The Abe Forum

I just got an AMAZING inspiration!!

spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2024 10:26 pm It is such a fun idea creating feasts from different countries to taste things you've never tasted before! At one time I dreamt of going through the alphabet, making a dish from every country, letter by letter. I started with Afghanistan but didn't get very far before some other project distracted me . I really like the idea still!

awww, this resonates sooo deeply within me. We played the ABC-Game on the old Forum for quite some times, I guess 4 people had chimed in, and it was such a blast! The fact that I LOVE food, and I LOVE traveling, I LOVE telling stories, and I LOVE exploring new things makes this idea a treasure trove, for me.




I will start with A, as in Austria!

Austria is one of the countries that are closest neighbors, to where we live. In 2 hrs drive, we can be there! So, it got intertwined with my life from childhood on, and I have so many dear, DEAR memories about it. I especially loved that Austria- while German-speaking, have some very unique own Austrian words -especially when it comes to food, peppered into the otherwise so "known" to me, German. Fascinating!

Our honeymoon was in Vienna, the capital of Austria, where today my brother lives.
My oldest son did 2+ years apprenticeship as Designer at "Porsche-Design", in Zell am See, Austria.
My husband completed his paragliding- license and a lot of training in the Austrian Alps, and we took our daughter with Grandsons several times to Austria for holidays. Oh, I LOVE Austria!!
The famous Austrian "Mehlspeisen" (sweet dishes made of dough) became BELOVED staples in my own kitchen:



Marillenknödel. Dumplings filled with a sugar-cube and Marille, which are apricots that get breed in Austria, especially in the Wachau along the Danube. It's a pretty warm area and has nothing to do with the more rough Alps. The dough is made sometimes from potatoes, but I prefer them made from Topfen aka Quark= curd. The incredibly yummy crumbs are made from breadcrumbs and ground nuts, roasted in sugar and butter.



"Palatschinken", the Austrian translation for the German word Pfannkuchen, has nothing to do with the American pancake. It's more a Crepe, baked without baking-powder, into flat deliciousness, and in Austria it comes rolled, filled with jams from Marille, plum, of course strawberry or whatever jam you would like as well, and especially with a sweet creme made from eggs, sugar and curd, then baked in the oven: "Topfenpalatschinken".

When you add baking-powder (in our kitchen we still leave it out, it gets better, imo), bake this dough and rip it apart while baking, add raisins and eat it dusted with confectioners sugar, and dip it into applesauce- thats "Kaiserschmarrn".



Germknödel, yeast-dumplings. It's a dough from wheatflower and (you guessed it) yeast, filled with plum-jam, then steamed, and served with molten butter and LOTS of a 50/50-mix of icing-sugar and ground poppy-seeds. OH MY. So good!! by the way, poppy seeds are an often used ingredient in many of Austrians cakes, too.





"Kafeehäuser", coffee-shops, are a very old and deeply beloved tradition in Austria, which dates back to Austria having been threatened and beleaguered by the Turks in the 17.century. Here we are in Vienna, at the "Demel, Kaiserlich und Königliche Hofzuckerbäckerei". I explain this fairytale-name: It means confectioner Demel was allowed to serve both the courts of the Austrian Emperors and the -Kings!
The famous "Sachertorte" was probably invented here by Demel, NOT by Sacher. But that has caused decades of court-battle between the 2 Viennese Kaffee-Häuser. I think, in both cases the Sachertorte and the Demeltorte (they lost the battle around the ownership of the name) are dry, boring, not-really-good-chocolate-cakes -no matter how crazy expensive, or beautifully decorated they are!
Try at least some of the other (delightfully good, but less famous) Torten and cakes, otherwise you might be very disappointed.




off to some of the savories:



"Beuscherl" is a very well known Austrian speciality, a hash made from lung and heart of veal or pork. Here it is served with "Gröstl", a sort of hashbrowns from potato and, sometimes, bread. I wanted to really try it when we was in Innsbruck, Austria- I have to admit, I didn't like it so much.



This one, to the contrary, was insanely good: Roasted liver, with crispy-fried onions and mashed potatoes.



and here we are in Neustift im Stubaital (Austrian Alps), enjoying "Wiener Schnitzel", breaded cuttings from veal- (I even more prefer them from pork-steaks). Served with Preiselbeeren (=Lingonberry-jam, which is pretty similar to cranberries but imo much more balanced, and served to many roasts or savory dishes), together with cold potato-salad. This dish is one of my absolute favourites!!!

I love discovering dishes I haven't heard about! Thank you for sharing! So many delicious-looking dishes, and interesting stories about them

When we visited Austria, I discovered "Salzburger nockerl" whose memory has stayed with me many years later because it was so comforting, warm, sweet, airy, tasty and magically melt-in-your-mouth and cloud-like. And quite spectacular to look at when served!



The recipe is very simple too so should be easy to make at home

spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 8:07 am I love discovering dishes I haven't heard about! Thank you for sharing! So many delicious-looking dishes, and interesting stories about them

When we visited Austria, I discovered "Salzburger nockerl" whose memory has stayed with me many years later because it was so comforting, warm, sweet, airy, tasty and magically melt-in-your-mouth and cloud-like. And quite spectacular to look at when served!

I love how you describe the Nockerl, actually, it warms my heart! I and DH found them so disappointing! But now I know that there are people who enjoy them. That is beautiful!

Today I choose Belgium, for B...

Another direct neighbor of Germany. I LOVE the special vibration, the culture and especially the food of this tiny, very special, very beautiful land!



I was in awe about the fantastic beauty of Bruges and Brussels, with it's stunning Art Nouveau-buildings. My car broke down in Antwerp, and I so enjoyed our shopping sprees for the famous, indescribably delicious chocolates in all of the 3 cities. Many of you might know the big Belgium chocolate-brands as Godiva, Neuhaus with Côte d'Or or Guylian, and their products, that you can buy at least in many metropolises of the world. BUT- let me tell you, as good as those are... they are a FAR cry away from absolutely fresh made pralines, and mostly their recipes are dampened down to those that can be stored for quite some time.

You HAVE to try the REALLY freshly artisan- made pralines from a small manufacture! DON'T travel them for several days, They lose their divine, fantastic taste and then, they are "just good chocolate". Maybe even REALLY good chocolate. But... they lose the "it". You can get them in huge elegant stores or in tiny shops that aren't posh at all... and both times get an AMAZING product.





You always can choose from an incredibly large buffet of different sorts, and imo, they all are worth it. But, having bought (and consumed) literally pounds of those awesome treats, *I* prefer most the cream-ganache with fruit fillings, and the cream-ganache with brittle croquant. OH MY GOD!!! Wish I´d be there!



In my childhood, my grandparents hosted for several weeks in each year a Belgian, who worked for the family-enterprise. He slept in a small appartment in our house, ate 3 times a day at our family-table and never payed any rent. BUT he brought ENORMOUS bouquets of flowers to my Omi, and... better than anything else, literally kilograms of Belgium Pralines. In the "normal" paper-boxes that they fill for you in the stores, there is not more than 500g of Pralines. But he brought beautiful HUGE boxes, covered in suede-leather, or in painted tin, with not less than 4 pounds of Pralines. And each one of the pieces were better than ANYTHING I ate ever before! The pictures below come close, but don't really cut it It was as a fairytale for me!





Well, whole Belgium is a Paradise for foodies. The cuisine is very french without the "french weirdness". A bold, incredibly delicious cuisine where nobody cares for calories. (Can you tell how much I love it!!?) So please, when you visit, do NOT only stick to the very very good street-food! Visit the small restaurants, or even the high cuisine with Michelin-stars. They will almost never disappoint! Belgians are natural born foodies!

But delightful the streetfood is! Famous are what Americans call "French Fries"- which ACTUALLY ARE A BELGIUM CREATION! Here, called "Pommes frites", fried potatoes, they come out as good as nowhere else. Served with huge heaps of mayonaise, "Andalusian sauce" and -in some places, tons of more options. But just the very simple version with "only" basic full-fat Mayo is heavenly.





The most awesome sweet Belgian streetfood are Belgium waffles- either "plain" only with icing sugar, or with all imaginable toppings that you could think up. Speak about Paradise on Earth!





And then, there is the beer. I am a German, and while I don't like beer particulary, I am used to really high beer-quality. But Belgians beat us Germans in this! It seems to be a national sport here to figure out endless new taste-lines and special ideas around beer. Even I was fascinated by it!





I have the inkling that DH and I must have a Belgium-tour just for indulging ourselves in incredible food, as soon as possible!

...I enjoy this game SO MUCH!!!!

And then, some doubt crept up, if I "should" not do something of more value, than "just" having fun and passion and thrill, in doing this "silly" "unneccessary" game... Oh my. I LIKE that the doubt crept up. I LIKE when I see my blocks of resistance! Then I can embrace them. And relax into them, and deliberately allow them to heal. I like that.

Here is nothing to do other than RELAXING into the doubt and the "pain"! All is well! All is sooo good.
I FEEL SOCH JOY, and things will sort themselves out, all on their own!
I soooo love knowing that!!

Paradise-on-Earth wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2024 5:17 pm some doubt crept up, if I "should" not do something of more value, than "just" having fun and passion and thrill, in doing this "silly" "inneccessary" game...

I know you know this already but I wanted to say it anyway
The game is just a general way of raising your vibration and raising you into alignment, to help you get to a vibrational point where you allow everything you want to come to you!
As long as you feel it is raising your vibration it is important work!

spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Wed Jan 03, 2024 8:55 am
“Your work is to laugh more,
and play more,
and cruise more,
and bask more,
and meditate more.
Your work is to go to the beach more,
dangle your feet in the bay more.
Your work is to do the things that soothe you into alignment more.
You’ve done the work that has put it into vibrational escrow.
The work of your life has been happening all along.”

- Abraham Hicks

spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2024 10:02 pm

Paradise-on-Earth wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2024 5:17 pm some doubt crept up, if I "should" not do something of more value, than "just" having fun and passion and thrill, in doing this "silly" "inneccessary" game...

I know you know this already but I wanted to say it anyway
The game is just a general way of raising your vibration and raising you into alignment, to help you get to a vibrational point where you allow everything you want to come to you!
As long as you feel it is raising your vibration it is important work!

spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Wed Jan 03, 2024 8:55 am
“Your work is to laugh more,
and play more,
and cruise more,
and bask more,
and meditate more.
Your work is to go to the beach more,
dangle your feet in the bay more.
Your work is to do the things that soothe you into alignment more.
You’ve done the work that has put it into vibrational escrow.
The work of your life has been happening all along.”

- Abraham Hicks

Yes I "know" it, but obviously didn't know it enough, so that I got my indicator! Duh!!

And now here, this piece of love from you, FEELS SO GOOD!!!
It filled in for me as perfect, loving, soothing, re-assurance of what I "know". And now I KNOW more than ever!!! THANK YOU, this is so sweet and caring and wonderful of you! Muah!!

so very much!

Today, I choose Czech Republic, for C


Me in Prague, looking at Charles Bridge

...And again, this is a country that is direct neighbor of Germany. I'm actually living 1 hr drive away from the Czech border, in 3 hrs drive I would be in Prague, the capital. I thought at first about choosing Canada, my country of birth... but then, I reallllly liked the idea to rampage about European countries at the first round of this game!



Thinking of Czech Republik (CR), I was thrilled the movie "Last Holiday" with Queen Latifah was made there! It is such a Feelgood-movie about how joy (and BUTTER) can turn around our fate even when things seem to go amiss. And so, they are "the key to our life"! Sounds familiar, right? The story of a self-hindered foodie who, due to harsh contrast, learns to dare, truly love, indulge herself wholly and LIVE... in the Setting of Grandhotel Pupp in the beautiful Karlovy Vary =Carlsbad, Czech Republic!

Ohh, what an amazing city! And what an amazing hotel, by the way. Such beautiful rooms and -features, that survived through the era of cold war, and now starts to blossom, again. I LOVE this background-stories! And I loved how much this movie was about food and it's healing power- in another way than we usually think about. And, as we are in background-stories, I was thrilled and in awe when I found out that "Böhmen", Bohemia, is in big parts what CR is, today. Before the name "Böhmen" was out of a fairytale-book, for me!



This is the royal crest of the kingdom of Bohemia. All the words as "Bohemian or even "Boho-Style" originate from there. We use it all the time, and I bet almost no one knows what once was meant by it. I myself have a deep connection to this term, as my maiden-name is Boehm- "The Bohemian one".
Bohemia was -in many countries, seen as the home of the Gypsies. It stood for rustic, colorful, whimsy, wild and untamed clothes, furniture and life-style. Also for substantial, not expensive basic food. And I think, there is something to that. Of course you can reside in 5 star-hotels and eat fantastic haute cuisine in CR, but the tried and true basics seem to be close to the Czech's hearts!

The kitchen is in wide parts similar with Austrian, German and also Hungarian cuisine. Imo, the Czech goulash, per example, is so much more what we expect of "goulash", than the Hungarian one! My very first memories go back to having been 4 years old, in a car together with Omi, Opi, my mother and my uncle-waiting in a loooong line to be able to cross the Iron Curtain-border for several hours. We wanted to meet up in Prague with Omis sister and brother, and my other uncle and his then-fiance. The fiance (from East-Berlin) and Omis sister (from Dessau, East Germany as well) could move freely inside the Soviet Bloc, and we had gotten- by some miracle, the allowance to move into the former CSSR= Czechoslovakia.

It felt a bit frightening to finally get into the country... the harsh and hostile controls at the border, the weapons there, knowing we were not supposed to speak freely or move freely, and the noticeable, very different levels of technical and cultural advancements where oppressive. It is such Goodness that this countries of the Eastern Bloc are -at least most of them- free, today. NOT without problems (we all will never be)- but freedom of self-expression, on a completely new level. I felt all of that then, but I was safely tucked into a happy loving family- and I got at every morning Palačinky with jam, which is the same as the Austrian Palatschinken or the German Pfannkuchen... delicious Crepes, that made my days good, from the very beginning!

I didn't then, and also not on my (much) later own explorations in CR come across these, but as I hear, they are an incredibly widely spread streetfood, now:

Trdelnik
Sort of Chimney-cake, eaten plain, with chocolate, or filled with creme, fruits and ice-cream. You will see the stalls who bake- and sell them on all Czech markets.






Královské Oplatky
A speciality from Carlsbad, 2 very thin wafers filled with chocolate- vanilla- or nut cream, and nowadays in many more different options as cherry, lemon, caramel, coffee or coco. You either love them or hate them!




CR (as probably Austria and Hungary, too) have a very good hand with delicious, filling, soothing sweet pastries, cookies and gingerbread






A very typical pastry is Kolák
Sweet yeast-buns, topped- and then baked with fruit preserves, but most often with baked poppy- and plum-jam topping, often also together with sweet curd and streussel. In Austria and Germany they are widely loved as well and then called "(Tschechische) Golatschen"




hearty, solid Soups- often from traditional, old Bohemian recipes are on the menue of every Czech restaurant. When you are lucky, they serve it even within dark sourdough-bread instead of a plate or cup!




Seemingly the national dish is: Vepro Knedlo Zelo, literally: "Pork, dumpling and Sauerkraut."
It contains the very famous Bohemian steamed dumplings, -Knedliky- made from white bread without rind (...if you are a perfectionist. Housewives often use the whole bread or whole old buns, to minimize waste!)



Knedliky can also be made from a mix of potato and semolina, or homini grits, and get filled with bread, bacon, or Sauerkraut. Here they come with white gravy and mushrooms:

...I couldn't resist! Today it's the turn for "D", and that is, in Europe, the abbreviation for DEUTSCHLAND- aka beautiful beloved Germany, my adopted home country. So please bear with me that I change into my mothers tongue for this tiny bit!


In Germany exist around 3000 different sorts of bread!

Bread is a big and serious thing in Germany. American bread gets not really seen as "bread" here, we describe it as "Toast" even if it is not toasted. What gets the name "bread" in German eyes is much more solid and sturdy! Bread comes from almost white up to darkest brown, pretty neutral or savory with special bread-spices, and also sweet with raisins, sugar, nuts and milk. Raised most often with sourdough, in the whiter forms with yeast, and very very rarely with baking powder (those products count more into "cakes" for us). It includes "Brötchen" (=small breads) a term that is so much more to the point, than the translation "bun". Germans eat traditionally 2 x a day cold- traditionally in the morning, Frühstück (="an early piece") and in the evening when there is "Abendbrot" (="bread in the evening"). But things change, recently, into more international habits.



Brezeln are the Zunft-zeichen, the traditional trade-sign for German bakeries

The Brezel (often a Laugenbrezel out of yeast-dough, first cooked in soda lye, then baked) got certainly invented before the early medieval times, and most probably in South-Germany. The pastry -that often serves as breakfast or snack all on its own, sometimes filled with butter or even with cheese and cuttings, is supposed to be soft inside, and a bit crispy outside. The word "Brezel" gets (in most cases) pronounced in the German speaking parts of the world softly and gently; no harsh "p" in the beginning, nor any "t" in the middle!



Bavarian breakfast

For the working class, a hearty break in the forenoon is essential. In Munich, the Weisswurst (white sausage) got invented, that is not to be fried or boiled (it would burst!) but to be gently warmed up, and then served with a big Münchner Breze, sweet coarse mustard, Radi (radish) and beer- not later than 12 o'clock in the morning!



Mett-Brötchen

Many foreigners can't believe that a very beloved dish- as snack, or even for celebrations- in Germany is a crispy bun with raw, but nicely seasoned ground meat. If you use pork or beef, or a mix of both is irrelevant, but there NEEDS to be lots of raw, diced onions on top of it. YUMMIE!!!!! (And: There are austere rules for the freshness and hygiene around dealing with mincemeat in place!)


"Aufschnitt"

Germans LOVE their daily Aufschnitt for preparing their "belegtes Brot" (=open faced sandwich). It is cold cuts from roasted meats, cured or cooked ham, and more than 1500 sorts of sausages! This sausage can contain blood, vegetables, eggs, cheese, come in funny forms as the faces of teddy bears. Or it can be cut pastry, aspic or sausage for spreading (mostly liver-sausage, which is very popular!) Often, Aufschnitt gets served together with assorted cheeses and pickled cucumbers.



2 of 46 official different sorts of German Bratwurst (foreign recipes not counted!)

Bratwurst- as it could be prepared from leftovers within the process of slaughtering, was always cheeper than real cuts of meat- and still so good. In Germany we have them raw, pre-boiled, smoked or not, very finely minced or pretty rough, with very different spices and herbs, and in all sizes from small as a pinky (Nürnberg is famous for them) or up to 1 meter, a special thing in a tiny village in Franconia. We like to put them into a bun, together with mustard- or eat them with Sauerkraut, mashed potatoes or even crispy onions.



"Himmel un Äd mit Flönz"

This dish means "Sky and Earth with blood-sausage". It stems from the Rhenish dialekt words for potato (used for the mashed potatoes): Erdapfel, apple of the Earth, aka the dirt. Contrary to this, the "normal" apples (that belong, fried, into the dish as well) grow in the sky, aka on a tree. And blood-sausage, Blutwurst, is nothing to fear- as it is DELICIOUS.



Knusper-Haxe mit Kartoffelknödel

Oh my. You MUST have eaten this crispiness of the porks-leg's skin, done by a master-chef, at least once, in your life!! You could also add potato-salad.



Leberknödelsuppe

THE most common and liked, incredibly yummy German soup, with a dumpling made from heavenly herbs and minced liver, in broth.



Rheinischer Sauerbraten

A delightful beef-roast, that had cured at least (!!) 10 days in vinegar and wine, with a gravy to die for, that contains raisins and maybe even gingerbread. Red cabbage, maybe brussel-sprouts, one of many different potato dumpling- recipes (from raw potatoes or boiled potatoes) or Semmelklösse (dumplings made from bread) or home-made Spätzle (noodles that get scraped from a moist dough into bioling water) belong to the dish as well.


Now we reached the sweet-zone!


Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

I find that "Torte" is something that is mostly known, and practiced every day, in the German-speaking countries. So, besides Germany, in Austria and Switzerland. All Torten are always built from several layers of dough, most often a fruit-preserve filling plus some cream, as whipped creme (as in this case), surrounded by (maybe another) cream and probably even finished off with Marzipan, Croquant made from nuts, or (as here) shavings from dark chocolate... and then, artfully decorated to mark the single pieces.

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte is one of the more simple examples, filled with cherry-jam, whole sour cherries, and chocolate dough, sprinkled with cherry liqueur.



Lübecker Marzipantorte

...a personal favourite of mine! I SO LOVE Marzipan. Which is a chewy paste made out of only very fine ground almonds and icing sugar. The cake can be filled purely with raspberry- or apricot- jam and whipped cream, or with a light butter-cream containing nougat or coffee.



Schokoküsse

I always was puzzled that this delightful treat is almost unknown abroad. Many argue they would be SOMEHOW as a marshmellow, but really really in a much different way! Made very fresh (and best, and easily made ultra-fresh at home, but every German food-store sells them): Whipped eggwhite and sugar. They have nothing chewy on them (or they are old!), but are an incredibly creamy, chocolate-dipped "kiss".



Nürnberger Elisenlebkuchen

THE most delightful German christmas- speciality. These flat, chewy, heavenly cakes, made from AT LEAST 25% nuts, are to die for! They come with chocolate or "white", with a very thin sugar-coat to keep them fresh longer. It has nothing to do with Ginger-bread, but is a class all on it's own!


home-made Plätzchen on a "bunter Teller"

In Advent, in Germany, most households enjoy baking cookies together. The result gets kept fresh in tin- boxes, and then, at Christmas (which gets celebrated here at the Eve of December 24!) make up varied deliciousness of the "Bunter Teller", the colourful christmas- plate. There are countless family-recipes with all sorts of ingredients, and most all of them taste heavenly. Even when the decoration- done by the kids, is a little imperfect!

...I love my home-land.
I love it's incredible variedness.
I love how it's all there, mountains and ocean, deeply rural and highly urban, calm and beat up, drawn back and cosmopolitan!
I love that no animals here want to kill you. I love the ENERGY of the country of poets and thinkers. I want to help that my home will heal from the terrible traumas that it suffered. I want to point it from being so heavily burdened into true freedom and joyful sovereignty! Like everyone else, we go through a deep transformation. Beloved country, be blessed, and be healed

Now, we already got E. And, I wanted to stay in Europe, as far as possible! But that's easy... there is ESTONIA.

Oh my, I always wanted to go on a Baltic Cruise- INCLUDING St. Petersburg! And so, I had a dream of visiting Estonia, and it's capital Talinn, since a VERY long time! Oh, and I get goosebumps by pondering that I WILL do it... when the war is over, and light has regained, and things are soooo MUCH BETTER!! I have my eyes stable on the wanted. I WANT TO DO A PEACE-CRUISE! Oh yes, wouldn't that be wonderful!



...It feels funny to come from the rampage about Germany, where I know soooo much, and go to a country where I know almost nothing. I was never there. I never googled about it, before yesterday. I am virgin in this! Please bear with me, if I write things incorrect- and feel free to fill us all in, if you have more informations! BUT: Here is an adventure! This is fascinating, finding the new, and the unknown!



...Lets start. Estonia is next neighbor to Russia and had been part of the UDSSR, so- much of the cuisine is either Russian or highly inspired by Russia, and vice versa! Also, Estonia has a long coastline and lots of islands- and lots of wetlands and forests. So, there is a lot of fish, and also wild boars, and venison as from Elk as in the picture above. So, an awesome chance, to try these incredibly tasty "exotic" meats!




Herring is a very popular fish in the whole Baltic Sea (it is in Germany, as well- where we prepare this dish, also). Here it is pickled, and served with potatoes, probably beets and onions.




Buffet of Vürtsikilu Suupiste (=Sprats)



Brined sprat- sandwiches are a very popular in Estonia: The common rye-bread of Estonia gets a spread of cream cheese mixed with garlic and often eggs, plus the sprats!




Pirukad, the Estonian sisters to Russian Pelmeni. They are deliciously filled with cabbage, meat, carrots, rice or mushrooms.




Eesti Kartulisalat -Estonian potato-salad, with fresh cucumbers, peas, carrots, hard boiled eggs and sometimes, sausage.




"Sült", aspic made from pork, fish or chicken seems to be a festive addition to the menue.




fried Rye-bread, a common snack that also gets served in restaurants




Buckwheat cooked as risotto with vegetables, creamy and delicious!


There are of course many more dishes, I tried to focus on which feels foreign and especially interesting to me!
Let's dig into the sweets!

There are Vastlakukkel. Sort of Cream Puffs that are known all over the world, but I wanted to at least mention them. They are everywhere available in February-March as, originally, opening the time of Lent.




Mannavaht is childhood-memory for many Estonians... it is semolina, cooked in cranberry-juice (what gives the pink color) with sugar, which then gets whipped into cream, and gets served in milk, with extra-berries.




Kruubipuder cooked barley-porridge, or Hernetatrapuder, a porridge made from peas and buckwheat




Kama is a powder from toasted and finely ground peas, oat, rye and barley. Stirred into cold milk, it gives an easy breakfast-porride, cooked in milk it becomes a delicious custard.




"Spotted dog", again a cake that is known in many countries, made without baking from chocolate, cookie-left overs and in the case of Estonia, by adding dried fruits and -jam!




And last not least, the Estonian version of (almost) world-wide-loved Cinnamon buns (isn't it good to know that some things get a foothold EVERYWHERE!?), Estonian Cringles.