FLAVOURS OF TALLINN

Leib

Rye has been cultivated in the Baltics states for over a thousand years, thanks to its ability to flourish even in harsh conditions. Leib is a quintessential Estonian foodstuff, served up for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The dense, nutty bread can be slathered with butter, topped with Baltic herring, dunked in soup or simply savoured on its own.

Rosolje

Like leib, potatoes are a mainstay of Estonian cuisine. In the past, entire villages would come together for the September potato harvest, storing their precious bounty in burlap sacks for the cold winter months ahead. Rosolje is a fuchsia-hued salad containing bite-sized cubes of potato, beetroot, apples, boiled eggs and, sometimes, pickled herring, all smothered in a creamy dressing.

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Verivorst

Similar to black pudding, this traditional sausage is made of pig’s blood, barley, onions, allspice and marjoram — all stuffed into a pig’s intestine.

It’s usually served as a starter during Christmas, when it’s enjoyed with copious amounts of sauerkraut, sour cream, and lingonberry or cranberry jam. Pig’s blood — mixed with flour, fried onions, lard and seasoning — is also used to make dumplings called verikäkk.

Herring

In 2007, Baltic herring was named Estonia’s national fish — and for good reason. This oily, silver fish is a key component of many traditional dishes — be it served atop slices of leib, enjoyed in rosolje or cooked in hearty casseroles. As herrings are typically fished in the spring, they’re often salted, marinated or pickled for consumption in the winter months.