As you might know, sprats are small oily fish, similar to sardines, and delicious. They are very popular here and can be found in many dishes. The sprats are served in various ways. If you want to buy them, no problem. All local food stores have them, and they come in many forms – smoked, canned, or pickled in a spicy brine. The vürtsikilu suupiste is a dish consisting of a sandwich and served commonly with strong liquors; it reminds us of tapas, and you can get it with vodka of Estonian origin.

In Europe, every country has its version of potato salad. Estonia is no exception. And as it goes, each country has its twist. In Estonia, the potato salad is prepared first by chopping boiled potatoes and carrots into bitesize pieces. You add a grated boiled egg, cubed cucumbers, and smoked sausage. Then sour cream and mayonnaise sauce brings the ingredients together. Canned peas are also commonly added. For a dash of sweetness, the final component is a sliced apple.

Blood Dumpling Verikäkk (Blood Dumpling)

Estonian blood dumplings can be found in shops during Christmas fairs, accompanied by sauerkraut (”hapukapsas”).

The dumplings go with pickles, sour cream, and cranberry jam.

Sült (Meat Jelly)

Popular around Europe and usually done at home. It is prepared by boiling down animal bones, then leaving the mixture to cool until natural gelatin forms and thickens the broth. Aromatics, chunks of meat, and slices of vegetables are added to the broth. It’s then left to cool, and it slowly starts to form a jelly. It is served during Christmas or Easter.

We put this dish on the list because we love cauliflower and cheese. It is very filling and extremely creamy.
And again, easy to make. You make it by boiling cauliflower until tender. The sauce is made by mixing a small amount of flour with milk and grated cheese. You generously cover the cauliflower in layers of the delicious cheese sauce and enjoy the cheese’s heaviness.

You will come across makklihakotlet everywhere in Estonia. And you can prepare it yourself as well.

It’s pretty simple. Mix equal amounts of beef, pork, and sometimes veal with eggs, breadcrumbs, chopped onions, and water, then fry in a pan.

Semla is a traditional sweet roll popular in the Scandinavian region. The bun is spiced with cardamon, the top is cut off, and the inside is hollowed out. Then it is filled with sweetened whipped cream, and the cut-off top is powdered with sugar. You can also find it in Finland, known as ”laskiaispulla” and ”fastelavnsbolle” in Denmark.

Kama is a dessert with a flour mixture of roasted rye, oat, pea, and barley flour. It’s traditional to Russian cuisine – ”толокно”, and Finnish cuisine – ”talkkuna”.

Many eat it for breakfast or as a snack accompanied by milk. Sometimes whipped cream is added.

The spotted dog is a dessert made of cookies, cacao powder, and marmalade with an additional hint of rum. It is a big brown chunk of biscuit dotted with colorful bits.

The Kalev chocolate factory produces this dessert as a snack bar and a mini version of it as candy. You can find it in every grocery store in Estonia.