Cuisine background

Estonian cuisine has been influenced over the centuries by the traditions of more powerful neighbours (don't forget that Danes, Germans, Swedes, Poles and Russians have taken turns ruling parts of the country) but the main characteristic of the local fare is its peasant origin. Estonians were for the most part country folk before the last century, and since food was scarce, they had to be inventive in preserving and stretching what little meat they had on hand.

Later, when urbanisation took hold, the kinds of fried chops and potatoes common in the rest of Europe became the standard. This is what you're likely to see on the lunch menu at the local pub these days, along with a side of cabbage. Thankfully though, the more uniquely Estonian recipes are still prepared in many families, and served in a number of restaurants around Tallinn.

Traditional favourites

Marineeritud angerjas
Marinated eel, served cold. A true Estonian favourite.

Keel hernestega
Another cold appetiser whose identity we didn't want to divulge, for obvious reasons: tongue. At Eesti Maja the dish has been dubbed "Gossip's fate." It's served with horseraddish, which gives it a lot of zing.

Sült
Boiled pork in jelly. The jelly is made by boiling the pork bones, sometimes hooves and heads. It's often made in large batches, so many Estonian families have stories of jars and jars of solidifying sült all over the house. Sound intersting? See below for the recipe.

Verivorst
Blood and barley sausage, similar to what the English diplomatically call 'black pudding' due to its colour. In Estonia, this is traditional Christmas food, and is served with a red, berry jam. Our guests loved it.

Mulgikapsad
Sauerkraut stew with pork, served with boiled potatoes. This one also turned out to be popular with theparticipants, one of whom slyly had the remaining portion wrapped up to take home.

Silgusoust
Baltic sprats with bacon in sourcream. We thought this would be a tough one for our testers to identify since, as the above photo shows, it's completely covered in sauce.

Karask
One of our desert items was this cake-like barley bread. This one, at least, didn't have blood or tongues in the mix. Still, participants were expecting something sweeter.

Kama
There's really no equivalent in most other traditions. Basically it's a thick desert drink made with sour milk (keefir), and a mixture of ground grains - rye, oat barley, and pea flour.

Kali
Besides the wine, the one packaged food we had was the very Estonian, non-alcoholic beverage called Kali. Referred to as "the Estonian Coca-Cola," Kali is a kind of unfermented beer. It's sweet and has a very light fizz to it.