Kebakko

Kebakko is a Finnish ready-meal that sits somewhere between a meatball and a kebab. It is made from a mixture of meat, breadcrumbs, onions, eggs and spices, much as meatballs are, but the mixture is shaped into an elongated piece of roughly twelve centimetres and pushed onto a small wooden stick rather than rolled into a ball. Kebakkos are usually sold in shops in packs of five to twelve, ready to be heated at home. The usual way to eat them is to warm them through and dip them in a range of sauces, with the stick serving as a handle so that they can be dipped and eaten by hand. The name joins the word kebab with the Finnish word kepakko, meaning small stick. Because it blends the skewered form of the kebab with the traditional Finnish meatloaf, the dish is presented as an example of fusion cuisine.