Estonia 2 - Pigs in Trolleys & Lust!

Yes, that first pic is what I saw as I was trawling through the market in Tallinn. It totally cracked me up. I had to be careful, though, I realised after about my third photo, that the locals weren't so happy about having their and their stalls' picture taken. They looked very suspiciously at me.

This market wasn't on any of the tourist info, I stumbled on it by accident during my hour wait for my train to Nomme. You'll find this place, which actually has no official name, right next to the Tallinn train station, just across the tracks...I simply followed old, old women with their shopping bags, and found it. It's a market of all sorts, from fruit and veg, meat, pickles, old Soviet paraphernalia, and you can even get your headstone here! It is definitely worth a look, and hardly any tourists are found (which is always a bonus!).

As for the rest of Estonian food, well, it's a bit wacky. My experience is that they do wonderful pastry, which you can see from the pics above, there's the local specialty, Plaadikook, which I ate at a cute place called Chocolats de Pierre tucked away in a side alley in the Old City (pics 8 & 9). This cake is divine...it's essentially made from curd cheese and jam (whichever jam is in season) and has nuts sprinkled on top...it is HEAVENLY stuff, especially on a cold afternoon with hot chocolate!

Other pastries you see there are a simple cake and of course the Tallinn "berliner" (German word for donut) which I had at the beautiful cafe at Kardriorg Park (pic 12 & 13). Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. The old cafes are quaint and romantic, and the coffee's not bad either.

I was also fortunate to have a little social gathering in the Tallinn version of the medieval restaurant, Olde Hansa, which is in the Old City, and like the one I ate at in Stockholm, only serves food from ingredients, recipes, and techniques of medieval times. I went with some of the people on our city tour. After a warming Hot Welcome Drink, that pretty much had me plastered in a few minutes, it was a hearty serving of sublime Wild Mushroom Soup...oh myyyyyyyy...followed by the even more amazing Rose Pudding (second last pic). That pudding was heaven. It was like a thick creamy cheesy yoghurt with an intense rose flavour...it's like nothing I've ever had before. I was intoxicated by it all...so romantic and gutsy and well...lusty is the word!

I'm not sure they have a great grip on modern dining just yet though. I saw some taste-bud turning dishes on menus, and my experience at a very smart restaurant in the Rotermann Quarter felt almost schizophrenic - the restaurant didn't seem to know if it was French, Italian, Swedish, or even Estonian, the menu was all over the place, and the food was well...confusing! I had the most wonderful Carpaccio, that was so perfect in the silkiness of the thinly sliced raw beef and the beautiful Grana Padano shaved on top... unfortunately, it was the crunchy chunks of rock salt thrown all over it that didn't really work for me! This confusion seemed to be reflected in other menus I looked at. Having said that, my biggest surprise was the Pickled Beetroot Salad I had for dinner late one night at my hotel - oh my goodness...I couldn't believe they pulled that out of the hat - wonderfully thin slices of pickled beetroot with creamy goats cheese, wild mushrooms and crispy lettuce...a thing of beauty! I honestly didn't expect it to be good, so I didn't even have my camera on me - that'll teach me to make assumptions!

But, when it's all said and done, sportsfans, I only scratched the surface with the food...when I go back, I think Tallinn deserves a lot more time spent exploring the wacky and lusty gourmet wonders of this beautiful city.