As an Estonian and food technologist I thought it would be fair to make a post about foods to try in Estonia. I did not want to do it in a traditional way in the style of "kama" and "kiluvõileivad" but rather I listed down the foods that I, as an Estonian, most appreciate in my home cuisine. Let´s go!
1. Berries
As in a relatively cold climate, fruits do not grow natively very well here. Nevertheless, our forests, bogs and gardens are full of lots of berries. I genuinely think that the nordic strawberries and raspberries taste better than any other. But let´s not end the list in here. From the forests, we can pick blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries, blackberries and wild strawberries. In the gardens, people grow blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries and seabuckthorn. The best season for this deliciousness is July and August. For buying berries one should visit a local market. And yes, it is safe to pick berries from the forest and put them straight in your mouth (if you are sure that the berry is edible of course!)
2. Ice cream
Did you know that Estonians are the biggest ice cream eaters in Europe? Seems funny, considering that most of the ice cream is consumed within the short summer. Knowing the above, it is no wonder that you can find a huge selection of ice creams from supermarkets. We like our ice creams packaged solo, no family packs. We do not have many ice cream parlours so the supermarkets are really the best place to buy. I don´t recommend the ice cream parlours personally because they are usually overpriced and the portions are tiny. The two main local ice cream producers are Balbiino and Premia. La Muu is another fun brand that makes eco ice creams.
3. Dairy products
It is not just ice cream, Estonians are big dairy consumers overall. It is well justified with the fact that our land is suitable for cow herds. Yoghurt, cheese, pudding, kephir, quark, cottage cheese, buttermilk, butter, sour cream, cream cheese, sõir... the list goes on. In recent years some fancy products like skyr and rjaženka have also obtained mainstream approval. For people with lactose intolerance, there are also lactose-free versions available for most of the categories. Our cheeses are usually quite soft and not aged, no fancy stuff.
When talking about dairy products I have to point out kohukesed especially. It is a type of dessert, a quark bar covered with chocolate and comes with different flavours. We, Estonians are proud of our kohukesed and I guess that there is not even a good translation available for this product because it is so unique for the Baltic countries.
4. Bread
In the Estonian sense, bread is not made of wheat. When you ask for bread, you will get a brownish and much more rustic product made of rye. It comes in different shapes, with and without seeds. Under the term "black bread" we mean a specific type of bread that derives its dark colour and sweet taste from barley extract. When you are looking for a wheat bakery product, look for "sai". The bread also comes from supermarkets but are still fresh and high in quality. We don´t have corner top bakeries that would sell bread out of the oven, unfortunately. The rye bread is used rather with saltier toppings like butter, ham, cheese, pickles or avocado. For peanut butter or jam, you want to have the "sai" thing.
Another grain that is unique for Eastern-European countries is buckwheat. It is a brown, gluten-free grain with a distinctive flavour. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to find buckwheat dishes when eating out but you can find them sold in any supermarket. Buckwheat is prepared similarly to rice and can be a great addition to meat. It can be turned into a salad or milled into flour and used for baking.
6. Beer
Finishing the list with another grain product and an alcoholic drink. If you want to try local alcohol then beer is the one to go for. There are big breweries like Saku and A Le Coq but in recent years there has been a true boom of craft beers by small breweries, such as Põhjala, Purtse and Puiste to name a few.
Lastly, I will provide a small dictionary for recognizing all the deliciousness from the stores:
Strawberries - maasikad
Raspberries - vaarikad
Blackcurrent - mustsõstar
Redcurrent - punane sõstar
Goosberry - tikker or karusmari
Lingonberry - pohl
Cranberry - jõhvikas
Seaubuckthorn - astelpaju
Blueberries - mustikad
Ice cream - jäätis (sorbet - sorbett; whole milk ice cream - koorejäätis)
Dairy products - piimatooted
Milk - piim
Yoghurt - jogurt
Cheese - juust
Cream cheese - kreemjuust or toorjuust or määrdejuust
Quark - kohupiim
Cottage cheese - kodujuust
Kephir - keefir
Butter - või
Buttermilk - pett
Pudding - puding
Buckwheat - tatar
Rye bread - leib
Black bread - must leib
Wheat bread - sai
Beer - õlu
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