'Going ethnic' or eating Estonian: Altja tavern

Remember the unexpected pile of chantarelle mushrooms I came across when daytripping in Lahemaa, Estonia? Well, here are some pictures of the lazy lunch we enjoyed on that day. Which was the reason why I was about to miss a lovely mushroom dinner that night, had we not come across that lovely mushroom lady..

We had driven about 100 km out of town towards St Petersburgh, to Lahemaa. After catching up with my friend Edith and her lovely daughter Liisu (usually residents of Edinburgh, but spending the summer in most idyllic settings of Northern Estonia) in Võsu and spending some time on the beach, we headed for some lunch at Altja kõrts or Altja tavern. This is a traditional Estonian tavern house that has acted as a national restaurant for quite a few years already. It features in the news regularly as various visiting dignitaries (anyone from the President of Germany to the Queen of Denmark) are brought here, and it is also the place where busloads of tourists get their crash course into Estonian cuisine. We arrived just when two buses left with German tourists - the latter apparently provide 80% of the business!

Maybe living abroad makes me more nostalgic, or maybe the food was extremely nice on its own right, but I had a thoroughly enjoyable meal. It was a beautiful and sunny day, and we took our lunch outside:

For starters, we shared a plate of blood chips. Yep, you read it correctly. There isn't a single Christmas meal in Estonia that wouldn't feature blood sausages (verivorst) or black pudding, as it is known in politically correct English. Although you can buy blood sausages throughout the year, the preferred alternative during summer months is blood pudding (verikäkk) - slightly firmer in consistency and thicker in diametre. Traditionally it is fried in thick slices and eaten with a sour cream sauce. In Altja, however, they served delicious paperthin slices with a sour cream dip - kind of modern take on an old classic:

Extremely tasty. I later found the recipe for veritsipsid or blood chips in a new Estonian national cookbook published last year. And I have a whole black pudding in my Edinburgh fridge waiting to be baked into thin chips in my oven:)

Veritsipside retsept

For the main course, we all opted for mulgipuder, which is a traditional dish of mashed potatoes cooked with some pearl barley from Mulgimaa in South-Western Estonia. Mine came with a wild mushroom sauce:


The others opted for mulgipuder with fried baltic herring (praetud räimed).

I was a bit reluctant to order the fried fish myself, as I was sure that I'd be forking out fishbones from between my teeth. But I shouldn't have - the mouthful (alright, actually the many mouthfuls) I nicked from my Mum's plate were absolutely delicious - thick well-seasoned fish fillets.

Note that all plates come garnished with pickled beetroot and salted cucumbers. I said it's very popular back in Estonia!

Even the children's options were above the ususal mash-and-sausages habit:

They did get mash, granted, but it was accompanied by tasty olive & grated carrots meatballs. And none of the picky eaters said a word, as they were happily munching their way through the plate!

To wash it all down - some home-made root beer (kali) for the adults and plum (not prune!) juice for the kids.

After the meal we spent another half an hour enjoying the sun and looking at the kids (see my sis?:) climbing the old carriage and flying back and forth on the swing.

And for the dessert? Well, that involves another beautiful manor house in Lahemaa and comes as a totally different story:)

Altja kõrts
Altja küla
Vihula vald
45501 Lääne-Virumaa
Estonia
Summer opening hours: daily from 11am until 11pm (1 May-30 Sep)
Winter opening hours: Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu/Sun 11am-8pm, Fri/Sat 11am-9pm (1 Oct-30 Apr)

Tallinn Café Scene: Musi

Musi, which means 'a kiss' in Estonian (see the lips on the logo?), is one of the newest cafés that has recently popped up in Tallinn. In any case, it was my first time to visit the place, and I went twice during my recent trip home. To be precise, my first accounter with The Kiss was before I even reached home.

One of my best friends back home was due to give birth any day in early August, so we arranged to meet asap upon my arrival, just in case. As it happened, I saw her again just a few days later for a relaxed late summer BBQ in my parents house and she didn't give birth to her baby boy until the following week. But after meeting my parents at the airport and sending them home with my luggage, I met up in Musi with some university friends. There were five of us, and it was almost like an Estonian emigré gathering. I have lived the last 6 years in Edinburgh, one of us was visiting from near San Francisco, one from her secondment job in Brussels, one has been back in Estonia for a while now after a few years in Budapest, and my then still mother-to-be-friend is due to start working in Brussels once she returns to work when the baby turns one and a half. So you can imagine there was lots of catching up to do.

Musi is at a discreet location just opposite St Nicholas Church (Niguliste kirik) and somewhat hard to notice from outside. But I highly recommend it - it's cosy and very ambient, with a good selection of wine (the only alcohol served) and not too extensive, but very tasty selection of food - mainly cakes, quiches and salads. I had a chicken quiche on the first night, and it was yummy. When I was back in Musi the night before heading back to Edinburgh, I treated myself to some canapes with chicken and pesto that were nice as well. However, what I really recommend is their eponymous cake - Musi tort:



It was a really tasty layered sponge-cake with cream cheese and sea buckthorn (see those bright orange berries?) filling and drizzled with honey - absolutely lovely. And look at the plate it came on!

Lovely, lovely place. Just make sure you have plenty of time to enjoy your wine and nibbles, as the service is somewhat relaxed:)

Oh - and the place has probably the most gorgeous public restroom in town - a size/looks/smell of a small boudoir.

Musi
Niguliste 6
10130 Tallinn
Estonia
Open: Monday-Saturday 2pm until midnight

Cooking Estonian: buckwheat and mushrooms

To be really honest, this probably does not really pass for an Estonian national dish. It’s probably more typical of Russian kitchens. But buckwheat is quite a common ingredient in Estonia, as are mushrooms. And as it’s unlikely that any of you have come across something like this earlier (am I right?), and as it is introduced by an Estonian blogger, let's call it an Estonian dish:)

I had some mushrooms left over from the other day, and as I'm on a budget at the moment, I decided to use something that I already had in my cupboard for cooking and spotted a box of buckwheat flakes. A quick look into my Estonian language recipe site inspired me to combine these two in an oven pie. That’s what I had for supper last night and I enjoyed it. My Estonian friend Maarika popped by on her way home later and had 2 portions for dinner and approved heartily as well. It’s comfort food and not something you’d serve at a dinner party, neither does it lend itself for a romantic meal with your sweetheart (for the latter occasion, you may want to look for inspiration in this book). But as a lovely weeknight meal, it’s perfect.

It’s also suitable for vegetarians and those on gluten-free diet.

Buckwheat and mushroom oven pie
(Tatra-seenevorm)

You need either buckwheat or buckwheat porridge flakes (on the right) for this. I used the latter – these are pre-cooked buckwheat flakes that only take about a minute or two on the hob when you make breakfast porridge. Buckwheat is a lovely versatile grain – it has a slightly unusual nutty flavour, and it’s full of all kind of nutrients. While buckwheat flour is probably widely available across the world so you could make Japanese soba noodles or Russian blinis, it’s unlikely you find buckwheat grain or flakes in your regular supermarket if you live outside Eastern or Central Europe. It took me a while to source some in Edinburgh, but most health food and ethnic shops would probably stock it.

That’s what you do:
Prepare a buckwheat (or buckwheat flake) porridge using a mushroom stock (I used a mushroom stock cube).
Fry a chopped onion or two and chopped mushrooms gently in oil.
Mix the buckwheat porridge, mushrooms and onions and put the lot into a greased oven dish (NB! Can be made in small ramekins for individual portions).
Cover with a layer of sour cream/crème fraiche/thick plain yogurt.
Sprinkle some grated cheese on top.
Put into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the dish is lightly golden brown on top.


Garnish with a dill sprig or two and serve.