Observations on Eating in Estonia

While in Tallinn I've enjoyed a great number of... memorable culinary insights. Each of these I could expand on into a lengthy series of food-related blogs, but let's face it, I'm not a gourmet chef, and we both have better things to do than waste all our time bemoaning (and celebrating) one country's particularly quirky local fare.

Kompressor - or How I Learned to Love Shrimp and Cheese Pancakes.
in an analysis of traditional estonian foodstuffs, i thought it would be fun to start with this local oddity. Kompressor is the very hip place to eat in Tallinn's Old Town, serving up pancakes of both the more accepted French crepe style with fruits and ice cream, or in the opposite direction with "savory" pancakes. The grilled chicken is reputably very good, and i would have tried the Tuna if it wasn't all gone, but instead I got the shrimp pancakes. Imagine a shrimp enchilada, stuffed with cheese and a cream sauce, now inflate the tortilla into a folder buttermilk pancake twice the size of your face. That's a Kompressor, and while it may not be internationally as hip and adventurous as the Estonias think it is, I do have to hand it to them for follow-through. At no point in time did I doubt what I was eating - a shrimp pancake - but neither did i mind.

Boiled Cabbage - The Great Equalizer.
There are many addages to drive home the point that all people share something in common. "put on my pants one leg at a time," "prick me do I not bleed," etc. For me, it was the ever-present boiled cabbage, constant without being popular, among the several different "traditional" restaurants, and present in what little home cooking I observed. The only food more likely to be seen on a plate was of course potatoes, but since most people like potatoes (and I love them), that's not much of a shared hardship to rally around. but cabbage; nice, soft, barely flavored and yet still bitter cabbage, now there's a crux upon which to build a nation.

Don't Call it Kool-Aid.
nope, the mainstay of mass-consumption drinking products is called "Siirup Water" and I'll resolve the mystery for you - it's made by pouring a thick red syrup (sic) into a large jug, then diluting it until the final mixture is a translucent light pink. Compared with the grape seed water, it's a triumph, but I could blissfully endure more of it with better marketing and a less honest title.

Juust Eat it.
Little more than a clever pun, Juust (Yew-st) is Estonian for cheese, and while the more exotic french varieties will cost you a spare arm, the local varient, "Eesti Juust" is simple, hardy, and very cheap. Good chow for saving a few Kroons, but don't expect to see many locals chewing on the small blocks at snack time.

There's Always room (in the budget) for Selga.
Another cheap-o fave, Selga are square biscuits/cookies popular in Estonia, Latvia, and who knows where else. In no way a meal substitute, Selga packs (translate to Bacta Tanks for my nerdier readers) got me through some long gaps when even the prospect of a cabbage lunch seemed promising.

Good Luck Pronouncing Koom Becherovka.
It looks easy now, but just try deciphering this tongue twister on a friend's recommendation in a lively pub. Becherovka is a herb-based liquor, which sounds all polite and eco-friendly at first, but in fact it is a dangerous ally. The "Koom" decribs how to drink it, hot and mixed with maybe orange flavoring? Anyway, the first glass is delightful, the second a little unnerving, and after that proceed at your own risk. A similiar Estonian liquor is called Vana Tallinn, though it is most often consumed with coffee or milk. Interestingly, everyone i know who discussed it all agreed it should not be consumed directly, and yet against recommendations they had all tried.

Wonders of Modern Technology
there are two inventions which from my travel observations i can only assume are among the most important social adancements in the recent history of Europe: Ketchup and straws. Seriously, this is not limited to Estonia or even Eastern Europe. Everywhere i go, people put ketchup on everything, and not a little ketchup, but mounds of it. This isn't the same vinegar and corn syrup recipe we have at home, but when did tomato paste and sugar turn into human catnip. and the straws! i swear if there wasn't such a physical concept as surface tension i'm not sure Europeans would be able to stave off dehydration. Alcoholic beverages are the one exception, but otherwise if it comes in a can, a bottle, or even a glass, expect someone at the table to use a bendy. There's a sanitary issue involved, and i get that, but come on, adults don't need a sippy-cup. (with apologies to my European friends - notice how my American sensabilities crumbled at the lack of a mere fork).

Huevos a la Lamb
On an evening off, thoroughly tired of potatoes, cabbage, cuccumber, tomatoes and carrots, the 5 basic food groups of Estonia, I decided to cook myself dinner. Having already made a not-especially successful pasta a few days earlier, i went back to basics for some Texas-style scrambled eggs. The main ingredient was easy to locate of course, as was the necessary onion. I even found a very affordable orange "Holland" pepper , which is apparently so named for it's country of hydroponic origin not it's dutch coloration. the lynchpin ingedient, salsa, turned out to be no problem at all, and i still don't know why. In London, my brother Duff remarked that the only place to get salsa was at a specialty American store, while here in Tallinn it was readily available. I never saw an actual Estonian grab any off the shelf, and i couldn't find any flatmates interested in chips and salsa during a football match, but one must assume it is popular enough to be stocked.
Anyway, I cooked myself some eggs just like back home, photo documented the entire experience, and felt much better for the return to normalcy - the cooking process and the taste. There certainly are many things you "can't take with you," but as every traveler knows, it only has to be close to familiar to start feeling a lot like home.

Cheers,
Weber (on the lamb)