Berries and the blue sky

I’m Juta, from a tiny Northern European country called Estonia. It is a country of four beautiful seasons, more than a thousand lakes, more than thousand five hundred islands and endless forests.
I just arrived back form a one year round the world journey with my family. It was a year of amazing food experiences in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Japan (you can see a bit of this trip in teeekond.blogspot.com, sorry, it´s in estonian). As I tasted more and more of those wonderful dishes of the world, I started to think more and more about the cuisine of Estonia. I love my food! If someone talks about the traditional Estonian food, then usually four dishes are mentioned – blood sausages, sauerkraut, meat jelly and kama. Which all can be really tasty, but this is not what we are eating in Estonia every day. People eat blood sausage usually once a year, during Christmas. Argentineans eat blood sausage every week during their traditional parillada, but they´re famous for their beef, not the sausage. So, that is what this blog is about – sharing with you all the wonderful things, what we estonians eat. Our forests are so rich in berries – raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries, the same is in our gardens – black, red and white currants, gooseberries, more strawberries and raspberries and all the fruits – cherries, plums in so many colours, a myriad of apples and pears. I confess that I cannot live without our two dairy products – thick sour cream and our special curd cheese. The forests are full of mushrooms, chanterelles and ceps being my personal favourites. And, you cannot forget the fragrant black bread and tasty herring. The thing is, that I could go on forever and that´s why I decided to write this blog! I hope you´ll enjoy it!

Reisided aasta aega mööda maailma ja maitstes põnevaid roogasid erinevates riikides, hakkasin aina rohkem mõtlema Eesti toidu peale. Mulle ei meeldi, et meid teatakse, kui pelgalt verivorsti ja kaerakileriiki. Meil on nii palju võrratult maitsvat toorainet ja suurepäraseid roogasid, mis peaksid olema Eesti toidu esirinnas - maasikad, vaarikad, jõhvikad, mustikad, pohlad, ploomid, õunad, kirsid, pirnid, rabarberid, must leib, heeringas, kilu, või, kohupiim, hapukoor, kukeseened, puravikud, sealiha, kartul jne jne. Ja kõige selle hea ülistamiseks sündiski käesolev blogi. Kirjutan peamiselt inglise keeles, et ka muu maailm saaks teada, mida head meil siin pakkuda on. Aga püüan iga postituse ka eesti keeles kokku võtta. Esimesteks postitusteks on parimad Eesti köögi nopped minu eestikeelsest blogist What a Wonderful World, aga peagi hakkan lisama ka täiesti uusi kodumaiseid maitseid. Jätku leiba!