Basic HTML Version
102
TRAVELLER
For example, the recently opened
Korean restaurant Gotsu (
facebook.
com/gotsu
) creates dishes such as
kilu
kimbap
, an authentic Korean rice roll
with locally sourced sprats (a less salty,
more aromatic version of anchovies).
Or there’s Heidi Park, an American
Korean who opened a bakery café of
the same name (
kondiiter.ee
) that’s
become famous for its fusion cakes,
combining American recipes with
Estonian ingredients, such as coffee
cake with
VanaTallinn
(a sweet
liqueur iconic in Estonia). “The future
for Estonian cuisine is to showcase
local ingredients and fuse themwith
international cuisine,” says Park.
And ingredients don’t get more
local than
kama
. This flour made from
roasted barley, wheat and rye, that
resembles oatmeal is prettymuch
a national food in Estonia. Under
Communism, it was sometimes used
as substitute for chocolate, as cocoa
beans were very limited, andmany
people of a certain age have fond
childhoodmemories of delicious, nutty
kama bonbons.
Today, though kama flour is being re-
appropriated by some of the city’s finest
restaurants. For example, the restaurant
Neh (
neh.ee
), which focuses on using
ingredients fromNordic islands, has
elevated the humble flour to fine-dining
status, with its
kamavaht
mousse with
blueberry jamand hazelnut.
Not only is this a suitable nostalgia
trip, but it’s also a great example of
NewNordic philosophy – taking a
lowly indigenous product (like the
turnips or seaweed at Noma) and
turning it into something very special.
But nowhere is this sentiment better
expressed than at Leib Resto ja Aed
(
leibresto.ee
). Leib (which translates
as bread in Estonian) has taken that
old Communist staple – the lowly
loaf – and based a good portion of its
delicious-soundingmenu around it:
from long-fermented rye sourdough to
black-bread soup with sour-cream ice
creamand, even, crème brûlée with
black bread.
“Five years ago, chefs were
discoveringmolecular gastronomy –
nowwe are turning back to our roots,”
concludes Kristjan Peäske , Leib’s
co-owner. “Only this time, nowwe
know how tomake themost out of
what nature has to offer.”
Five years ago, chefswere discoveringmolecular gastronomy – now
we are turning back to our roots”
Clockwise fromabove,
a stallholder at Tallinn’s
Jaama Turgmarket by the
railway station inKalajaja;
market; the rustic-yet-
modern interior of Leib;
Igor Andrejev, and Jana
and Roman Zastserinski
ofMoon; Estonian food
blogger Pille Petersoo
TALLINN
PHOTO OF PILLE PETERSOO BY LAURI LAAN