Kissel aka Cranberry Fruit Soup

Kissel ('kissell' in Estonian) is a sweet soup (dessert soup or fruit soup, however you call it) popular in these parts of the world. A thinner kissel (my mum makes an excellent rhubarb one - rabarbrikissell - for instance) can be drunk straight from a cup as sweet injection. A thicker kissel is served alongside many puddings - and as I'm planning to tell you about a very special Estonian pudding in a few days, I'm going to tell you about kissel first. Note, however, that it's not the first time a kissel appears here on Nami-nami, oh no. Last September I told you about a curd cheese and apple souffle, which was also served in a bright puddle of fruit soup, too.

I like my kissel a bit on the sour side, so I tend to use redcurrant juice, cranberries, rhubarb or lingonberries as a starting base. I found some local cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccus, which are tiny compared to the huge US cranberries, Vaccinium macrocarpon - see photo here) in a freezer (picked by ourselves, of course), and used these. The resulting kissel had a perfect balance of acidic and sweet, plus a beautiful, beautiful colour..



Cranberry Fruit Soup
(Jõhvikakissell)
Makes 1,5 litres

500 ml (2 cups) cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1.5 Litres of water
300 ml (1¼ cups) caster sugar
100 ml potato starch
100 ml cold water

Bring water into boil in a large saucepan, add cranberries and cook for about 5 minutes, until the berries are softened.
Drain(keep the juice!), pressing the cooked cranberries through the sieve. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
Add sugar, simmer for 5 minutes.
Mix the potato starch* with cold water. Take the saucepan off the heat and pour the starch mixture in a thin stream into the cranberry juice, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
Place the saucepan back to the hob and heat gently, until the first bubbles appear.
Remove from the heat, and pour immediately into small bowls or a jug. Sprinkle some caster sugar on top (this keeps the 'skin' from forming).
Cool before serving.

* You can also use Maizena/cornflour, but it won't give you as clear kissel. Also, if using cornflour, remember you must cook the kissel for a few minutes to start thickening.


Cranberry kissel with curd cheese. All three photos by K.

Light and delicious pears poached in ginger syrup

An Estonian blog friend of mine recenly asked me for light dessert recommendations, and I instantly suggested these ginger-infused pears. You see, one of my Christmas hits was pears poached in mulled wine (you can see a photo here, which were inspired by a similar dessert I learnt to make during my internship at Restaurant Stenhus, photo here), and although I've never really liked poached fruit much before, I enjoyed these a lot. I think I made them thrice in December. But we've had too many Christmassy flavours going on the table recently, plus I knew she had tried these already :)

So I suggested these ginger infused pears instead. Ginger - an ingredient that gingerly sneaked into my kitchen cupboard only few years ago - is playing a star role in this dessert. Easy to make, easy to serve, easy to eat and easy to like.

I used Comice pears, as these have the prettiest shape for poaching, I think. But you can use any good sized and firm pear.

Pears poached in ginger syrup
(Hõrgud ingveripirnid)
Serves 4, can be easily doubled


Photo by K.

4 hard pears, stems intact
a thumb-sized piece of root ginger
500 ml (2 cups) of water
250 grams sugar (or less, if you prefer)

Take a small saucepan large enough to just fit the pears. Measure out the water and sugar, and stir the sugar into the water until dissolved.
Peel the ginger and cut into thin slices, add to the saucepan.
Peel the pears, leaving the stems intact. Cut off a small slice from the base of the pears, so they would stand upright.
Place the pears into the saucepan - the liquid should just cover them.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently on a low heat for about an hour, until the pears are soft (test for doneness with a small sharp knife).
Remove from the heat and leave the pears to cool in the ginger syrup*.
Serve with softly whipped cream, softened curd cheese (on the photo) or melting vanilla ice cream.

* You can reduce the syrup and serve with ice cream, pancakes or ginger cake.

More poached pears? Try these:
Poached pears with maple syrup (The Perfect Pantry)
Pears Poached in Saffron Vanilla Bean Syrup (Figs with Bri)
Poached pears with spiced granitè and honey (Sweet Pleasure/Plaisir sucré)
Poached pears with cinnamon, vanilla and lemon and Red Wine Poached Pears (Cook (almost) Anything)
Chai-Poached Pears (Fresh Approach Cooking)
Poached Pears in Raspberry Sauce (FatFree Vegan Kitchen)
Ginger & Cardamom Poached Pears (Gluten-Free Bay)
Wine-Poached Pears with Juniper (Cooking with the Single Guy)
Pears Poached in Spiced Wine (Morsels and Musings)
Poached Pears with maple syrup and candied ginger (Cooking with Amy)
Poached Pears with Poached Spiced Figs (The Wednesday Chef)
Poached Pears with Sticky Vanilla-Orange Cream (Lex Culinaria)
Wine-Poached Pears (use real butter)

Hõbelusikas - Silverspoon: Estonian Gastronomy Awards 2007

Me (on the left:) and the winner of the Chef of the Year Award, Tõnis Siigur from Restaurant Stenhus, Tallinn at the Estonian Gastronomy Awards ceremony yesterday. Photo by K.

Just like last year, I had a chance to attend the Silver Spoon 2007 Gala Dinner last night. The Estonian Gastronomy Awards were handed over at the ceremony attended by many of the food-loving bold and beautiful in Estonia, including me and my dear K :) There were small ballet dancers, singing by Chalice, lots of good food, and plenty of food-related chatting, of course.

The festive dinner menu was created by the winner of the Chef of the Year award of 2006, Dimitri Demjanov, the grand old man of Estonian haute cuisine, and it was full of surprising local ingredients like Baltic herring, my beloved kama, sea-buckthorn, black pudding/blood sausage, to name just a few. I'll reprint the menu with my musings below, but first, the award winners.

There are ten categories at the Estonian Gastronomy Awards, and I list them in no particular order:

Estonian Gastronomy Awards, 2007

BEST GOURMET RESTAURANT
Bonaparte, Tallinn - nominee
Stenhus, Tallinn - winner
Ö, Tallinn - nominee

BEST RESTAURANT
Vertigo, Tallinn - nominee
Vinoteque In Studio Vinum, Tallinn - winner
Karl Friedrich, Tallinn - nominee

BEST CAFE
Cafe Truffe, Tartu - nominee
Lounge UpUp, Tallinn - winner
Cést La Vie, Tallinn - nominee

BEST PUB
Restaurant-Brewery Beer House, Tallinn - nominee
Suure Tõllu Körts, Saaremaa - winner
Altja Kõrts, Lahemaa - nominee

BEST CHEF
Tõnis Siigur, Restaurant Stenhus, Tallinn

BEST WINE & FOOD MATCHING
Vinoteque-Restaurant In Studio Vinum, Tallinn

FAMILY RESTAURANT
Suure Töllu Körts, Saaremaa

BEST BEER SERVICE
Restaurant-Brewery Beer House, Tallinn

MOST REPRESENTATIVE RESTAURANT OF MODERN TALLINN
Restaurant Ö

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Restaurant Tchaikovsky, Tallinn

Now. First let me tell you that I'm extremely pleased that Tõnis Siigur, the young and talented chef of Restaurant Stenhus in Tallinn won the Chef of the Year award. You see, I love his restaurant, and more importantly, I also had a chance to work in his restaurant for 10 full days in December (what? you mean I've still not told you about the Cookery Diploma I successfully did last autumn and which included an 80-hour internship in a restaurant? Well, I did, and I did my internship at the best gourmet restaurant in Tallinn, and Tõnis Siigur taught me a lot. The fact that I ended up sitting next to him at the ceremony was pure coincidence, however:)

Stenhus won the best gourmet restaurant award for the fourth time, and if that's not a sign of quality, I don't know what is :) But K. and I also had a wonderful meal at Restaurant Ö just recently, and I would have been happy for either one to win. I'm a bit unsure about the café category, however, as none of my current favourite cafés (Chocolats de Pierre, Anneli Viik Chocolate Café, Café´Park) made it to the shortlist. Next year, hopefully. K. and I are really not pub persons, so neither one of us has personal preferences for the best pub, but apparently the winner of the category - the Tavern Suur Töll on the island of Saaremaa - serves excellent home-made pub snacks (while also being the most family friendly establishment!!), so we'll make sure to check the place out this summer.

And now to the menu:



Dimitri Demjanov is known for his respect for local, traditional ingredients and dishes, and this was clearly evident in the menu. Whereas I didn't think that all dishes worked so well (sea-buckthorn coulis was way too sweet to do any justice to the excellent berry), there were some real inventive and delightful gems. The creamy black pudding soup was both delicious and intriguing; the pork lard with herbs and goat cheese butter accompanying the breads were definitely different; the decision to serve caraway infusion as an alternative to coffee with petit fours was brave, but justified, and chosen by many. K. and I were unsure about the food and alcohol pairings - there was beer, mead, vodka, sherry, calvados, champagne and white wine, and although I only took a sip of each, I could feel it this morning :)

Silver Spoon Gala Dinner 25.1.2008
Hortes Palm Hall, Tallinn

Dimitri Demjanov
Cuisiner

Amuse bouche: Traditional Setu pie and mead drink

Citrus marinated Baltic herring with capers, almond potatoes and frisee salad

Creamy black pudding soup with apple and cinnamon wafer

Gooseberry sorbet with caraway seed liquour and Veuve Cliquot champagne

Suckling pig belly confit with sauerkraut and pearl barley

Fruitcake slice with goat cheese mousse and blackberry confiture

Kama parfait with sea-buckthorn coulis and spun sugar

Coffee or chamomile-caraway infusion

Petit fours
***

It was a great and enjoyable night, and we'll be looking forward to the 2008 awards next January. Tõnis Siigur will be in charge of the menu, you see, and knowing what he's capable of, the meal is worth waiting for :)