Robbers roast (rosvopaisti) in Finland. I suppose other countries have something similar, but it’s a piece of meat cooked in a ground oven. First dig up a small hole, line it with rocks, keep bonfire going in the hole for couple of hours, scrape the coals out and put meat wrapped in parchment paper, wet newspapers and foil in to the hole, fill it with sand and set up a new bonfire on top of the sand. Throw onions, garlic, carrots and whatever you like to accompany/season the meat while you’re at it. Things like potatoes or sweet potatoes doesn’t really work as they just turn into a mush, at least unless you individually wrap them, but the process isn’t consistent enough, just cook whatever sides you want separately.

With meat include pieces of fat on top of it and season however you like. It’s traditionally made out of lamb, but I prefer cow (or moose if it’s available). Pork works just fine too. The whole process takes 10-12 hours, so it’s not for your wednesday dinner, but it’s very much worth the effort.

When the weather is good and you do it right the meat just breaks down and you’ll almost need a spoon to eat it. Absolutely delicious. And as you have bonfire going for all day you can cook sausages on a stick and have a ‘few’ beers while feeding the fire. It’s an experience with absolutely delicious food in the end.

Just be careful that you don’t pass out on all the beer while cooking and miss the fun part.