Cuisine of Estonia

Estonian cuisine

• Estonia is a Nordic country, which also says a lot about the Estonian cuisine: eating habits, food, ways of cooking etc.

The most typical foods in Estonia.

• black bread

• pork potatoes

• dairy products.

black bread Pork & potato

dairy products

The Cold Table

• The first course in the traditional Estonian cuisine are cold dishes.

Soups

• Soups are traditionally eaten before the main course and most often are made of chicken bouillon mixed with variety of vegetables.

The Main Course

• Meat and potatoes variety covered with a rich gravy and often served with Sauerkraut has been the treaditional Estonian main course. Pork is the most important meat and it's eaten as roasted, cured, bacon, ham, or in pies and sausages.

Desserts

• Specific desserts include kissel, curd snack and kama. Of pastries, rhubarb pies have been popular.

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 have also been very common, although nowadays hunting and fishing are more of popular hobbies.

Winter and Christmas

• Traditionally in winter jams, preserves and pickles are brought to the table. Estonia has been through rough times in the past and thus gathering and conserving fruits, mushrooms and vegetables for winter has always been essential.

• Blood sausage (Estonian: verivorst), jellied meat (Estonian: sült) and sauerkraut (Estonian: hapukapsas) have been part of the traditional Estonian menu that nowadays are mostly Christmas specialties. Also, typical Christmas treats have been apples, mandarins and gingerbread.