Traditional Estonian cuisine has substantially been based on

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

and

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es, and on

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

in coastal and lakeside areas. However, it now shows influences from a variety of international cuisines and ingredients, with a number of contributions from the traditions of nearby countries. German, Swedish, Russian, Finnish and other influences have played their part. The most typical foods in Estonia have been rye bread,

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

, fish, potatoes and cow

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s. In terms of

staple food A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs an ...

, Estonia is similar to other countries in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Cold table

The first course in traditional Estonian cuisine is based on cold dishes — a selection of

pickles Pickle, pickled or Pickles may refer to: Food * Pickle, a food that has undergone pickling * Pickled cucumber * Pickle, a sweet, vinegary pickled chutney popular in Britain, such as Branston Pickle, also known as "sweet pickle" or "ploughman's ...

, meats and

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

s () served with

potato salad Potato salad is a salad dish made from boiled potatoes, usually containing a dressing and a variety of other ingredients such as boiled eggs and raw vegetables. It is usually served as a side dish. History and varieties Potato salad is foun ...

(),

cottage cheese Cottage cheese is a curdled milk product with a mild flavour and a creamy, heterogeneous, soupy texture, made from skimmed milk. An essential step in the manufacturing process distinguishing cottage cheese from other fresh cheeses is the additio ...

(''kodujuust''), or ''rosolje'', an Estonian signature dish almost identical to Swedish , based on

beetroot The beetroot (British English) or beet (North American English) is the taproot portion of a ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'' plant in the Conditiva Group. The plant is a root vegetable also known as the table beet, garden beet, dinner bee ...

, potatoes and

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

.Estonia By Michael Spilling
/ref> ''Pirukad'' (small salty pastries filled with meat, fish,

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

s, cheese, or other fillings) are also popular, and are often served with ''puljong'' ( bouillon broth).

Herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

is common among other fish as a part of the Estonian cold table. Smoked or marinated eel, as well as

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

, are considered delicacies. One of Estonia's national dishes is the diminutive

Baltic herring Atlantic herring (''Clupea harengus'') is a herring in the family Clupeidae. It is one of the most abundant fish species in the world. Atlantic herrings can be found on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean, congregating in large schools. ...

(), the national fish of the country, along with the

sprat Sprat is the common name applied to a group of forage fish belonging to the genus ''Sprattus'' in the Family (biology), family Clupeidae. The term also is applied to a number of other small sprat-like forage fish (''Clupeoides'', ''Clupeonella ...

(). Spiced salted sprats with a slice of boiled egg on an

open sandwich An open sandwich, also known as an open-face/open-faced sandwich, bread baser, bread platter or tartine, consists of a single slice of bread or toast with one or more food items on top. It has half the number of slices of bread compared to a ty ...

() have been popularised as a distinctive Estonian appetiser.

Soups

Soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...

s traditionally formed a main meal option and nowadays are more often eaten as first course. Soups are typically made of meat or chicken stock mixed with a variety of vegetables,

pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...

s, eggs, pork or fish. Soups are also blended with

sour cream Sour cream (sometimes known as soured cream in British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturall ...

, or milk. ''Lõhesupp'', a creamy soup which seems to lean more towards local ''

haute cuisine ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is a style of cooking characterised by meticulous preparation, elaborate presentation, and the use of high quality ingredients. Typically prepared by highly skilled gourmet chefs, haute cuisine dish ...

'', is made with

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

, potatoes and

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

. ''Hernesupp'' (

pea soup Pea soup or split pea soup is soup made typically from dried peas, such as the split pea. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is most often greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of pea ...

) is also quite popular. ''Käkisupp'' is balls of fried pork with lard, mixed with barley flour, cooked into soup. Soups are still popular and are sold en masse in cans in grocery stores as quick everyday meals.

Main course

Black bread (or ''rukkileib'', i.e "rye bread") typically accompanies the

main course A main course is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée () course. Usage In the United States and Canada (except Quebec), the main course is traditionally called an "entrée". En ...

, and almost every savory food, in Estonia. Over many generations, Estonians have continued to value to this day their varieties of black rye-based bread. '' Mulgikapsad'' (

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , ) is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferment the sugar ...

with pork and

pearl barley Pearl barley, or pearled barley, is barley that has been processed to remove its fibrous outer hull and polished to remove some or all of the bran Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the component of a Cereal, cereal grain consisting o ...

) is one food that is added in the list of the Estonian cultural heritage and can be considered to be Estonian national food. '' Mulgipuder'' is the only Estonian national food that is in the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Desserts

Typical Estonian desserts include variants of ''kohupiim'' (

quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei ...

), ''kohupiimakreem'' (creamy

curd Curd is obtained by Denaturation (biochemistry), coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet, a Kefir cheese, ...

), ''jäätis'' (

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

), ''

kama ''Kama'' (Sanskrit: काम, ) is the concept of pleasure, enjoyment and desire in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It can also refer to "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsका� ...

'' (a

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

and

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

flour eaten mixed with milk,

buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in Western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mode ...

, or ''

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

''), '' mannavaht'' (a foamy cream made of

semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

and juice or fruit), '' kompott'', and ''leivasupp'' , a traditional sweet soup made of black bread and

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

s, served with

whipped cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

, almost identical to the

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n dish .

Pastries Pastry refers to a variety of doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bak ...

or pies like the cinnamon bun, cardamom bun and different

buns are also eaten, mostly accompanied by coffee.

Rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...

pies are also a favorite. Another popular dessert is ''kringel'' ( kringle), a sweet yeast bread often flavored with

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genus (biology), genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indon ...

Pancake A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...

s (''pannkook'') are also traditional, common and popular. '' Vastlakukkel'', a cardamom-spiced bread roll with whipped cream is a traditional Estonian

sweet roll A sweet bread roll, roll or sweet bun refers to any of a number of sweet, baked, Baker's yeast, yeast-Leavening agent, leavened breakfast or dessert foods. They may contain spiced bun, spices, nut roll, nuts, fruit bun, candied fruits, etc., and ...

, it is eaten during the festivities of '' vastlapäev''. ''Mulgikorp'' is small round flatbreads or pastries covered with semolina or cottage cheese.

Drinks

Nowadays, locally brewed

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

is the number one choice to accompany food;

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

, different juices or simply water are the main non-alcoholic choices. Tea and herbal teas are also drunk.

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

is the second most widely drunk alcoholic beverage; however, the wine consumption volume in Estonia is overshadowed by that of beer — roughly five times more beer alone is being drunk than all the harder alcoholic beverages (including wine and

distilled spirits Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. While the w ...

) counted together. There are also Estonian fruit wines made of apples or different berries. Estonia is also known for locally produced ''viin'' (

vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...

) and other kinds of hard liquor.

Mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...

(), the alcoholic drink made of

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

that was most popular in ancient times, has almost completely disappeared. ''Hapurokk'', an ancient drink made of fermented rye, is now produced only on the island of

Kihnu Kihnu is an island in the Baltic Sea. With an area of , it is the largest island in the Gulf of Riga and the seventh largest island of Estonia. With a length of and width of , the island's highest point is above sea level. Kihnu belongs to P ...

. Some other drinks whose popularity peaked in the 20th century are still consumed by some Estonians, including (similar to

kvass Kvass is a fermented, cereal-based, low-alcoholic beverage of cloudy appearance and sweet-sour taste. Kvass originates from northeastern Europe, where grain production was considered insufficient for beer to become a daily drink. The first wr ...

) and birch sap () beverages. Besides milk (), other widely consumed dairy products include '' keefir'' and also ("sour milk") and , which are variations on the theme of

. Yogurt, which was not produced in Estonia before the restoration of independence, has become a very popular everyday food, which is mostly sold sweetened and in both a liquid form and a creamier version.

Seasons

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 were common in history. Nowadays, they have remained as popular pastimes. It is popular to

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

in the summer. Eggs are painted and eaten during

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

Winter and Christmas

During the winter months, jam, preserves and

are brought to the table. In the not so distant past, the gathering and conserving of fruits,

edible mushroom Edible mushrooms are the fleshy fruit bodies of numerous species of macrofungi (fungi that bear fruiting structures large enough to be seen with the naked eye). Edibility may be defined by criteria including the absence of poisonous effect ...

s and vegetables for winter was more common, nowadays it is less so as almost everything can be bought from stores. However, preparing food for winter is still popular in the countryside and continues to retain its charm for many, as opposed to the commercialization of eating habits. Oven-grilled pork,

blood sausage A blood sausage is a sausage filled with blood that is cooked or dried and mixed with a filler until it is thick enough to solidify when cooled. Most commonly, the blood of pigs, sheep, lamb, cow, chicken, or goose is used. In Europe and the ...

(''verivorst''), roast goose (''jõuluhani''), jellied pork (''sült''),

(''hapukapsas'') with oven-roasted potatoes, and

mulled wine Mulled wine, also known as spiced wine, is an alcoholic drink usually made with red wine, along with various mulling spices and sometimes raisins, served hot or warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas. It is ...

(''hõõgvein'', or '' glögi'') have been part of the traditional Estonian menu that nowadays are mostly Christmas specialties. Also, typical Christmas treats have been apples,

mandarin orange A mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), often simply called mandarin, is a small, rounded citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. The mandarin is small and oblate, unlike the ...

gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger root, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly ...

, pickled pumpkin (''kõrvitsasalat''), and

lingonberry jam Lingonberry jam is a staple of Northern European cuisine and otherwise highly popular in Central and Eastern Europe. Lingonberries ('' Vaccinium vitis-idaea'') grow on a short evergreen shrub in the Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisp ...

History

After hunting and fishing, farming (in Estonia, since over 4000 years ago) became another important source of nutrients, especially food made from

cereals A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize (Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, suc ...

(e.g., ''puder'' (porridge), ''rokk'', ''leem'', etc.) The oldest types of cereal grown in Estonia are

and

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

. The most important turned out to be dark rye bread made from leavened dough, that started to be baked about a thousand years ago and became synonymous with food in the figurative sense. In addition to bread, a dish made from unleavened barley dough was baked called ''karask'', in later times ''sepik'' was also made from wheat flour, and a white wheat bread ''sai'' was served on holidays. Turnip was also staple food in Estonia before potato and among other vegetables, cabbage and swede were well known for a long time. Potato cultivation started in Estonia in the middle of the 18th century, and starting from the end of the 19th century it became a dominant part of the daily Estonian diet. By the first half of the 20th century, Estonia was either the first (or second after Poland) in the world in terms of potato production per capita. Until the 20th century, meat was not a frequent item on the menu of Estonian commoners. Farmers would slaughter animals in the autumn and the pig's head and legs were cooked into a dish called ''sült''. ''Silk'' (Baltic herring) was a fish dish that was eaten salted and appeared much more often on the common people's table. Fresh fish was usually available on the sea coast and by larger lakes. The food selection of the rural population was influenced by the cuisine of the local Baltic German landowners and the wealthier urban class, which was more diverse. There are still some differences between the cuisines of the two historical regions of Estonia. In Southern Estonia, the farmers grew somewhat more prosperous in the 19th century, and enjoyed a more diverse cuisine compared to Northern Estonia. For example, ''kama'', ''kohupiim'' (

), ''sõir'' (a cooked mixture of milk, cottage cheese and eggs) and various dishes made from

s originate from Southern Estonia. In the second half of the 19th century, along with urbanisation and rapidly changing economic conditions, eating habits in Estonia turned more complex as new ingredients and innovative food preparation methods became available to the general public.

Semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, coffee and

spices In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

appeared in shops. Along with the evolving international trade, new culinary influences and consumption trends arrived to Estonia: mostly from Germany, and from nearby

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(then capital of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

). In the 1920s and 1930s, a second layer of Estonian cuisine developed in the newly independent country. Since then, such typical dishes in Estonia as the pickled

cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

, liver pâté, cutlets, mashed potatoes,

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

salads, cabbage rolls, '' kissell'', semolina foam, and flat cakes have become well known. During the period of Soviet occupation (1944-1991), the Estonian daily diet was markedly influenced by what little ingredients were available in, and also what new culinary ideas arrived from, the USSR: '' borš'', '' seljanka'', '' rassolnik'', '' pelmeenid'' etc. arrived in canteens and restaurants, whereas '' šašlõkk'' appeared in more private events. At the same time, the limited selection of food and especially condiments was felt. Under the Soviet rule, Estonians "invented" several desserts that would most commonly be eaten during birthdays, e.g ''kirju koer'' (

cocoa powder Dry cocoa solids are the components of cocoa beans remaining after cocoa butter, the fatty component of the bean, is extracted from chocolate liquor, roasted cocoa beans that have been ground into a liquid state. Cocoa butter is 46% to 57% of the ...

and

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

mixed with crumbled cookies and

marmalade Marmalade (from the Portuguese ''marmelada'') is a fruit preserves, fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It also has been made from lemons ...

, put in the freezer overnight) and ''kass Artur'' (soft

toffee Toffee is an English confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepar ...

and butter mixed with fluffy corn sticks, frozen overnight). Since the country regained independence in 1991, modern Estonian cuisine has been influenced by

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an Leavening agent, unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or Eggs as food, eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally on ...

hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

french fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

etc. are nowadays as common as rye bread, pork, boiled potatoes and herring as staple foods. In the 21st century, it has been argued that the traditional Estonian cuisine has less importance. However, during the most important holidays and celebrations, and also every day, traditional foods are still preferred in families and among friends.

Gallery

File:Bread retailed from street counters, Revale, Esthonia, photo from The Encyclopedia of Food by Artemas Ward.jpg, Bread retailed from street counters in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

(photo from ''The Encyclopedia of Food by Artemas Ward'', 1923). File:Oskar hoffmann talumehed kortsis.jpg, Estonian farmers in an inn, drinking ''viin'' (vodka), painting by Oskar Hoffmann, 1899. File:Estonian rye bread sticks at restaurant 100 õlle koht.jpg, Rye bread (''leib'') with garlic is also eaten as a pub snack. Verivorstid.jpg, Small oven-cooked blood sausages Pilt (83).JPG, Traditional sausages at display in an Estonian street market, 2013. Kiluvõileib.IMG 4378.JPG, World's largest ''kiluvõileib'' fish sandwich was created in 2014 in Tallinn. Sülze001.jpg, ''Sült'' (pieces of meat in jellied pork brawn). File:Onion road, Estonia.JPG, Onions and dried fish for sale on a farmer's roadside stand. File:Mulgipuder.jpg, ''Mulgipuder'', a traditional dish of potatoes, groats and pork, originating from south Estonia File:Mulgikapsad with potatoes.jpg, '' Mulgikapsad'' (

with pork and

) served with baked potatoes File:Kama.jpg,

Kama ''Kama'' (Sanskrit: काम, ) is the concept of pleasure, enjoyment and desire in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It can also refer to "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsका� ...

, a cereal and legume flour is traditionally eaten mixed with just milk or buttermilk, now also used for making desserts.

Notes and references

External links

Karin Karner's book "Estonian Tastes And Traditions"International Wine and Food Society Estonian BranchEstonian Kitchen: 5 Local Dishes You Probably Didn’t Think of TryingTraditional Estonian Cooking e-book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estonian Cuisine