Story of Estonian food./ Eesti toidu lugu.

Estonian food comes from the clean Estonian nature. The Baltic Sea as well as many lakes and rivers put fish on our table. Fresh fish, smoked fish and salted fish have all been eaten for hundreds of years by Estonians and are still appreciated. From the forests that cover almost half of the mainland of Estonia, surrounded by water, we get berries, mushrooms and game. That is why it is still possible to serve meals made of wild boar, elk, roe and even bear. Wild berries and mushrooms are offered generously. We have wonderful natural combination of various foods of rich taste, colour and smell, coming from fresh Estonian nature. While visiting Estonia, you should taste the food characteristic only to Estonian cuisine: bread (sweet and sour rye bread, sauerkraut bread, small herring bread), snacks (sprat salad, pickled and salted Baltic herring), meat jelly, cottage cheese, soups (traditional Estonian pea soup, peasant's soup and village soup), main courses (mulgi puder - mashed potatoes with groats, mulgi kapsas - sauerkraut with groats, pork roast, smoked meat or fish, sauerkraut stew, blood sausage), desserts (wild berries, rye flour cream, semolina cream, barley flour cream, sweet soups), baking (griddlebread, graham bread, curds pie, pan bread) and drinks (kama, kvass, homemade beer). The list of Estonian national dishes includes more than 200 items. The most authentic places where Estonian dishes are offered are taverns, where in addition to serving traditional Estonian dishes, the historical environment is maintained as well. The manor restaurants, on the other hand, are offering more noble dishes, influenced mainly by German and Russian cuisine. The festive feasts in manors used to be the links how the foreign spices, ingredients and recipes reached Estonia and were then combined here with local traditions and foodstuff, grown mainly on the same estate fields. Many dishes, having Mid-European

(German) origin, have become a native part of our national cuisine already centuries ago, therefore our food traditions have a big common part. Also there is a significant influence by Russian abundant food-culture. So are the manor restaurants today mixing together the local ingredients and international trends to achieve an integrated and stylish outcome.

Eesti toidu lugu.

Eesti toit on prit puhtast Eesti loodusest. Metsast, mis katab ligi poole vikese, veega mbritsetud Eesti riigi maismaast, on meie toidulauale tulnud marjad ja seened ning ulukiliha. Lnemeri ja rohked jrved ning jed on andnud meie toidulauale kala. Nii vrske-, suitsukala kui soolakala on eestimaalaste toidulaual olnud aastasadu ja au sees tnagi. Paljudes toidukohtades pakutakse metssea-, pdra-, kitse ja isegi karulihast toite. Rikkalikult pakutakse metsamarju ja looduses kasvanud seeni. Eestis on suureprane, meie kargetest looduslikest tingimustest tulenev looduslik kombinatsioon erinevatest kllusliku maitse, vrvuse ja lhnaga toiduainetest. Eesti rahvustoitude nimekirjas on le kahesaja erineva toidu. Teiste seas must rukkileib, mulgipuder, kama, sir, verivorst ja hapukapsas. Kige ehedamad Eesti toitude pakkujad on krtsid, kus lisaks maarahvale omaste tavaliste Eesti roogade ja rahvustoitude serveerimisele on ptud edasi anda ka aegadetaguse krtsitoa olustikku. Misates asuvates restoranides pakutakse seevastu hrrasrahva, peamiselt saksa ja vene kultuuridest mjutatud peenemaid roogi. Misate pidusgid olid enamasti sillaks, mille kaudu meie piirkonda judsid vrmaised maitse- ja toorained ning valmistusviisid, mida kombineeriti sealsamas misamaadel kasvanud tooraine ja traditsioonidega. Mitmed Kesk-Euroopa (Saksa) taustaga road on meie rahvuskgi loomulikuks osaks saanud juba sajandite eest, mistttu meie rahvuskkides on nii mndagi hist. Samuti on mjutusi rikkalikust vene toidukultuurist. Nii seovad ka tnapevased misarestoranid kohaliku tooraine ning rahvusvahelised trendid htseks, stiilseks tervikuks.

Sgikohti leidub Eestis igale maitsele ja enamikus kohtades on tpevadel vga soodsad lunased pevapakkumised. Pisikese pubi vi sgitoa leiab igast veidi suuremast asulast, aga nii linnades kui viksemateski kohtades on ka pris noobleid restorane, mis pakuvad hrgutavaid kulinaarseid elamusi.