- a country of medieval cities, ancient castles and monasteries. Russian tourists also relax on the shores of the Baltic Sea, in places where you can see wooden windmills and get lost in juniper thickets.

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 a variety of dairy dishes are widely used here; for example, there are more than 20 recipes for milk soups.

Estonians have a special attitude towards soups; they are prepared and consumed willingly: with cereals, peas, fish, bread, berry and even beer soup. 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 from rutabaga, cabbage, and peas, for example. It should be noted that people here prefer boiled or steamed food and prepare a variety of small snacks from fish and other products. The traditional Estonian “cold table” includes jellied meat, pickled herring with sour cream, Rosolie and potato salads, liver pate, pickled pumpkin and cucumbers, rolls stuffed with ham, meatballs with mayonnaise and stuffed eggs.

Spices and seasonings are used sparingly in Estonia; rutabaga is often added when cooking and fresh herbs are respected, and “kastmed” - milk and sour cream gravy - is served with almost every dish.

Among the unusual dishes one can note “kama” - a mixture of flour made from fried grains of rye, peas and barley, doused with milk or curdled milk. Estonians enjoy eating this kind of “peasant food” at home.

Top 10 Estonian dishes

This dish is made from pork and cabbage. The meat is cut into pieces, salted and placed in a cauldron, layered with cabbage. All this is sprinkled with pearl barley, filled with water and boiled. It turns out to be a thick, hearty soup. Served with boiled potatoes. Estonians love to eat mulgicapsad in winter, when it’s cold. It is recommended to start tasting the Estonian menu with this dish, since there is nothing exotic in it for a guest of the country.

Milk-fish soup

Despite the seemingly incompatible products, gourmets consider this soup very tasty. When cooked, each ingredient receives a new property from milk: fish fillet - delicate taste and texture, potatoes - friability, and onions - softness. When serving, the soup is sprinkled with herbs: a mixture of fresh dill and parsley, so the plate looks very attractive.

A dish typical of the Baltic states. Carefully pour a mixture of beaten eggs, beer and sugar into the hot milk, warm it up, stirring constantly. Add diced white bread to the resulting soup and serve chilled.

Tuhlinott

Tukhlinott is prepared from the type of meat that is available. Cut into small pieces, add potato cubes of the same size and onions and cook over low heat. Spices include marjoram and ground black pepper. The end result is a stew-like dish.

Killatuhlid

This dish is prepared from lean pork. Potatoes, sour cream, and salt are added to the meat. Without spices, aromatic herbs, herbs and onions. Killatuhlid is a dish that allows you to feel the true taste of the ingredients: meat, potatoes, sour cream.

Salad "Rosolie" is a very popular salad made from beef, potatoes, beets, lightly salted herring, pickled cucumbers, onions, and apples. Dressed with mayonnaise and sour cream. The taste is reminiscent of both Olivier and herring “under a fur coat”.

Silgud pekiketmes

This is herring in sauce, where the sauce comes first. It is prepared from lard, milk, onions, and spices. The sauce is boiled down and herring fillet is added to it. Be sure to sprinkle with dill.

Silgu vorm

Silgu vorm is also a fish dish, but this time with potatoes. It looks like a layered casserole of potatoes and fish of different varieties with onions. During the preparation of silguvorum, herring, fresh and smoked, herring and other types of fish are used simultaneously.

Blood sausage

The British call this dish “black pudding”. The color of the blood sausage is indeed very dark. Consumed chilled and usually in winter. Blood sausage is popularly prepared for Christmas. Eat with cranberry jam, and sometimes with butter and sour cream.

These buns with whipped cream are prepared for Maslenitsa. Baked from yeast dough. You get these balls, with whipped cream on the cut top of the head. The cut cap is placed directly on the cream and the bun is sprinkled with powder. Sometimes Estonian bakers put a spoonful of sour jam on top of the cream for contrast. Vastlakukel with cranberry jam is especially tasty.

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Estonian cuisine: features and traditions

Estonian cuisine is noticeably different from the cooking of other nations and its National dishes will be unusual for everyone who finds themselves in for the first time. These are tasty and nutritious natural dishes, not particularly refined or varied. The basis of Estonian cuisine is simple, hearty meat dishes, as well as fish, vegetables and bread. Of all the known cooking methods, boiling is the most common here. Vegetables, meat and other products are fried extremely rarely.

The formation of Estonian cuisine was significantly influenced by the culinary traditions of the Scandinavian countries, as well as German and Russian cuisine, but despite this it has retained its originality.

National cuisine and its traditions

Estonian dishes are distinguished by an unusual combination of products. Experts note that the main part of the dishes has a slightly sour taste and the aftertaste of milk, to which a variety of, sometimes unexpected, ingredients are added, for example, peas or fish, most often herring or sprat. From ordinary dairy products on the table local residents you can see cottage cheese, whipped cream, yogurt, homemade cheese, which Estonians have a special name for – cheese.

Cereals are widely used for cooking - pearl barley, barley, but Estonians practically do not use buckwheat. Like mushrooms, you almost never see them on the Estonian table. But they eat a lot of potatoes, and they use them not only on their own, but also in the form of porridges with various cereals.

The national cuisine of Estonia began to take shape only in the mid-19th century. The culinary traditions of Germany and Sweden have had a huge influence on Estonian cuisine. The basis is quite simple, but aromatic and satisfying “peasant” dishes. It's all about the ingredients that are used to prepare certain dishes. For example: pork, all kinds of cereals, potatoes, fish (herring is especially popular), offal (liver and blood), bakery products (rye bread, rolls and barley flour cakes). In addition, dairy and fermented milk products are very popular. Only milk soups prepared in a special way Estonian recipe, there are more than 20.

I would like to say something about Estonian soups separately. This is a very common dish in Estonian national cuisine; by the way, it is tasty, satisfying and healthy. In Estonia, there is soup with barley, pearl barley, dumplings, peas, and potatoes. Many will be surprised by herring soup, sweet blueberry soup, unique-tasting bread soup and even exotic beer soup.

Seasonings are used little in Estonian national cuisine, but they are treated very pedantically. Each seasoning corresponds to a specific dish. For example, celery and parsley are added to meat dishes, dill to fish, marjoram to blood sausage (verevest), and caraway seeds to cottage cheese. Almost no national dish is complete without “kastmed” - this is milk, milk-sour cream, or milk-cream gravy.

Estonians are famous fishermen. If you happen to visit this country, be sure to treat yourself to smoked trout (“suitsukala”) and grilled flounder. Lightly salted whitefish will give you pleasant taste sensations, smoked eel, bream, herring.
Estonian forests are rich in berries and mushrooms. Therefore, on any holiday table you will find pickled saffron milk caps, mushroom sauce from golden yellow chanterelles, and a salad of salted mushrooms with onions and sour cream. In the house of every housewife, there must be homemade jam, pickled and pickled cucumbers, sauerkraut, and all kinds of preparations from vegetables and fruits.

Estonia's national pride is its variety of desserts. It is worth trying local cakes, muffins, and unusual candies with milk, coffee, liqueur, nut, mint and other fillings. And Estonian chocolate with nuts is one of the most delicious and high-quality in the world.

Estonians prefer kvass, mead, and birch sap among drinks. As for alcohol, beer comes first, of course. Each region of the country brews its own unique traditional beer. Particularly popular is dark beer - “Saare”, with famous island Saaremaa and light - “Saku”. Also, a good gift, brought from Estonia, will be Vana Tallinn liqueur and local mulled wine - Hoegwein.

Any traditional National cuisine can serve as a reflection of the character of the people who created it and the history of the country. There will be no exception Estonian cuisine. Its basic principles are simplicity, satiety and availability of ingredients. The fact that everything is prepared from natural products need not be mentioned. This is typical for national dishes northern countries with their climate and not a very diverse range of products.
At the same time, the traditional menu of Estonian residents cannot be called poor - it has everything necessary to maintain strength, and it complies with the strictest standards of healthy nutrition.
Historically, the basis of the diet of most Estonians was: fish, meat, cereals, dairy products, and vegetables. The lifestyle of fishermen and peasants did not indulge in excess free time for preparing complex, gourmet dishes; preference was given to simplicity. And the influence of neighbors - German and Swedish cuisine, supported these traditions.
During the Soviet era, the influence of Russian cuisine, as well as the traditions of the peoples of the Caucasus and republics, became noticeable Central Asia. But even the emergence of new recipes could not change attitudes towards spices - they are almost never used. In addition to salt and a small amount of pepper, dill (for herring dishes), marjoram (for blood sausages), and caraway seeds (just a little for cottage cheese and cookies) are added to some dishes. For soups with meat, celery and parsley are used. Even onions are hardly used.

Traditional dishes of Estonian national cuisine

In traditional Estonian cuisine, practically nothing is fried. The ingredients are boiled in water, broth or milk. At the same time, all dishes have a unique taste, it is given by a combination of products unusual for residents of other countries and the addition of milk or sour cream.
Since ancient times, herring has been a significant part of the daily menu. Here it is prepared in different ways, but it is always delicious. You should definitely try the smoked herring, so tender and fatty. Second place is firmly occupied by the humble sprat.
Estonia bakes dozens of varieties of delicious bread. Among the most popular will be: gray “seppik”, traditional rye and barley bread, sweet and sour bread made from barley flour, honey, potato and potato-rye rolls. Bread is served with cold or hot dishes and is used as one of the ingredients in traditional recipes.
There is no need to be scared by the combination of peas and... milk in one dish. There are many such recipes in the Estonian traditional menu. “Kama” is very popular and loved. This is the name for oatmeal made from various cereals (rye, oats, barley, wheat) or mixtures thereof served with milk or curdled milk. Its history goes back hundreds of years and will continue as long as there is interest in proper healthy eating. Now there is no need to work hard grinding cereals into oatmeal in a large mortar - ready-made mixtures can be purchased at the store.
On weekdays, and more often on holidays, blood and liver sausages, pork liver pates, and meatballs appeared on the table. A hearty potato salad was served, accompanied by herring in sour cream and stuffed eggs. Estonians loved oatmeal jelly - kaerakile, cooked with the addition of milk. All this is prepared in modern Estonia.
A large place in nutrition is given to dairy products. In addition to milk, yogurt, and curdled milk, people here love milk porridges and milk soups. There are more than twenty recipes for such soups. Among them are milk-mushroom, milk-fish, milk-egg and milk-vegetable. Interestingly, the ingredients are first boiled almost until cooked in water and milk is added shortly before the end of cooking. Then quickly bring to a boil and turn off.
Estonians are especially partial to soups and know how to prepare delicious soups from herring, pearl barley and peas. Often cereals and vegetables are combined in one recipe. But almost no meat soups are prepared here, except perhaps from offal. The reason is simple - in the past, meat was not cheap, and they tried to save it for main courses. You should definitely try blueberry, bread and beer sweet soups - their names sound exotic, but the taste is pleasant and memorable for a long time.
The traditional methods of cooking meat, usually pork, are interesting. For boiling and baking meat, thick-walled dishes are used, in which the meat should simmer, becoming especially tender and retaining its taste and nutrients. There are recipes with meat baked in the oven. They use both fresh meat and smoked or corned beef.
Sült - jellied meat in Estonia is prepared without mixing pork heads with veal heads. But the result is definitely worth trying. The most popular side dish is potatoes. It is served with fish and any meat. There are many independent dishes where the main ingredient is potatoes.
Here they traditionally serve gravy with hot dishes, it is called “kastmed”. The basis for most gravies is sour cream and milk. They are not hot or spicy and are suitable even for children.
Estonian desserts seem unusual - they are made from rye bread, semolina, milk and honey. If you want to try to stick to the traditional menu, then for breakfast you will be served some kind of non-sweet milk porridge, sandwiches (rye bread, butter, salted or smoked herring). Croutons are prepared by frying bread in butter. Tomato sauce, eggs, cheese or jam are usually added to them.
For lunch you can order one of the many types of soup and a second one. Among the second courses, you can try several of the most common ones: “Mulgikapsas” - a stew combining sauerkraut, pearl barley and pork. Porridge made from mashed potatoes mixed with pearl barley - “mulgipuder”, served as a side dish, sometimes as an independent dish. If you want something exotic, then opt for Kaalikakruubipuder porridge made from boiled rutabaga or Kapsapunder cabbage porridge. The combination of buckwheat and peas is called "Hernetatrapuder".
Many people like kartulipõrsad, where juicy baked pork is hidden under a layer of mashed potatoes. This dish is shaped like a pig. And how amazingly local chefs cook pork knuckle with sauerkraut! But pork ribs and ears should not be ignored. You can take peas with smoked pork with them.
“Vere pakeogid”, aka pancakes with blood, despite their scary name, turn out to be very tasty. Dumplings made from barley are accompanied by a generous portion of sour cream sauce or, more often, milk sauce.
You can’t help but try smoked trout - “Suitsukala” or spicy-salted sprat and, of course, herring - fried, stewed, baked in rye dough - kalapirukad, smoked or salted. There is always a choice of fish dishes on the menu.
Homemade cheeses, fatty, hard, soft, are another source of pride for Estonians. Tourists are happy to take home neat wheels of cheese.

Desserts and baked goods

No meal is complete without a good dessert, and Estonians agree with this. Cinnamon rolls and various shortbread cookies can be eaten in any country, but berry soup from many varieties of berries is prepared this way only in Estonia. Just like a dessert made from stale rye bread, pre-soaked, with whipped cream, sugar and raisins. It is served in small bowls, garnished with berries or chocolate. For the Christmas holidays, they always bake "piparkook" - special cookies with cinnamon and pepper. Mousse made from semolina and fruit juices will appeal to those who have a sweet tooth.
Only in Estonia do they make onion jam with honey. Although in modern cooking honey is often replaced with sugar.
Locally produced sweets are no less original; in addition to the usual nut fillings, you can buy varieties with liqueurs, coffee and even mint. And, of course, marzipan. It is sold in the form of bars, candies or cute figures.

Beverages

Traditional jelly has still not been able to supplant drinks brought from outside. They love good coffee, kvass and fruit drinks here.
Estonian brewers have a good reputation and beer can be tasted in any of the regions - each brews its own variety according to ancient recipes. For lovers of dark varieties, we can recommend “Saare”. For those who prefer light ones - “Saku”.
Honey beer stands apart; it is brewed in the same way as hundreds of years ago, adding natural honey. Homemade beer with juniper is no less old; its taste may seem too unusual.
But almost everyone likes mulled wine “hoegwein”. They even take it with them as a tasty and healthy souvenir.
In addition to the famous Vana Tallinn liqueur, strong with a distinct taste of rum and the color of good coffee, they also produce equally strong Kannu Kukk (raspberry with the addition of caraway).

Where to try Estonian cuisine in Tallinn

Those who come to Estonia at the invitation of friends will definitely be offered to try traditional food. But what about other lovers of national cuisine? They, too, will not be disappointed if they go to Tallinn to any of the restaurants and cafes listed below, whose specialization is national Estonian cuisine.
MEKK it is not for nothing that it is recognized as one of best restaurants countries. Only environmentally friendly products go into his kitchen, and the chefs comply with all national traditions. Bread and pastries are baked on site. There are seasonal changes in the menu - in the summer and autumn months there are more vegetables and fruits, in the winter - meat and fish. Chefs are especially successful with pork in lingonberry sauce.
You can visit it at: Suur-Karja, 17/19.
Olematu Rüütel (or "Nonexistent Knight") can be recommended to connoisseurs of national color. Here visitors will be offered a variety of national Estonian dishes, from pearl barley soup and smoked sausages to real fresh liver pate with cognac. The signature dish is "The Weakness of Mrs. Margaretha."
The establishment is located at: Kiriku põik, 4A.
If you find yourself in Tallinn near the Town Hall Square, then in search of unusual experiences you can look at Viru 2, in Peppersack. The establishment specializes in Estonian cuisine from the Middle Ages. You won't be able to taste blood sausages like this anywhere else.
For sweets you can go to Maiasmokk. This cafe is located at: Pikk 16 has existed since 1864, and all this time it has been famous for its delicious desserts and various pastries. In addition, the assortment includes raspberry liqueur Kannu Kukk and " Old Tallinn" - Vana Tallinn Cream, as well as several varieties of high-quality Estonian chocolate.

We can only hope that you will have pleasant impressions from your stay in this small but amazing beautiful country With the unique atmosphere of good old Europe, memories of delicious and unusual dishes of Estonian cuisine will be added.

Estonia is one of the few European countries where the traditions of peasant cuisine are still alive. Estonian cuisine favors simple but satisfying home-cooked dishes, trusted grandmother's recipes, and natural products grown in one's own garden. Gastronomic sensations traditional cuisine It doesn’t promise Estonia, but there are definitely no artificial additives among the ingredients of the dishes, and the natural taste of vegetables and fruits is not overshadowed by seasonings and spices.

Lunch in Estonian: tasty, simple and healthy

At one time, the national cuisine of Estonia was strongly influenced by the Scandinavian, German and Russian culinary traditions. The basis of the daily diet of an Estonian family consists of products from the village table: black rye bread, cereals, potatoes, pork, liver and generous gifts of the forest - mushrooms and berries, and in the art of baking and home preservation, Estonian housewives are even more ahead of the rest - they will even make jam from onions, so much so that you will lick your fingers.

Favorite dishes in Estonia are cabbage and milk soups, porridge, jellied meat, cabbage rolls, minced meat with gravy, potato casserole, curdled milk and oatmeal jelly, as well as all kinds of sausages, frankfurters and sausages. Instead of hot dogs, blood sausage stuffed with cereal is sold on the streets of Estonian cities, and those with a sweet tooth can satisfy their souls in pastry shops, enjoying milk chocolate with nuts, marzipan, kohuka curd cheeses and handmade confectionery.

Since Soviet times, chocolates from the Kalev factory have been in demand, and in Lately Edible souvenirs made from marzipan dough, made with your own hands under the guidance of an experienced craftsman from the Tallinn “Marzipan Gallery”, are becoming fashionable.

Not long ago, the Balbiino company opened an interactive ice cream museum in the Estonian capital. The exposition is divided into thematic halls dedicated to the history of the origin of the favorite summer dessert and the technological intricacies of making the cold delicacy, and the excursion ends with a free tasting of different varieties of Balbiino ice cream.

Some dishes of Estonian cuisine are borrowed from small nationalities and national minorities. Farmers in the southern counties learned to prepare hard cheeses with honey, poppy seeds and jam from the Seto tribe, and the popular stew mulgikapsad originated from Mulgimaa.

In the villages near the lake you will be generously treated to aromatic hot smoked fish, and at seaside resorts Not a single feast is complete without lightly salted herring and Baltic herring, trout and shrimp soup. Original coastal delicacies await tasters in the stylish restaurants Noa and Villa Mary in Viismi, Wicca in Laulasmaa, Ruhe in Jõelähtim, MerMer on the Juminda peninsula and OKO in Kaberneeme. At the Kolkya Museum of Russian Old Believers there is an onion and fish restaurant representing interesting dishes from freshwater fish caught in Lake Peipsi.

The ringing echo of the Middle Ages, wandering among the castles and forts left by the crusaders, also left its mark on other excursion cities in Estonia. As a cold appetizer, you will certainly be offered game - sliced ​​venison or elk, and for the main course they can recommend a stew of bear meat or boar meat, stewed hare, quail with berry sauce or wild goose baked in clay.

Although Estonian restaurants are not yet listed in the Michelin digest, the skill of the chefs and the quality of the products used are no worse than in the star establishments of Italy and France, and prices have not yet managed to rise to European levels. A simple lunch in a street cafe will cost 7–10 EUR, and the average bill for dinner for two in a good restaurant is 30 EUR.

Recently, gourmet tours to Hiiumaa to the city of Kärdla for Cafe Day and Restaurant Week have become widespread, so the development of the restaurant business in Estonia is apparently following the right course.

Estonians themselves don’t really trust restaurateurs and prefer to eat at home, the old fashioned way. Since traditional cuisine, as we already know, is a phenomenon of peasant culture, the merits of national dishes are best revealed in the organic setting of a rural festival or a noisy fair.

Gourmets from around the world have already trodden a wide path in Setomaa, where guests are treated to farmer's cheeses and ancient dishes made from forest products. In the summer, festivals are held in honor of the favorite products of the village menu - herring, pickled cucumber, mushrooms and home-made preserves.

Culinary festivals allow us to form the most adequate idea of ​​the gastronomic preferences of the Estonian people. To the accompaniment of live music, Estonian national dishes go great, and dancing, folk entertainment and comic competitions whet the appetite and deepen the sense of taste.

You can't stop drinking beautifully

Alcoholic drinks in Estonia are worthy of a poem. For many Soviet citizens, a selfless love for the Baltic states began with a sip of Old Tallinn rum liqueur (Vana Tallinn) or a strong Kännu Kukk liqueur with caraway seeds and juniper berries. In winter, it's nice to relax after a ski run, enjoying the spicy spirit of hot mulled wine or the subtle fruity aroma of glögg.

In the summer, the baton is picked up by local beers - “Saku”, “Pulse”, “Saare” and “Viru” with juniper extract. Collection varieties of the foamy drink are collected in the A le Coq Beer Museum in Tartu, and in some farms original honey beer is brewed according to medieval recipes. Pubs usually serve their own signature ale with a signature appetizer - smoked pig ears in garlic sauce.

The most praised ales are Virmalised from Põhjala, Eesti Rukki Eil from Õllenaut and Vormsi Hele Eil from Vormsi Brewery. Fans of gastronomic experiments should definitely try red beer with berry juice, and adherents of a healthy lifestyle can expect tasty and healthy non-alcoholic drinks - fruit drinks, compotes and Estonian kali kvass.

The best Estonian wines are collected in the collections of the Põltsamaa Castle Wine Cellar and the Museum of Drinking Culture, located on the site of the pre-war Luscher&Martin distillery in Tallinn. The tasting of noble drinks takes place in the solemn atmosphere of an old-world estate, resurrecting the novels of Turgenev and Tolstoy.

Top 10 Estonian dishes you need to try

Kartulipors - pork baked in mashed potatoes. For fun, in some cafes the portions are designed in the form of funny pigs with olive eyes and a snout of carrots.

Vereverst - blood sausage with barley and chopped bacon.

Creamy Dunkles Soup is a first course with beans and smoked pork ribs in a toasted bread pot, topped with a thick creamy sauce.

Pirukad are small pies made from yeast dough, filled with rice, stewed vegetables or minced meat.

Mulgicapsid is sauerkraut stewed in a cast iron with pork and barley, served with a side dish of boiled or baked potatoes.

Vere pakeogid - pancakes made from barley flour stuffed with peas, buckwheat and blood.

Mulgikorp - sweet cheesecakes served with sour cream or jam.

Kama is a mixture of dried or fried grains of rye, peas and oats, filled with sour milk, jam or honey.

Piparkook - crispy cookies with black pepper, ginger and cinnamon, painted with glazed patterns.

Marzipan is a shaped cake made from grated almonds and powdered sugar, covered with icing.