Estonian food

My Mum, being Estonian, likes to eat strange things. And the rest of our family all like it too. We eat seafood on Christmas day, but on days surrounding Christmas we eat this -





These things aren't exclusively Estonian. They are popular in many European countries.

Starting with the pink stuff - Rosolje (Estonian name) - Russian beetroot and potato salad, containing herring, pickle, egg and probably other things I'm not aware of.

The green thing - Pickled cucumber. Easy to buy here, but hard to get the ones Mum likes. She likes pickles in brine, not vinegar.

Next going clockwise - Sauerkraut

Salami Sticks

Jarlsberg cheese

And most importantly - the fish - anchovy. This is NOTHING like the anchovies you put on pizza. These are pickled whole herrings, and are best eaten by holding by the tail and tilting your head back, as demonstrated below by my brother. Eat the whole thing, head, guts and tail.

Yum. And the jar you can see at the bottom. We used to buy these easily in supermarkets in Brisbane, but now they are hardly to be seen. I have to get them from Cyril's Fine Foods in Haymarket. Cyril has all the good stuff. Including pickles in brine.