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”In the old days, people bought a piglet for 10p during early spring, and at first it lived in the chimneyless hut. The buyer would first push the pig against the oven to colour the snout black, and then he would lift it onto the table and say “See how high!” meaning the height of the table. The pig’s first meal included a piece of pork stolen from a large estate. That would ensure a fat pig. A woven basket was made for the house pig and it was lined with an old skirt or old trousers. Sometimes, the pig was taken out of the basket onto the floor because its legs would wither away if it never walked. As the pig was nourished with milk and curd, and scrubbed and washed in the sauna, it led a comfortable life. During those days in the smoke cabin, the pig would gain about two pounds (approx. 1 kg) in weight, and grow big enough to move into the actual pigsty.” (Rytkönen 1931, Savupirttien kansaa.)
Three months before Christmas, people made a pen for the feeding pig that would become food for Christmas. Before the pig was slaughtered, people made grits and malt. They would mill makkarus i.e. rough rye flour with grits. In the autumn slaughter, they would collect the pig’s blood and fat. Christmas sausages were made of makkarus, blood, beer, and fat. Sometimes the sausages were made the week before Christmas.
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