Sweetberry Honeysuckle or Blue-berry Honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea)

Do you recognise those oblong blueberry lookalikes? These are the ripe berries of Lonicera caerula or sweet honeysuckle aka blue-berry honeysuckle (depending on your country of residence, you may know them as le chèvrefeuille bleu, haskap berries (whose flavour is considered to be superior to other blue honeysuckles), honeyberry, marjasinikuusama, blåbärstry, Жимолость съедобная, Blaue Heckenkirsche/Blaue Doppelbeere or something else; söödav kuslapuu/sinine kuslapuu in Estonian). In general the honeysuckle berries are somewhat bitter and mildly poisonous, and it's just the fragrant flowers that are used for making cordial, sorbet etc, for instance (just look at all those posts on FoodBlogSearch). However, the berries of blue-berry or sweet honeysuckle are edible and that's what we've got growing in our garden:



Being one of the first berries to ripen in our Northern climate (just after rhubarb and before strawberries), the blue-berry honeysuckle is a useful source of vitamins and excellent berry flavour. As it's only a second year our honeysuckle bush carries any berries, there are not really enough for making jam or juice or ice cream. I served them on Midsummer eve, piling them on top of my all-time favourite cheesecake, throwing in a handful of wild strawberries as well (also from our own garden, of course).

Playing Russian roulette with Pimientos de Padrón or green Padrón chiles

I addition to all those lovely tomatoes, we've got a pretty good crop of Padrón peppers (Pimientos de Padrón) and various aubergines/eggplants from our greenhouse. Last weekend we met up with some friends and roasted some of the green chiles, then drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled sea salt flakes on top. It's a popular tapas-dish in Spain, and the added excitement is that while most of this green chillies are rather mild, then about one in ten is fiery hot (hence the nick-name "Russian roulette peppers").

When I first had these at Johanna's place couple of years ago, I didn't encounter a single hot one. Now we didn't have any mild ones - they were all oh-so-hot! Not such a roulette after all :D This can be explained by the timing - we visited Johanna in April (early in the season), and now ate our own crop in August (late in the season) - young and new Padrońs are generally mild, and 'old' ones hot.

Padrón Chillies are originally from Mexico, but are named after a town in Galicia, Spain, where they first started to cultivate these chillies in Europe.

Just a food photo: A perfectly ripe green tomato

Soolaoad, alias salty broad beans, Estonian style

Broad beans, Estonian style. Simple, humble, rustic. All you need is fresh broad beans (Vicia faba L, still in pods) - in season just now, some large dill sprigs, water and salt. A perfect late summer dish again..

Beans and peas have been two of the staple ingredients in Estonian peasant diet, and considered almost as important as our other staple, rye bread. Whereas rye bread was usually accompaning every meal, then pea and bean dishes were served on their own. Beans were considered especially nutritious, and in their fresh form were cooked and eaten in pods. That's my preferred way of eating fresh broad beans, too. Broad beans, by the way, formed an important part of European diet until the 17th century, when they was pushed aside by the more elegant green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L), newly introduced potatoes and corn. So consider this dish as 'back to your roots' style of eating...

For a much more elegant version for eating broad beans, see Haalo's WHB entry. To see the same dish pictured elsewhere (I'm talking about the rustic Estonian version), see a post over at Clivia's Cuisine in Sweden.

Salty broad beans, Estonian style
(Keedetud põldoakaunad, lihtsal moel)



fresh broad beans (pods)
water
coarse salt
dill sprigs
sour cream, for serving

Wash the pods (topping & tailing them, if you prefer) and place into a large saucepan of water. Add dill sprigs and about 3-4 Tbsp of salt into the water (alias a lot more than you think you need, as the salt needs to permeate the pods).
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the beans are tender.
Drain and serve either hot or cooled, sprinkling with extra salt, if you wish. You don't eat the pods (and you can also remove the skins of the beans, if you so wish, though that's not usually done in Estonia). The individual beans can be dipped into sour cream before eating.

WHB: This is also my entry to the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Katie of Thyme for Cooking. Click on the logo below for more information about this established foodblogging event, and here to read Katie's round-up (44 entries!!!).

Wild strawberries, 2007

Have you ever had wild strawberries*, also known as woodland strawberries? No? Well, imagine the best-tasting, ripe and just-picked strawberry you've ever had, just in a very concentrated form. That's how wild strawberries taste like - like summer heaven :)

In July 2006, K. and I ate wild strawberries to our heart's content; this year we were determined to do the same and even more. In the few hours before St John's bonfire we made a quick trip to our wild strawberry fields. After just about an hour and a half we had about 1 kilogram of tiny wild strawberries between us - not bad at all, considering that we covered a very small patch of land. There were just so many strawberries around.

And here's a tip to any future wild strawberry foragers: make sure to look inside larger bunches of grass and nettles - we found the 'hidden' strawberries to be considerably larger than the ones growing in sunny open spots (I guess constant sunshine - which we've got plenty during the summer - dries them out a bit).


When you look hard enough, you'll see lots of wild strawberries (click on the photo to enlarge).

* I must admit that I'm a bit confused about the relationship between wild and Alpine strawberries. However, based on this Finnish source, I suspect that Alpine strawberries are a semi-cultivated 'close cousins' of wild strawberries (Fragaria vesca L). They're sweet and tasty, but the flavour is somewhat more diluted; they're slightly bigger and more oblong than your average wild strawberrys (see Clotilde's picture here and compare the oblong berries with this round berry here). In Estonia they're known as kuumaasikad alias 'moon strawberries' (Fragaria vesca var. semperflorens, c.f. kuukausimansikka in Finnish, Monatserdbeere in German). Another difference is that whereas wild strawberries only bear fruit in June-July, then you can harvest Alpine strawberries in your garden until early Autumn (hence the English synonyms 'everbearing strawberry' and 'perpetual fruiting strawberry', Spanish 'fresal de las cuatro estaciones'). But, as I said, there's lots of confusion on this matter, so I still need to do some research into this..

By the way - wild strawberries are high in carbohydrates and contain fibre, minerals (iron, magnesium, calcium, among other things) and vitamins (B, C, E vitamins, pholic acid and carotene). So they're not only tasty, they're also very good for you. I've even read that wild strawberry face masks help to reduce lines, but as I so don't have to worry about that any time soon, I just keep eating them for their taste :)

Wild strawberries are best eaten as they are picked, but they also make a lovely jam. BUT - don't try to make a traditional boiled jam with wild strawberries. The tiny seeds outside the berry may turn any cooked jam bitter, and basically spoil it. Therefore wild strawberries are preserved in uncooked, 'raw' jam.

Wild strawberry jam
(Metsmaasika toormoos)



750 grams freshly picked wild strawberries
750 grams caster sugar

Pick through the strawberries to make sure there are no tiny bugs or ants among them. This is best done by pouring a cupful of strawberries onto a large plate covered with a clean (paper) towel, sorting through and then spooning the strawberries into a large bowl.

Add sugar (take equal quantity - in terms of weight - of sugar to berries) and then stir with a wooden spoon, squashing berries every now and then, for about 20-30 minutes, until sugar has dissolved.
Ladle into small sterilised jam jars and close them immediately.
As this is an uncooked jam, then keep in the fridge or in a very cold larder.

We got exactly 1 litre of wild strawberry jam or metsmaasikamoos - 5 small jars a´ 150 ml and 1 larger jar a´ 250 ml. One of these jars will be waiting for a certain foodblogger who will be visiting in August, the others we'll enjoy with our traditional Sunday pancakes..



WHB: This is also my entry to the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Kalyn herself.

Simplest is the best: fresh local asparagus, roasted with feta cheese

I had the most exiting discovery at the Tallinn Central Market (Keskturg) yesterday morning - fresh, local asparagus. Having got used to eating fresh and seasonal asparagus during late Spring/early Summer in Scotland, I was not inspired - not even a little bit - by the sad-looking Dutch specimens on offer here. As far as I was concerned, asparagus wasn't grown here in Estonian. Or let me refrase it - asparagus is widespread in Estonia, but as in asparagus fern you see in flower arrangements, and not as a vegetable. It was to my great delight then that I read from the May issue of Oma Maitse that one of the farms near Tallinn grows this delicate vegetable. The Uus-Kongo talu - that's how the farm is called - has a stand at the Central Market, so early yesterday morning I decided to pop over to check if the rumours are true. And they were!!! Just before 9am, there were only few 100gram bunches of asparagus left, as one keen asparagus lover had bought 4 kilos of precious spears at 8am! I was immensely happy about my purchase, as I hadn't thought you can get fresh & local asparagus in Estonia and eat it within 24 hours from picking. I was in asparagus heaven!

The asparagus season in Estonia - (who knew I'd ever get to use such a term!?) - only started last weekend, so there's 5-6 more weeks of asparagus eating ahead. Move over, rhubarb, I've got a new seasonal favourite!

PS Uus-Kongo talu lett asub Tallinna Keskturul, tagumisel turuplatsil. Lisaks müüvad nad linna parimat hapukapsast, samuti kõiksugu krõmpsuvaid salatilehti ja hõrke ürdipotte. Nende sparglit peaks hea õnne korral leidma ka Stockmanni kaubamajast. Aga hooaeg on lühike, nii et püüdke kindlasti lähinädalate jooksul jaole pääseda. Hetkel maksab sparglikilo 200 EEKi.



You don't want to mess around with such great produce - the simplest treatment is the best. A classic way to serve fresh green asparagus would be steamed with hollandaise sauce. But if you love feta cheese, then this is the dish for you. The recipe is from Epicurious, and has been approved by the Queen of Vegetables, Alanna. Although the original recipe scatters feta cheese on top after roasting the asparagus, then I followed Alanna's advice and added the cheese before that. Feta cheese melts into most fantastic gooeyness on top of those herby-tasting asparagus spears.

Roasted asparagus with feta cheese
(Röstitud spargel fetajuustuga)
Serves 2



300 grams of fresh asparagus
1 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
75 grams feta cheese, cubed or crumbled

Break off and discard the lower woody parts of asparagus spears. Place asparagus in a single layer in a small oven dish (no need to blanch them first, providing they are fresh and not too thick). Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in a 220 Celsius oven for 7 minutes.
Scatter feta cubes on top and return to the oven for another 3-7 minutes, until cheese has started to melt a little and asparagus has softened enough.

Other asparagus recipes @ Nami-nami:
Asparagus with pinenuts, lime and browned butter (May 2007)
Roasted green asparagus with Parmesan cheese (May 2006)
Wild asparagus with butter / Wild asparagus with pasta & garlic (May 2006)

Green asparagus recipes @ other foodblogs:
Alanna's asparagus eggs benedict and roasted asparagus with lemon
Bea's strawberry asparagus country tart
Elise's asparagus frittata and ham & asparagus quiche
Heidi's savoury asparagus bread pudding and asparagus & brown rice
Johanna's asparagus risotto and Asparagus with poached egg, pecorino and truffle oil
Kalyn's asparagus with basil pesto and roasted asparagus with garlic
Molly's asparagus flan and asparagus vinaigrette

A lot of rhubarb, straight from the farm

May 1st is a day off here, and as the situation in Tallinn had been a bit tense for a few days, we decided to head out of town. It was a beautifully sunny, but really windy and chilly day, so a long hike in nearby forests wasn't in the cards. We wanted something warmer and more convenient :) K. had promised to visit his friend Endel for ages, so we finally paid a visit to his farm about 40 km from the capital. The farm grows carrots (a lot of them, and really tasty ones as well), but they also had a greenhouse full of rhubarb on the farm.



I have never seen so much rhubarb in my life, so naturally I went a bit grazy and left the greenhouse with a huge bunch or fat rosy stalks. I've already made some delicious cinnamon rhubarb muffins, and a gutsy rhubarb crumble with almonds. Last night K. poached some rhubarb in verjuice and spices and served it with a syllabub. Tomorrow I'll be making some rhubarb & ginger jam.

I leave you with a few pictures of me misbehaving in the rhubarb greenhouse. The guy in the picture is Endel, the farmer. You can see the individual pictures on my Flickr page.

Rhubarb recipes @ Nami-nami:
A creamy rhubarb pie (June 2005)
Moominmamma's rhubarb jam with ginger (May 2007)
Moist rhubarb muffins (May 2007)
Rhubarb crumble (May 2007)

A heartfriendly warm buckwheat and mushroom salad

You're all familiar with rice, and many of you have used pearl barley, cous cous, bulghur wheat and quinoa in your kitchen. But what about buckwheat? Buckwheat flour makes an appearance in Japanese soba noodles, in French galettes de sarrasin, and in Russian blini pancakes. Yet I suspect that buckwheat groats are less common even amongst well-informed food bloggers. Yes, there is Clotilde with her recipe for Buckwheat Salad with Honey Spice Cake, and Gerda with a recipe for exotic Buckwheat Curry. But other than that, Elise's fabulous recipe search across foodblogs only yields recipes using buckwheat flour.

Yet buckwheat groats definitely deserve a place at your kitchen table, at least occasionally. They're unusual and different, hence interesting. Buckwheat is naturally gluten-free, the groats have a lovely nutty flavour and tender texture - and they're good to your vascular system. What's not to like!? Buckwheat porridge is widely known here in Estonia - either as a dish on its own, or as a side dish instead of potatoes or rice. To make things easier, you can even buy pre-cooked buckwheat flakes these days, which make a lovely breakfast porridge.

Here, however, is a main dish I came up with last week. I wasn't sure what to call it in the beginning. It's not a stew, as although it's moist, there's no liquid to hold the components together and warrant the name. It's not a buckwheat 'risotto', as there's no element of creaminess. So I decided to go with a 'warm salad'. I served it with thin, long slices of crunchy carrot, but some spicy salad leaves would make a good accompaniment, too.

A warm buckwheat and mushroom salad
(Soe tatra-seenesalat)
Serves 4



1 Tbsp canola oil
200 ml buckwheat groats
2 carrots, coarsely grated
1 onion, finely chopped
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp black pepper
500 ml water
a generous handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp canola oil
300 grams of mushrooms (a mixture of champignons, oyster mushrooms, chantarelles etc), coarsely chopped

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and add the buckwheat. Stir for a minute, until the groats are glistening with oil. Add the onion and carrots, reduce heat and fry gently for a few minutes, until onion has softened a little. Do not burn!
Season with salt and pepper, add the boiling water. Cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes, until the groats are al dente or tender, if you prefer.
Meanwhile, fry the chopped mushrooms in oil, until they're wilted and slightly browned.
Add the fried mushrooms to the buckwheat porridge, stir gently to combine. Sprinkle generously with parsley and serve.

Earlier @ Nami-nami:
Buckwheat and mushroom oven pie (September 2005)

WHB:
This is also my entry to the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Anh from Food Lover's Journey.

Fresh maple sap and pretty apples

No, it's not a picture of a glass of water and two random apples.

My mum's little brother Ants popped by on Tuesday night to discuss some business. I mention it here, because he brought us a large bag of perfect-looking apples from his farm in Paluküla (yep, the same place I go to look for honey-coloured cloudberries, tiny wild strawberries and enticing wild mushrooms). Some of the apples were promptly turned into tarte tatin, as we had some pastry left over after making red onion and feta tart, and we're still happily munching through the rest.

But even more exciting food gift was a large bottle of fresh maple sap my uncle had extracted from a maple tree in his farm. Although I tend to prefer birch sap over maple one, this was delicious and refreshing, and a sure reminder that spring has arrived. Just drink it instead of your usual glass of water or juice! In Estonian we indeed even call it 'vahtramahl' or 'maple juice'.

Note that it's not the same maple sap that is used for making maple syrup in Northern America. Only sugar maple (Acer saccharum) or black maple (Acer nigrum) produce suitably sweet sap for that purpose. The Estonian native maple tree is of the Norway maple (Acer platanoides) species, and although the sap is sweet (tastes like a mild sugar water we sometimes used to drink as kids), then it's not sweet enough for turning into a good-quality syrup.

Going green: a simple matcha loaf

The bright green Japanese matcha tea powder has been intriguing me for a while now. The slightly bitter taste had been haunting me since eating the Mont Fuji cake at Mariage Frères last May. The vivid green colour had captivated my visual tastebuds even earlier, when browsing Bea's and Keiko's blogs. I've now bookmarked numerous recipes using matcha. Last November I made dark chocolate & matcha truffles, but I've decided that more - many more - dishes incorporating matcha should be making an appearance in my kitchen. I'm thinking of making matcha panna cotta soon, as well as matcha ice cream. But to start things off, I made a simple green loaf during the weekend.

My green matcha loaf
(Rohelise tee keeks)
Serves 8



4 medium eggs
150 ml sugar
200 ml plain flour
1 Tbsp matcha tea powder*
a pinch of salt
150 g butter, melted and cooled

Whisk the eggs and sugar until you've got a thick, fluffy and light mixture.
Mix the flour with the matcha powder and a pinch of salt, sift into the egg mixture and fold gently until combined.
Finally fold in the cooled melted butter.
Pour into a greased 2-litre loaf tine.
Bake at 180 C for 30 minutes.
Cool and slice.

Lovely with a cup of afternoon tea.



* Note to myself: I think I'll increase 1.5-fold, maybe even double, the amount of matcha next time. The taste of matcha was really subtle this time, and I would like an even brighter colour. Also, I think adding cocoa nibs or shelled chopped pistachios would be a good idea. Raspberries for garnish possibly?

UPDATE 9.2.2007 - I made it again last night, adding about half a cup of finely chopped pistachio nuts. It tasted lovely, nuts adding a nice crumbly texture. To my great surprise, even a three-year old girl ate a whole slice, not minding the subtle bitterness of matcha at all.

UPDATE 12.2.2007 - K. made it last night, adding about half a cup of finely chopped almond slices. Again, it tasted wonderful, especially when cut in thick slices and served with home-made candied kumquats and some whipped cream.

Tasting notes: bortsch noodles?!

UK-based blogger Nathalie was recently intrigued about a Polish-Mexican Bistro in Mayfair, London, asking how multi-culti can you get. You must admit that Polish-Mexican fusion sounds, well, intriguing.

But what about this: bortsch flavoured instant noodles - barszcz czerwony - courtesy of my local Polish deli*:



Most interesting. Not comparable to the real (soup) thing, obviously, but as far as instant noodles go, it's no worse than the more common varieties.

Culinary multiculturalism rules?

*Bona Deli, 86 South Clerk Street, Edinburgh

Weekend herb blogging: coriander

Edinburgh, Southside, last week, early December 2005.
A view from my bedroom window circa 8am. Beautiful sunrise with a batch of overgrown rocket salad outside my window, that has bravely survived a few frosty nights.

I made a lovely Greek-inspired feta, rocket and tomato gratin a while ago.

Check out other weekend herb bloggers at Kalyn's Kitchen: Weekend Herb Blogging #10 Recap: Still Discovering New Herbs

Blue potatoes from Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes

Inspired by two fellow foodbloggers, I picked up a bag of blue potatoes at Edinburgh Farmers’ Market last Saturday. I remember my mum used to grow few plants of Congo Blue potatoes when I was younger, so I’m not totally new to these curiously coloured tubers. But after I saw the glorious pictures that Nicky & Oliver had posted on their delicious:days, and the spooky mash at Lex Culinaria, I couldn’t resist the urge to buy a bag of weirdly coloured potatoes myself.

Lucy & Anthony Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes specialise on pre-1950 potato varieties, and they sell 12 different heritage potatoes at their stall, including two blue potato varieties – Highland Burgundy (1936) and Salad Blue (early 1900s). I bought a bag of latter one and prepared 2 joyful dishes out of them.

One large potato ended up sliced and deep-fried in sunflower oil, sprinkled with Maldon sea salt and dipped into sour cream:


The rest the blue potatoes were first boiled (which, I'm embarrased to admit, was fun, as I really liked looking at the spotty peeled potatoes):


And then they were turned into a mash (with the help of my cute Spudnik), seasoned with Very Garlicky Company’s Mash Seasoning Mixture:


I served the blue mash with chopped cucumbers and spring onions:


I enjoyed eating this purple-blue mash – it had a lovely floury potato-ey taste, with the hint of garlic. I wasn’t the least bothered by the weird and unusual hue of the mash either.

I also imagine kids would enjoy eating this, so I’ll definitely make it again in a few years then:)

Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes
Tiptoe Farm
Northcumberland
www.heritage-potatoes.co.uk

A present from a northern neighbour

When I started blogging back in June, I knew only of one other foodblogger and Melissa of the beautiful Traveler’s Lunchbox also happens to be my fellow resident of Edinburgh. Over the last few months some other Edinburgh-based bloggers have been popping by – Anita (originally from Finland) of the Madness of Space Cat, Shauna (originally from Australia) of What’s Wrong Pussycat, 'everyday chef' of, well, everyday chef. And it looks there are other bloggers in Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland who read my blog. Thanks!

When I returned from Estonia in August, I met up with Anita for a chat and cuppa and gave her a bar of Fazer chocolate. Fazer is a really delicious Finnish chocolaterier – and as Anita, herself Finnish, hadn’t been at home for a while, she had asked me to bring something. (Fazer is widely available in Estonia, as is the Swedish Marabou. You’d probably have to search for Cadbury like a needle in a haystack).

Well, Anita did go to Finland in October and kindly asked me if there’s anything she can bring me from Finland. There are two food items that I always think of as related to Finland. One is the squishy-squeeky cheese juustoleipä/leipäjuusto, and the other are Karjalanpiirakkat or Karelian pasties (above). Both are widely available in Estonia as well. And though it is possible to make both of them – frying cottage cheese results (apparently) in leipäjuusto, and here is a recipe for Karelian pastries, but making the latter can be quite time consuming (I can personally say, after having baked them once. All worth it though..)

When I met Anita for a coffee last Thursday, she gave me six beauties that she had brought from Finland.

The traditional filling for Karelian pastries is cooked rice porridge, but my favourite is the potato mash stuffed kind (above), and I’m also partial to the carrot mash version. You pop them under a grill, heat them through and then cover with egg butter (well, egg, butter, salt and some parsley for instance).

And then you have these delicious and very filling pastries. They are very popular for breakfast in Finland, but I had them for dinner. And then again for breakfast. And then for lunch. Two each time:)

Kiitos, Anita! And good luck with the new job!

Fluff: or how to bribe a small child

Living abroad can be hard. My sister Merle has two gorgeous boys - a six-year old Tomi and 2-year old Ahti, and I truly miss not being around more and seeing them grow up. Whereas I have somehow secured a fixed place in the head and heart of the older boy (regular phone calls and gifts seem to do the trick as well as going out of my way trying to find something fun to do while he was in Edinburgh), getting re-acquainted with the younger one is usually a bit trickier. He's always a little shy of me in the beginning. And I also shouldn't take Tomi's attention for granted.

So what do you do to make sure they're relaxed and happy around you when you re-appear after a six-month absence? You bribe them. A bit like in action movies, when the intruder gives a biscuit or a juicy bone to the scary dog, who then forgets all about his supposed role as a house-protecting animal and lets the intruder sneak into the house..

Couple of months ago I spotted a big glass jar of something called FLUFF in the local Mexican-and-all-other-exotic-food-product-stocking-shop Lupe Pintos in Edinburgh. It's white and sticky, and it's basically a spreadable marshmallow. It also comes in rosy pink raspberry or pink strawberry flavoured version. I am not sure why I picked it up in the first place, as I don't really like marshmallows. Marshmallow cakes were very popular back home in 1980s, and I always found them sickly sweet. And I always have my hot chocolate with cream, but without marshmallows. But in any case I picked one up and brought home.

And forgot all about it. Until late June, when my family was visiting and my nephew Tomi, who is unfortunately quite a picky eater, refused to have his usual four-cereal porridge for breakfast one morning. As were had planned lots of walking around Edinburgh for that day, we were quite keen on him eating something, so I remembered the Fluff and offered him that on toast. It was an instant hit. Well, anything sweet and sticky would be with kids, I guess, wouldn't it? And to be honest, even I liked it, though in moderation. I gave the glass jar of white stuff for my sister when they were leaving.

And I was told just a few weeks later that it was finished. So day before going home in August I bought another 6 jars (!!!) of the vanilla-flavoured stuff from Lupe Pintos (I actually had to call few days before to make sure they have so many in stock and they kindly brought some from the warehouse). This time my family and friends did not get Scottish, or even British goodies from me (apart from my friend Anu, who had specifically asked for a jar of lemon curd). They got a jar of American stuff called Fluff. And it was a smart choice. Apart from my nephews, even some of my friends' kids can now say 'tädi Pille' or auntie Pille (like Mikk Hendrik on the right:). Quite an achievement, considering they only meet me once or twice a year:)

Thank you, Fluff, for securing my place in some kids' heart!

Above photo is from AmericanSweets.co.uk and you can read much more and all about Fluff here. Although I have a suspicious feeling that every other foodblogger has known about Fluff since they were wee kids. No?

Cooking Estonian: KAMA

What is kama?

Kama is one of the oldest dishes in Estonian kitchen. People either love it or hate it. Non-Estonians are usually extremely suspicious of it, at least if they're not from Eastern or Northern Europe. But it's popular amongst Estonians, especially in the summer.



So what is it? Basically it's a mixture of various roasted and ground grains that are usually just mixed with sour or curdled milk or kefir or such like. I used to translate it as a 'flour drink' when I was younger, which obviously didn't win it any more friends. The product packaging says: "Kama flour" healthy and natural product made of Estonian crops. A meal from kama flour will provide you with a healthier diet option. Kama flour is a product rich in fibres and minerals* and a valuable source of B group vitamins. Use kama flour with fermented milk products, it will double the healthy impact.'

Making kama
To make kama, one needs to boil the grains separately in a slightly salted water and then dry in the sun/dry place. The grains are then roasted in the oven, and then ground and mixed. The most common kama in Estonia is a mixture of peas, rye, barley and wheat. It's not unique to Estonia though - in Finland they have a similar product, called talkkuna or mutti, depending on the region. The Setus in South-East Estonia and the Finns of Häme region in Finland like oat kama, Karelians prefer barley kama. Finnish talkkuna is usually a mixture of roasted and ground barley or oat, with an occasional addition of peas.

Eating kama
The simplest - and most traditional - way of serving kama is mixing it with curdled or buttermilk. Depending on the amount of kama you end up with a 'külm kört' that can be drunk or with thicker 'kamakäkk' that can be formed into small balls and eaten with hands. If you don't like the idea of curdled milk, then you can mix kama flour with fresh milk and season it with salt and some sugar. Mixing kama flour with sour cream and seasoning with sugar results in another tasty option.

On the picture above I mixed some yogurt, sugar, fresh strawberries and kama in a blender, which resulted into a really yummy, refreshing and filling summer drink. I like the way you can taste something 'grainy' in the mixture. If left to stand for a while, the kama flour thickens considerably and the result is more suitable for eating with a spoon than drinking.
For a slightly modern and more 'internationally agreeable' version, I've mixed kama flour with mascarpone cheese, nuts, some cream liqueur (a la Bailey's) and sugar and rolled into small balls that you put into fridge for a while before serving. (Recipe here)

Kama flour can be used in baking and for making various desserts (I will surely blog about some desserts in the future). There's even a breakfast cereal - kamapallid or 'kama balls' in Estonia know made out of kama flour.

Kamatahvel or kama 'chocolate'

Source: AS Kalev
You can even find kama in 'chocolate' bars - and this product is unique to Estonia. Namely during the Soviet era in 1970s, the price of cocoa beans increased and these became almost unavailable in Soviet Union. The main confectionery factory in Estonia, Kalev, had a witty worker who tried replacing cocoa flour with kama flour. The result was obviously not a chocolate, but it was nevertheless delicious and became very popular in Estonia. I remember buying it as a school kid - it was a lot cheaper than some of the other chocolate bars available. In early 1990s the product was discontinued, as shop shelves in Estonia were flooded with Fazer chocolates from Finland, Marabou chocolates from Sweden and every other chocolate from around the world one can imagine. Capitalism was in full bloom and no-one thought that such a humble product as kama chocolate would have any commercial appeal. However, in 2001 the 'chocolate' was reintroduced. The wrapping paper looked exactly the same, apart from the disappearance of the word 'chocolate' (aargh, the joys of EU regulations;) - now it is marketed as kamatahvel. There was no advertisement campaign whatsoever. But the nostalgia can be a powerful marketing tool - and within months the newly introduced kamatahvel was one of the top-selling 'chocolates' in the market.

Interested?
If you're curious to try kama, then drop me a line - I'm happy to send you some. Kama is sold in 400 g packets. I can also send you some kama 'chocolate'. I'm a patriotic blogger, you see:)

* Just FYI: nutritional values for the most common kama flour sold in Estonia (produced by AS Cibus) per 100 grams:
Energy 341 kcal, Proteins 15.6 g, Carbs 63.6 grams (of which sugars 1.0 gram), Fats 2.7 grams (of which saturated fatty acids are 0.4 grams), Fibres 14.1 grams, Sodium 0.04 grams, Vitamin B1 - 0.51 mg, Niacin 3.0 mg, Pantothen acid 1.5 mg, Phosphorus 340 mg, Magnesium 115 mg, Iron 8 mg

Update: 22.3.2006 - Manne of Tummyrumble took up my offer and has written about what he thinks of the kamatahvel here.

Flowering tea

I was re-flipping through the pages of May 2005 issue of delicious. the other day when I spotted a short story ‘Green brews’ in the foodie file. section. The piece says: ‘You’ve got to be as mad as a hatter if you replace your builder’s for the pricey Anhui Jin Shang Tian Hua tea. The green tea leaves are steamed to make them supple, then hand-stiched into straw sunhats with a pod at the top containing dried chrysanthemums. The second infusion is better than the first as it’s more subtle. £47.50 for 125g, from Fortnum & Mason.’ Ouch. My dear friend Ryoko was teaching Japanese language to Chinese university students for the last two years, and has just brought me a lovely box of that very tea as a present after returning to Edinburgh:
I know that it was cheaper in China, but I’m nevertheless not sure if I dare to drink it just like this any more :) But it is stunning to look at when the tea leaves and the flower bud open in a teapot, and it tastes like a good jasmine tea does.

(Sorry, my only see-through tea pot is an ancient Bodum with a red plastic lid and is totally unsuitable for public showing. I’ve chosen the replacement (staying with sleek Danish design, it’s going to be an Eva Solo tea maker), but now need to wait for a flight connection at Kastrup airport in Copenhagen in order to buy it duty free…)

A Really Garlicky Week

My family left for Estonia yesterday after a very nice week in Edinburgh, and today is my first day in the office after a long-long break. That also means that I can finally write my first proper foodblog-like entry. As I still haven't made up my mind which digital camera to buy, there won't be any photos this time. But soon, I promise.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, my parents arrived with bags full of Estonian food. I don't mind, as I do miss Estonian food occasionally, so I enjoyed the breakfasts consisting of rye bread, cheese, salami, and yogurt from home. I also have loads of chocolates and sweets still to eat - oh so yummy, though 'a moment on your lips/lifetime on your hips' mantra suddently pops to my mind as well..

I had the pleasure of cooking quite a lot on my family's request. Some were their old favourites (my take on the Greek feta-spinach pie is always popular, for instance - my mum had even brought along some fresh spinach from her garden!), some were new to them (I made my first ever Eton Mess for my 5-year-old nephew's great joy, and my family also quite enjoyed the Penne alla (Estonian) Vodka from Nigella's Feast). We also had few nice meals out - lunch at the newly re-opened Pancho Villa's and post-graduation dinner at my lovely local Turkish restaurant Hanedan were especially nice. My mum was slightly disappointed that I didn't bake lots of cakes, but it was unusually hot in Edinburgh last week, so I didn't feel like baking a lot and instead we spent lots of time walking around and slothing in various parks..

But the week in general can indeed be described as really garlicky. Just over a week ago I found myselt wandering along the aisles at the Farmers Market in Edinburgh again, looking for something nice to buy to cook for my family. I stopped at the Nairn-based Really Garlicky Company's stall to get some of their nice cream cheese, when I was asked if I'd like to participate in their market research. Why not - as a sociologist, I understand the need for good market research:) and as a just-recently-a-student, I can't refuse a free foodie/goodie bag. So I signed up and was delivered a box full of their products last Tuesday. I tried and tested the products - a tub of cream cheese, a tub of aioli, a tub of garlic butter, a box of mash seasoning, a box of garlicky rub, a loaf of garlic bread, box of garlic scapes and some frozen chopped garlic - with my family on several occasions. The garlic mash was delicious, and my father almost single-handedly finished the aioli. But our clear favourites were the garlic scapes. Described on the packet as "carefully hand picked garlic shoots from the highlands of scotland", these were really yummy - long, twisted, green, roundish (you can see them under the "Shop" link on the company's website). Maybe just slightly too pungent when nibbled raw, they nevertheless made a tasty sandwich filling when mixed with tuna and mayonnaise. I used them as a base for some creamy garlicky gravy (my dad refuses to eat anything without gravy, so I always have to make some, whether the dish actually requires one or not). And they were simply divine added to the huge wok full of chicken-broccoli-green bean stir-fry with orange-soy sauce I made to my family. Soft and crisp at once, with a delightfully subtle garlic flavour and aroma. I'll definitely be buying these scapes again next week. Or maybe not. Seems that our Farmers Market is cancelled this Saturday because of the G8 meeting in Scotland. Oh well, I'll guess I have to wait until next week then. But then they're worth it..