Estonian cuisine is famous for its simplicity. But that does not make it primitive. The culinary of a small European country is different from others, so tourists will find it a little unusual. Estonian national dishes can please with tastes and at the same time upset with not sophistication and meager variety. Nevertheless, the food here is very hearty and, most importantly, natural.
Culinary traditions
The kitchen menu was based on soups, cereals, pork, fish and vegetables. A typical breakfast necessarily consists of porridge (oatmeal, barley or pearl barley). Sometimes it is cooked in milk with the addition of jam or honey. But more often served with cracklings and butter. Each meal is accompanied by salted herring, rye bread. For lunch and dinner, bean, pea or cabbage soup is cooked necessarily in pork broth.
The festive table is not complete without black pudding with the addition of cereals. Also, pancakes and aspic are becoming frequent guests during the feast. Serving is not complete without milk, cottage cheese, butter and cheese. But with the advent of potatoes in the country, the list of Estonian national dishes has expanded significantly.
Modern kitchen
Today it has become more diverse, because many Estonians borrowed many dishes from their neighbors - sausages were borrowed from the Germans, goulash from the Hungarians, Bigos from the Poles. The only thing that has remained unchanged: for any holiday, roast sauerkraut and pork, jellied meat and black pudding are always served.
Pancake from several varieties of flour and with various fillings is fried at Shrovetide, as in Russia.
Pickles are widely used:
- tomato paste;
- lecho;
- pickled pumpkin and tomatoes;
- cucumbers.
Estonian cuisine has been replenished with salads and pastries. For example, whipped cream buns are extremely popular in the country now.
Estonian national dishes: features of soups
Locals love them very much, so there are a lot of them in traditional cooking. Dairy alone, there are about 20 pieces: with mushrooms, fish, pork and even beer. And you can try a completely unusual one - bread or dessert blueberry, which the Estonians borrowed from the Swedes.
Soups from herring fish, pearl barley with peas or barley with potatoes are very popular among the population. But among tourists, cabbage soup with brisket and pea with shank are especially popular.
Sweets and drinks
You will be surprised now, but in Estonia there are two main desserts - pepper biscuits and onion jam. The latter was traditionally prepared with the addition of honey; now it has been replaced with sugar. As for cookies, the main ingredients are: a mixture of cinnamon and ginger, as well as pepper.
Among the national drinks, it is perhaps worth highlighting oatmeal jelly and red beer. The latter is served in almost every tavern, and this shade is achieved by adding berries.
Kissel is made from oats by long digestion. In addition to cereals, milk, berries and honey are also added to it.
Cooking Pirukad
This pastry made of dough is hardly a pie, although locals prefer to say that. In fact, these are fillings wrapped in a thick layer of dough, which are baked in the form of large loaves. Today it has modernized and is being prepared like regular pies.
The recipe for the pyrukad is quite simple: knead any kind of dough (shortbread, puff or yeast). Put the semi-finished flour to the side and get stuffed. Grind carrots, cabbage and onions. Put the vegetables in a pan or pan, add oil and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Pepper and salt to taste at the end. Add pre-cooked chopped meat. Stir and cool. From the dough and filling, form pies and bake at a temperature of 190 gr. 20-25 minutes.
Piparkook Cookie Recipe
Every year before Christmas, Estonians prepare this sweet for their guests. For cooking, you need to melt sugar (300 g) in a thick-bottomed pan and wait until it acquires a beautiful rich brown hue. Remove the dishes from the heat, cool slightly and pour boiling water (130 ml), stirring actively to dissolve the sweet ingredient. Add oil (150 g) to the syrup, one teaspoon of cloves and cinnamon, as well as 0.5 cardamom and ginger powder. Resend to the stove. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, and then cool to room temperature.
Beat the egg. Pour a teaspoon of vinegar, add sour cream (1 tbsp.) And mix until smooth. Combine with warm syrup. Pour in flour mixed with soda and knead the dough. Ready-made semi-finished products for the day send in the refrigerator.
Roll a layer 3 mm thick and cut into slices or use New Year's cuttings for cookies. Bake gingerbread cookies for 6-7 minutes at 200 degrees. Before serving, be sure to decorate the pastries with icing.
The most delicious duck meat recipe
Rinse 8 pieces of duck brisket, remove the veins and cut into portions. In a separate bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of mustard, 70 ml of olive oil, juice of one lemon, 2 tbsp. l soy sauce. Salt, pepper if desired and add other favorite spices. You can also add a few chopped cloves of garlic to enhance the palatability.
Put the meat in the marinade and leave for at least 3 hours. Grill for 25 minutes. During this time, do not forget to turn the kebab out of the duck at least 4 times.
4 dishes that you definitely need to try
1. Pickled eel. Serve cold. Agree, it sounds pretty simple, but this is the favorite food of the locals. Be careful during the tasting, because there may be bones that must be eaten. Get ready for too fishy aftertaste, it is much more than you expect.
2. Suite. Some foreigners are afraid to taste this popular Estonian national dish. We are talking about meat jelly, which is prepared from pork bones. However, sometimes they throw their heads with hooves to them. As a rule, it is customary to prepare suites in large pots so that people can put it in a jar and take it with them. We warn that the smell of an unprepared person will make you cringe, but take our advice into account: leave the comfort zone and enjoy the taste, as Estonians do.
3. Blood sausage. The British called it "black pudding" because of the characteristic color, and for the locals it is one of the types of meat product. By the name it is clear that the "stuffing" in the forcemeat is blood, which is allowed to cool during the preparation process. Usually it is eaten in winter, as it is a Christmas dish. As a rule, they cook black pudding with pearl barley, and serve with sour cream, butter and even cranberry jam. Sounds awful? And you try!
4. Mulgikapsad. Pork, cabbage and potatoes - that's what you need to cook this dish. Simple, at first glance, the ingredients, but believe me, the result is so satisfying that you can hardly cope with one serving. Judging by the fact that the locals eat it in the cold season, the multigiksad is very useful. By the way, to try the dish, you do not need to pull yourself together or close your nose. Is it a great start to familiarize yourself with local culinary?
Travel notes: where to try national cuisine in Estonia
Among the huge selection of establishments, there are several of the most popular and interesting:
1. MEKK
The restaurant offers local cuisine in the author's performance. In accordance with historical traditions, the menu depends on the time of the year: fruits and vegetables predominate in summer and spring, and conservation and meat prevail in autumn and winter. Address: Suur-Karja 17/19.
2. Peppersack
The institution offers guests to get acquainted with the classic cuisine of the country. After visiting the restaurant, be sure to order an Estonian sprat sandwich, potato salad, stewed pork with sauerkraut, black pudding (it is simply excellent here) and kama - a mixture of several cereals with milk or jam). Dishes are prepared from natural products with a minimum set of spices. Mostly salt and greens are used as seasoning. Address: Viru 2 / Vana Turg 6.
3. Maiasmokk
The oldest cafe not only in Tallinn, but throughout Estonia. Tourists recommend starting a meal not with soups and salads, as is customary, but immediately start tasting the following sweets:
- handmade sweets;
- desserts from marzipan;
- tender buns with cream;
- a variety of cakes and pies.
In the institution you can also visit a special room, which shows the history of marzipan. Address: Pikk tanav 16, Kesklinna linnaosa.