Travelers from Russia always visit Estonia with interest - the country of medieval cities, ancient castles and monasteries. Russian tourists also rest on the shores of the Baltic Sea, in places where you can find wooden windmills and get lost in the thickets of juniper.
The capital of Estonia, Tallinn, is also the object of close attention of the country's guests. It is from the acquaintance with Old Thomas that the rest in Estonia begins. Its old narrow streets, beautiful houses, and a miraculously preserved ancient fortress wall - all this gives rise to genuine interest among the modern inhabitants of the planet. For your information: when planning excursions and sightseeing walks in Tallinn, you need to remember that the main part of museums and other cultural institutions is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
But outlets work seven days a week. Tourists are attracted by a variety of shops with folk art - souvenirs, jewelry, as well as eateries, cafes and restaurants with national Estonian cuisine.
Food in Estonia
Traditional Estonian cuisine is influenced by Russian, German and Swedish culinary traditions. If we compare the cuisines of the Baltic countries, then in Estonia the food is more "sea" than in Lithuania and Latvia.
The Estonian menu consists mainly of simple and hearty fish dishes (herring is especially popular), as well as dishes based on pork, cereals, potatoes, vegetables and baked goods. Meat by-products and various dairy dishes are widely used here, for example, there are more than 20 recipes for dairy soups.
Estonians have a special attitude towards soups, they are prepared and consumed willingly: with cereals, peas, fish, bread, berry and even beer soup is cooked. The meat for the broth is boiled in one piece, adding potatoes and other vegetables, cereals or pasta. Smoked pork is often added to bean and pea soups.
Estonians also love porridge, and not always from cereals, but for example from rutabagas, cabbage, peas. It should be noted that here they prefer boiled or steamed food, they prepare a variety of small snacks from fish and other products. The traditional “cold table” of the Estonian includes jellied meat, pickled herring with sour cream, Rosolier salads and potato and liver pate, pickled pumpkin and cucumbers, rolls with ham filling, meatballs with mayonnaise and stuffed eggs.
Spices and seasonings are used poorly in Estonia, they often add rutabagas when cooking and respect fresh herbs, and almost every dish is served with "castmed" - milk and sour cream gravies.
Among the unusual dishes, one can note "kama" - a mixture of flour made from fried grains of rye, peas and barley, drenched in milk or yogurt. Estonians are happy to eat this "peasant food" at home.
Top 10 Estonian dishes
Mulgikapsad
Mulgikapsad
This dish is made with pork and cabbage. The meat is cut into pieces, salted and placed in a kettle, layering with cabbage. All this is sprinkled with pearl barley, poured with water and boiled. It turns out a kind of thick, hearty soup. Served with boiled potatoes. Estonians love to eat mulgikapsad in winter, in cold weather. It is recommended to start tasting the Estonian menu with this particular dish, as there is nothing exotic in it for a guest of the country.
Milk and fish soup
Despite the seemingly incompatible products, gourmets consider this soup very tasty. When cooking, each ingredient receives a new property from milk: fish fillets - a delicate taste and consistency, potatoes - friability, and onions - softness. Serving to the table, sprinkle the soup with herbs: a mixture of fresh dill and parsley, so that the plate looks very attractive.
Beer soup
Beer soup
A dish typical for the Baltics. A mixture of beaten eggs, beer and sugar is carefully poured into hot milk, heated, stirring constantly. Diced white bread is added to the soup thus obtained and served chilled.
Tuchlinott
Tuhlinott is made from whatever type of meat is available. Cut into small pieces, add potato cubes of the same size, onions and boil over low heat. From spices add marjoram and ground black pepper. The result is a stew-like dish.
Killathuhlid
This dish is made with lean pork. Potatoes, sour cream, salt are added to the meat. No spices, aromatic herbs, herbs and onions. Killatuhlid is a dish that makes it possible to feel the true taste of the ingredients: meat, potatoes, sour cream.
Rosolier salad
Rosolier salad
"Rosolier" salad is a very popular salad in Europe made of beef, potatoes, beets, salted herring, pickled cucumbers, onions, apples. Dressed with mayonnaise and sour cream. It tastes like Olivier and herring “under a fur coat” at the same time.
Silgud Pekiketmes
This is herring in a sauce, where the sauce comes first. It is made from lard, milk, onions, spices. The sauce is boiled down and herring fillet is added to it. Be sure to sprinkle with dill.
Silgu Worm
Silgu worm is also a fish dish, but this time with potatoes. It looks like a puff casserole of different varieties of potatoes and fish with onions. During the preparation of sylguvorum, they use herring, fresh and smoked, herring and other types of fish at the same time.
Blood sausage
The British call this dish "black pudding". The color of the blood sausage is indeed very dark. It is consumed cooled and usually in winter. Blood sausage is readily prepared for Christmas. It is consumed with cranberry jam, and sometimes with butter and sour cream.
Vastlakukel
Vastlakukel
These buns with whipped cream are made for Shrovetide. They are baked from yeast dough. It turns out a kind of balls, on the cut off top of which - whipped cream. Put the cut cap directly on the cream and sprinkle the powder on the bun. Sometimes Estonian bakers put a spoonful of sour jam on top of the cream for contrast. Vastlakukel with cranberry jam is especially tasty.
