pölsa — Sweden

Pölsa is a dish from northern Sweden built around minced offal: beef sinew, liver, heart and lung are cooked down and ground together with barley and onion into a coarse, savoury mixture. It is often described as a close relative of Scottish haggis, sharing the same idea of using the less prized parts of the animal rather than discarding them. The dish is reported specifically from the north of the country, in the region historically known as Norrland, where it grew out of a need to use every part of a slaughtered animal through the long winters. It has stayed on the everyday table there as a simple, filling meal rather than a special-occasion one. To prepare it, the offal is simmered in stock until tender, then minced or ground together with cooked pearl barley and finely chopped onion. The mixture is moistened with some of the cooking stock, seasoned with black pepper and marjoram, and finally fried in a hot pan until it browns slightly and takes on a little crispness at the edges. What varies between kitchens is mostly the balance of offal to grain, and whether ground beef or minced pork is folded in to soften the flavour of the liver and lung. It is generally served with mashed or boiled potatoes and pickled beetroot on the side, and sometimes topped with a fried egg.