Month: March 2019

Goutweed Salad with Cottage Cheese. Kodujuustu-naadisalat

naadisalat1(15) Today, 70 years ago, was for 20 000 Estonians and their families very sad day.
On 25 March 1949,  29,379 people, mostly women and children, were deported from Estonia to Siberia.

8 years before, on 14 June 1941, 10,000 people were deported from Estonia.

What was their guilt?  The deportations targeted various categories of anti-Soviet elements and “enemies of the people”: the members of the former governments, higher state officials and judges, higher military personnel, former politicians, members of voluntary state defence organisations, members of student organisations, persons having actively participated in anti-Soviet armed combat, Russian émigrés, security police officers and police officers, representatives of foreign companies and in general all people having contacts abroad, entrepreneurs and bankers, clergymen and members of the Red Cross, kulaks,  Approximately 23% of the population belonged in these categories. Entire families, including children and the elderly, were deported without trial or prior announcement. Of March 1949 deportees, over 70% of people were women and children under the age of 16.
Because of cold, starvation and hard work, a great many of the deportees died. Less than half of the deportees ever returned to their homeland

Let’s remember all these people.

Today, for us eating weed, vegetarianism and everything from nature is cool. At that time, it was a matter of survival. I hope and believe that history never repeats. But knowledge about edible plants is still valuable.

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Rye Cream. Rukkijahuvaht

rukkijahuvaht-3If Rye Cream seems to you too exotic, cook Semolina Cream. look at recipe 

My Grandmother called Semolina Mousse as ” Wind Porridge”. Because it is “fills” but does not feed:) Rye has a little bit bitter, specific caramel taste. I love this more than wheat semolina.

Light and fluffy dessert is perfect with cold milk

 

Did you know?

The world’s oldest rye variety still cultivated is Sangaste rye. The robust yielding, long straw and frost-resistant variety were developed in 1875 by Count Friedrich Georg Magnus von Berg, the German-Baltic owner of Sangaste manor in Estonia. Years later, the same variety was developed into Kodiak rye in Canada and used to make Canadian Gold whisky.

 

 

 

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Thick Potatoes. Paksud kartulid

pakskartul (7)Very nutritious vegetable dish. Combine different vegetables for a different result.

And add more colour by adding more carrots or turnip or celery.

Serve with a side dish with meat or fish. Or as vegetable porridge.
Serve with sour cream or butter. And drink some sour milk, as Estonians usually do 🙂

 

Did you know?
Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3, the bacteria discovered in 1995 by the University of Tartu research teams, led by professors Marika Mikelsaar and Mihkel Zilmer, are unique in the world because of their combination of antimicrobial and antioxidative effects. They protect human health by attacking harmful microbes and contributing to physical well-being. The ME-3 can rightfully be called the first Estonian probiotic lactic acid bacteria and the EU patent permits it to be used in the food industry in 15 European countries. Continue reading “Thick Potatoes. Paksud kartulid” →

Yeast Free Hand Pies with Cowberry and Cheese filling. Pärmivabad pohla- juustupirukad

This recipe is suitable for all people who do not like or have not time or skills to use and prepare yeast dough.

Very easy to prepare.

I used sweet filling and combined cowberries, nuts and cheese. I love savoury-sweet and sour combination. Nuts give texture and crustiness.
You are free to change it, of course. I would suggest for example carrot filling. Find the recipe from my blog.pohlajuustupirukas (9)

Did you know
The coldest months in Estonia are January and February, where temperatures can drop down to -35C. The coldest temperature ever measured in Estonia is -43.5C, recorded in eastern Estonia on 17 January 1940.

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Semolina and Quark Cake. Manna-kohupiimakook naistepäevaks

manna kohupiima (3)

Happy Woman’s Day !!
Did you know: Estonia has considerably more women than men – for every 100 females, there are 84 men; only the Northern Mariana Islands have a smaller percentage of men.

This cake is my husband signature cake. This time he added cashews. Nuts made this cake even better: added structure and crispness. But you can make them as original, without nuts.

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Broadbean and Tomato Stew. Oa- ja tomatihautis vastlapäevaks

oatomatihautis (3)

Vastlapäev, known as Shrove Tuesday in much of the English-speaking world, the Estonians celebrate this day a little differently.

Instead of pancakes, we eat split pea soup and the delicious Vastlakukkel cream cake.
Traditionally children will sled down any available hill of snow, to get “long linens”.  And not only children. Tomorrow, after the meeting I am going with my colleges to sled, as well.
And later we have pea soup and Vastlakukkel!
Today, of course, nobody cares about linen, this is just for fun:)

The name Vastlapaev is taken from the German word “fasten” (to fast). And after Vastlapäev started fast, because meat ran out.

This year I did broad beans stew.

I used fresh broad beans. in case you are going to use dried, let them swell overnight
To add more colors add a different color of tomatoes and peppers or zucchini

Did you know?
The longest ice road – conditions permitting – in Europe is the Rohuküla-Heltermaa ice road with a length of 26.5 kilometers (16 miles), stretching for across a frozen expanse of the Baltic Sea. The road links Estonia’s mainland port of Rohuküla on the continent with Hiiumaa island. The longest known ice road originating from Estonia was located between Saaremaa island and Lübeck (a city in Germany) in 1323.
Continue reading “Broadbean and Tomato Stew. Oa- ja tomatihautis vastlapäevaks” →