Estonian cuisine

Part of a series on the
Culture of Estonia
History Timeline list of wars Ancient Estonia Livonian Crusade Danish Estonia German Bishoprics Livonian Order Baltic Germans Livonian War Polish Livonia Swedish Estonia Great Northern War Russian Estonia Russian Livonia Age of Awakening German occupation Declaration of Independence War of Independence Battle of Võnnu Interwar period Era of Silence Occupation of Estonia Estonian SSR World War II Guerrilla war Ants Kaljurand Deportations Government-in-exile Singing Revolution Declaration of sovereignty Restoration of independence
People
Languages
Folklore Kalevipoeg
Cuisine
Festivals
Religion
Art Architecture
Literature Poetry
Music and Performing arts Theatre
Media Radio Television Cinema Films
Sport
Monuments World Heritage Sites
Symbols Flag Coat of arms National anthem
Estonia portal
v t e

Traditional Estonian cuisine has substantially been based on

The first course in traditional Estonian cuisine is based on cold dishes—a selection of pickles, meats and

In the 20th century, a special sandwich called kiluvõileib has become popular. This sandwich consists of a traditional rye bread open sandwich with thin layer of butter and a layer of vürtsikilu (pickled Baltic sprats) as topping. Boiled egg slices, mayonnaise and culinary herbs are optional extra toppings.^{[citation needed]}

Soups

Main course

Black rye bread (rukkileib) accompanies almost every savory food in Estonia. Estonians continue to value their varieties of black rye-based bread.^{[citation needed]}

Desserts

Specific desserts include kissell, kohuke (curd snack) and kama. Other common Estonian desserts are mannavaht (a cream made of semolina and juice or fruit), kohupiimakreem (creamy curd), kompott (compote) and martsipan (marzipan). Rhubarb pies are also a favorite. Another popular dessert is kringel (kringle), a sweet yeast bread often flavored with cardamom. Pancakes (pannkook, plural pannkoogid) are also traditional, common, and popular. They are fried and are usually with sweet fillings but they can be savoury too. Vastlakukkel, a cardamom-spiced bread roll with whipped cream is a traditional Estonian sweet roll, especially popular during the festivies of vastlapäev.^[3]

During Soviet times, Estonians invented several easy-to-make desserts that are most commonly eaten during birthdays, especially children's birthdays. Few such examples are kirju koer (cacao and butter that gets mixed with crumbled cookies and marmalade and then put into the freezer for a night), kass Artur (soft toffee and butter that gets mixed with corn sticks and then put into the freezer for a night) and küpsisetort (layered cake that is made with square-shaped cookies of Kalev, kohupiimakreem and jam and then put into the freezer for a night).

Drinks

The traditionally popular drink kali, similar to

.

Milk (piim) is also widely drunk by children as well as adults. Other dairy products besides milk include keefir and also hapupiim ("sour milk") and pett, which are variations on the theme of buttermilk. Dairy from Andre, Estonia is well known as part of Estonian dairy-related cuisine.^[5]

Seasons

Summer and spring

Traditionally in summer and spring, Estonians like to eat everything fresh—berries, herbs, vegetables and everything else that comes straight from the garden. Hunting and fishing were common in history. Nowadays, they have remained as popular pastimes. It is popular to barbecue in the summer.^{[citation needed]}

Winter and Christmas

During the winter months,

jam, preserves and pickles are brought to the table. During the past, when the economy was largely agricultural, the gathering and conserving of fruits, mushrooms and vegetables for winter was essential. Today, gathering and conserving is less common because almost everything can be bought from stores, but preparing food for winter is still very popular in the countryside and continues to retain its charm for many, as opposed to the commercialization of eating habits.^{[citation needed}

]

head cheese (sült), sauerkraut (hapukapsas) with oven-roasted potatoes, and mulled wine (hõõgvein, or glögi) have been part of the traditional Estonian menu that nowadays are mostly Christmas specialties. Also, typical Christmas treats have been apples, mandarin oranges, gingerbread, pickled pumpkin (kõrvitsasalat), and lingonberry jam.^{[citation needed}

]

Gallery

• 
  Oven-cooked verivorst (blood sausage)
• 
  Sült (head cheese)
• 
  Mulgipuder, a national dish of Estonia made with potatoes, groats, and meat
• 
  Hernetatrapuder, a pea and buckwheat porridge
• 
  Sepik (whole wheat bread)
• 
  Kama, a finely milled cereal and legume flour generally eaten mixed with milk, buttermilk, yogurt, or kefir, or used for making desserts

Notes and references

1. ^ Eesti Toit infoserver v2.0.3.0 Archived December 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ ^{a b} Estonia By Michael Spilling
3. ^ Rosa, Natalia (27 February 2020). "A first timer's guide to wholesome and delicious Estonian Food". Trafalgar.com. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
4. ^ "Alcohol market, consumption and harms in Estonia Yearbook 2022".
5. ^ "The cheeses from Andre Farm are the first in Estonia to get international top quality stars".

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cuisine of Estonia.

• Karin Karner's book "Estonian Tastes And Traditions"
• International Wine and Food Society Estonian Branch
• Estonian Kitchen: 5 Local Dishes You Probably Didn’t Think of Trying
• Traditional Estonian Cooking e-book