 'kuuma koira' is that it contains a standard doughnut (munk/munkki) with a large steamed sausage. In addition there is cucumber salad, ketchup and mustard - standard grill spices as you like it. It used to have doughnut jam there too, but it was removed later, due to the extreme heat is gathered while re-heating it.

The taste is confusing. It tastes both sweet (the sugar of the doughnut) and salty (the sausage and the spices). There is a plenty of eating in it, and it's relatively cheap too. It's not a healthy meal, and that's why I can't have it that often. Still I can recommend it to anyone. Actually, I introduced it to my by-now-very-Swedish uncle a few years ago, and he said it was interesting. That could be interpreted that he didn't really like it. But I'm sure it was worth trying for him too. Even now, as I write this story, I get hungry even by thinking about it. The picture though may not look that tempting, LOL!