Estonian Christmas Tradition

The shortest day of the year is over and on the first day of astronomical winter the snow finally came making the day brighter and magical. Last night I was walking in Tallinn old town with my dear friend Piret. Fresh snow was falling, children were throwing themselves into the snow and both of us sighed wishing we had more suitable clothes on to join them and make a proper snowman.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

City side walks, busy side walks, dressed in holiday style....

Tallinn old town

We exchanged the opposite views of Christmas being too commercial, the pain of listening to Jingle Bells all day in every shop versus how beautiful and essentially good the messages of the songs were and how nice it was to sing along to a catching melody of Rudolph and its shiny nose on the mission to guide Santa´s sleigh or seeing Mommy tickle Santa  last night. Later on in the car we both agreed that Wham´s Last Christmas is not bad at all.

My Christmas cookies 2014

At the end of the year there are many different traditions of giving presents. The Dutch, Germans  and Swiss have Nikolaus come by with presents on the 6th December, in the UK and US it is the 25th of December, in the Spanish speaking countries you have to wait until the Three Kings come in January....and many many others depending on the calendar and religion.

In Estonia small elves start dropping small presents into the shoes that children have placed on the windowsills as early as late November, early December. The main Santa Claus visit falls on the Christmas Eve on the 24th December.

Traditionally in Estonia a little effort is required and you have to do something special to get a present. Reading a poem, singing a song, dancing with your Mom, guessing a riddle or some other little performance, as amateur or professional as it may be, would usually be enough.

This year I have an old poem I used to know in my childhood. A friend of mine recently reminded me about this one. It talks about a dog whose name is Muri, who doesn´t let strangers in but wags its tail friendly when Santa Claus comes.

The best things in life are free and can be practiced and shared all year round. One can even listen to Christmas songs in June :)

Give someone a free hug, read a children´s poem, stay healthy and positive and be good for goodness sake!
Happy holidays!

(No recipe today as Mom is cooking)

Meie Muri

Küll on kuri meie Muri
Võõraid tuppa ta ei lase
Esikus just ukse taga
on tal pehme ase

Jõuluvana koputab
Mida teeb nüüd Muri?
Muri saba liputab
Pole üldse kuri

Rõõmsalt talle vastu ruttab
nagu oleks vana tuttav 

Pearl Barley Soup (Kruubisupp) and an Estonian tradition

Estonian pearl barley soup "Kruubisupp"

Probably the most popular pearl barley soup in Switzerland is the Bündner Gerstensuppe. When I moved to Switzerland I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Swiss honour this lovely grain in their cooking as much as the Estonians do. Pearl barley is a favourite for many in Estonian cooking too. Some best Estonian home cooking recipes use pearl barley. Barley was used in the old days as a nutritious filling ingredient in soups and stews. It keeps the belly full and gives energy for a long time, a lot like oats do.

Talking about energy foods in today´s post, I allow myself to take a short diversion into comparative linguistics here, my other hobby horse.

In Estonia when a passer-by sees people working hard, be it physical work like cutting wood, working in the field, shoveling snow or in modern days even doing work of less difficult nature, it is customary to wish them "Jõudu!" (Strength!) or "Jõudu tööle!" (Vigour to your work!... or something like that). The idea is that the person passing or equally when joining in in the work he or she wishes strength to finish the work or that the work goes well to those already working. The other person usually would respond with "Jõudu vaja" or "Jõudu tarvis", both meaning "Strength is needed".

I tried to find an equivalent to this saying in other languages or cultures I know. Didn´t come across much.... The English would say perhaps "Good luck" or "Fingers crossed" or in German one could perhaps say "Ich wünsche Dir Kraft". The closest saying I have seen in practice has been in Holland where I have heard many many times people wishing each other "Succes!" with a task or an assignment in a business context.

Words and expressions  gain foot in a language because the action happens frequently or phenomenon they describe  is wide spread. My so far unsuccessful search for equivalent expressions in other languages clearly hints to the Estonians having work, work, work on their mind. Throughout the years, decades and centuries, Estonians have had to work hard either to survive the cold winters or to survive as a nation.

Not long now until holidays. I wish everyone has a chance to pause and enjoy some rest at the end of the year. The winter is coming in the north, so keep warm and strong with some pearl barley soup.

Pearl barley soup (Gerstensuppe in Switzerland or Kruubisupp in Estonia)

Ingredients (enough for 4 portions):
2 tbsp vegetable oil (eg. rape seed or sunflower oil)
150g carrots, cut into small cubes
150g celeriac, cut into small cubes
100g leek, cut thinly
150g potato, cut into small cubes
70g pearl barley
1.5l water or strong meat stock
1 teaspoon salt
pepper

crème fraîche

parsley, thinly chopped

smoked meat or bacon (optional)

In order to reduce the cooking time, soak the pearl barley in cold water for a few hours.

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the vegetables and cook for a about 5 minutes.

Add the pearl barley onto the vegetables but do not mix.

Pour the water/stock into the pan, Season with salt if using water.

Cook at low heat for an hour until barley is soft. Season with pepper and additional salt if necessary.

Serve with crème fraîche and parsley.

For a meaty option, add some smoked meat, cut into cubes or stripes, during cooking or fry bacon cubes separately and serve on top with crème fraîche and parsley.