Estonian National Cuisine

Black Bread

The word “bread” came to Estonian from Germanic languages.

Traditional black bread spread in Estonia in the second century.

In a peasant household people usually baked bread on Saturdays.

Depending on the size of the family, they usually made 6-10 loaves of bread.

Recipe of Bread

51 of warm water

100 g leaven

6-7 kg rye flour

1 tablespoon of salt

2 tablespoons of fennel seeds

Beliefs and habitsThere were many beliefs and habits related with bread:

If a piece of bread was dropped, it had to be picked up and given a kiss so that hunger would not come to the house.

A loaf of bread was never put on a table upside crust down. That would predict a family member's death.

It was not allowed to lay a loaf of bread with its cut side to the door, because then the house would run out of bread.

People imprinted a cross on a loaf of bread before they baked it, because it would protect the family from an evil eye.Eating the crusty end of bread would give a girl nice breasts.Warm bread was supposed to be broken not cut.

Christmas bread

Christmas bread had to be different from everyday bread.

It was made of rye or wheat flour and it was usually in the shape of a lying pig.

Christmas bread was also fed to the animals in the stables and barns

The Baltic Herring

The Baltic herring has been the main fish on Estonians” table for centuries.

It is the main fish that is caught in the Baltic Sea

The Baltic herring has become the national fish of Estonia.

The Baltic herring is eaten fresh, marinated, smoked and tinned.

A sprat sandwich

black breadsalted spratsboiled eggs

All you have to do now is just make a sandwich.

Traditional favourites

Marinated eel, served cold. A true Estonian favourite.

PorkPork has been known in the national cuisine of Estonia for a long time.

Meat was eaten mostly in autumn and in winter with vegetables and cereals.

The Market of Tartu City

Beliefs and habits

The pig’s snout was given to a child, because people believed that it helped the child to become a writer.Eating the heart gives strength.The kidneys were boiled in soup and were eaten with somebody else to get well along with.

These traditions are old and mostly forgotten, but pork has still a very important place in Estonian cuisine.

Jellied meatIn Estonian sült.A traditional Estonian dish - boiled pork with vegetables in jelly.The jelly is made by boiling the pig bones, sometimes trotters and heads.Estonians eat jellied meat at Christmas time, on Shrove Tuesday, New Year’s Eve and at Easter.

Blood sausage Verivorst

Blood and barley sausage, similar to what the English diplomatically call 'black pudding' due to its colour. In Estonia, this is traditional Christmas food, and is served with a red, berry jam. Our guests loved it.

Sauerkraut stew

MilkMilk is called “piim” in Estonian

Over the times Estonians have been drinking and using milk (mostly cow milk but also horse and goat milk) as everyday food.

The development of Estonian milk industry began in the 19th century.

Nowadays it is one of the most important lines of production in

Estonian farming.

Soured milkSoured milk is called hapupiim in EstonianSoured milk is a general term for milk that has acquired a tart taste through bacterial fermentation

CurdCurd is made from soured

milk by heating it on a low temperature.

Curd is a popular diet food because of its high calcium and phosphorus

content and low energetic value.

Curd might be flavoured with salt or sugar and it is used in many different dishes like curd cheese patties.

Curd snack

A curd snack is a sweet snack about five centimeters long.

It is made of milled sweet curd or curd cream and usually covered with chocolate glaze.

A traditionally popular drink called Kali

Besides the wine, the one packaged food we had was the very Estonian, non-alcoholic beverage called Kali. Referred to as "the Estonian Coca-Cola," Kali is a kind of unfermented beer. It's sweet and has a very light fizz to it. "Unfermented beer or liquid bread? Tastes really special. I like it!"