Medisterpølse is a Danish and Norwegian food of the 16th century and the word is derived from the combination of "met" (pork) and "ister" (suet). It is a slightly sweet-tasting sausage and the finely-ground meat is seasoned with chopped onion, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper. The sausage recipe has changed since then as the meat filling used to be hand-chopped with a knife, while today it is chopped very finely by machine, giving the sausage a different texture.