1. Estonian National Cuisine

2. Black Bread

3. 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.

4. Depending on the size of the family, they usually made 6-10 loaves of bread. One loaf of bread usually weighed about 2-5 kg.

5. Recipe of Bread 5 l of warm water 100 g leaven 6 - 7 kg rye flour 1 tablespoon of salt 2 tablespoons of fennel seeds

6. Beliefs and habits There 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.

7. 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

8. Kama (flour mix) Kama is a mixture of boiled, dried and roasted coarse-ground grains, mixed with water, buttermilk or yoghurt. Kama flour was initally made after sowing from the remnants of the seeds.

9. Nowadays kama is a popular summer dish because it is light and cooling. As it tastes good and is healthy, kama can be compared with muesli.

10. Estonian Fish Culture

11. The Baltic Herring The Baltic herring has been the main fish dish on Estonians’ table for centuries. It is the main fish that is caught in the Baltic Sea.

12. The Baltic herring has become the national fish of Estonia. The Baltic herring is eaten fresh, marinated, smoked and tinned.

13. Baltic Sprat A sprat sandwich is a traditional snack on Estonian food table. Sprats are usually salted with all kinds of spices.

14. A sprat sandwich: black bread salted sprats boiled eggs All you have to do now is just make a sandwich.

15. Pork

16. Pork 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.

18. 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.

19. Jellied meat In 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.

20. Milk

21. Milk 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.

22. 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.

23. Nearly 93% of the drinking milk produced and consumed in Estonia has a fat content of 2.5% which is unique in the EU. The 2.5% milk can only be marketed in Estonia.

24. Milk production started in farms. A metal milk jug was used to collect milk from farms. Piimapukk is a simple wooden construction. Farmers brought their milk jugs there for collecting and selling the milk.

25. Soured milk Soured milk is called hapupiim in Estonian Soured milk is a general term for milk that has acquired a tart taste through bacterial fermentation

26. Soured milk has been a common drink among Estonians for centuries. Nowadays people drink mostly kefir which is a fermented milk drink similar with soured milk.

27. Curd Curd 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.

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

29. 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.

30. Different types of curd snacks may contain various fillings like jam, marmalade or raisins. The curd snack has been one of Estonians’ favourite sweet snacks since 1960, when it was known as glazed sweet cheese.

31. Thank you