January
Back in Tallinn, in Inga's office at the Vabariigi Presidendi Kantselei, we sat making plans for the upcoming dinner in Toronto. Inga starts asking me about all kinds of ingredients in Estonian, as I furiously type every other ingredient name into Google Translate to make sure I understand exactly what she needs. I started explaining the differences between Toronto and Tallinn in food terms. “In Toronto, you can get pretty much anything you want, but it may not be exactly what you think it's going to be.” This turned out to be true more than once over the course of the week in Toronto. “We should bring the most important ingredients with us,” I suggest.
Departure
January turned into February, turned into March, then April, with emails bouncing back and forth with menus and ideas. The day of departure had quickly arrived, and Inga and I are sitting on the floor of the Tallinn airport trying to squeeze smoked fish, Põltsamaa Kuldne, Vana Tallinn, and Evelin's leib into our suitcases between our clothing. Sitting at the gate, just before boarding, Inga is showing me the beetroot powder she has hidden in her purse and exclaims, “I forgot to buy kama!” This was the key ingredient to the dessert. Luckily, Tallinn airport sells it. We load up our purses with bags of kama as we hear our names over the intercom for final boarding. “Lupp, Paenurm….Lupp, Paenurm…” Running to the gate we make it just in time, kama and all.
Toronto
I think that I scared Inga about Canada Customs, because as we're waiting in line she's asking me what to say. “You're visiting relatives, that's all they need to know.” It's Inga's turn now, and I can faintly hear her stumbling over English words, but the agent stamps her passport and we're off. “If I had known it would be this easy,” she says, “I would have brought so much more.”
Fighting exhaustion and jetlag I take Inga on a gastronomical tour of Toronto in search of Estonian ingredients for Inga's dinner. First stop, the new Viking Deli. Here we stock up on kilud for the truffles. Thinking that these were the closest thing to Estonian kilu that we were going to find, we bought quite a few tins. Later that week, we would find out that kilu is available all over Toronto, including at the Hillside Bakery. While testing recipes later that evening, Inga would quickly learn that the Finnish version comes marinated in an overly sweet dressing!
Another item that would come in a strange sweet marinade was the wild mushrooms from the Russian Store. In fact, not only were they in a sweet marinade, it was quite pungent smelling as well. My poor mother's kitchen filled with an intense earthy-slimy-mushroomy smell that needed airing…badly. Being resourceful, Inga re-marinated both the kilud and the mushrooms, and they were closer to what she had envisioned.
Friday arrives before we know it, and we're in the kitchen at Tartu College, about to discover that nothing works quite as we hoped it would. Fahrenheit is not the same as Celsius, but it turns out to not be all that important because it's hard to tell what temperature the ovens actually are.
Two burners, are not better than four. And the burners that do actually work, are the smaller ones on the stove. But that's it, there are no alternatives and the show must go on.
2pm: the kitchen is filled with delicious smells of parsnip puree and Jerusalem artichokes roasting in butter. The beetroot sauce is simmering and the mixer is pulsing away at various foams and creams. Crisis averted? 3pm: Have you ever grilled meat on an electric coil? I have. This is how the meat obtained its ‘delicately smoked' flavour. A cast iron pan would just not do, in fact, Inga seemed surprised when I said that I did not know anyone with an old wood stove anymore. Had we been in Estonia, the meat would have been seared on the top of an old wood stove, giving it a crispy char. The electric coil stove was the next best thing. Its only drawback: as the pork fillets seared, the small kitchen, lacking proper ventilation filled with the smell of burning flesh. Though, when it came time to taste the meat, it was true, there was just a little bit of smokiness.
6.30pm: Appetisers are going out on the table. The guests are arriving. Tensions are rising in the kitchen….No, not at all. An afternoon in the kitchen with Paenurm is the opposite of an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. Inga stayed cool, calm, and collected, and if something went wrong (which it didn't of course), she just laughed it off!
7.30pm: Salads are on the table and we are putting together the final touches for the main course. As we are plating the main course, and slicing up the pork tenderloin, the waiters, two Older Greek gentlemen, who Inga referred to throughout the evening as the ‘noormehed,' were curiously eyeing the meat. “Everything ok?” I ask. “But you know the meat is too rare,” they said. “Don't worry, it's cooked sousvide.,” Inga chimes in.
For those that don't know, the sousvide cooking method is the best way to get wonderfully tender cooked meat. First the meat, in this case pork tenderloin, is wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and submersed into hot water. The tray full of hot water is then placed into the oven at around 90C for 45 minutes. And voila! Perfectly tender, heated through, medium rare pork tenderloin.
9pm: Dessert time. “Oops, we forgot to put the potato chips with the salad,” Inga says grabbing the bowl of fresh chips that we'd made and stored out of the way. “Oh well, let's just put it with the dessert.” ‘Why not,' I think to myself. ‘It's all about experimenting.'
The end of the night is upon us, and the last guests are leaving. My feet are sore, and the thought of a good night's sleep is just about the only thing on my mind. “Let's do it tomorrow night again?” Inga asks with that sarcastic Estonian charm I have come appreciate over the past year. “Of course.”
M E N U
Sprat truffle with chive sauce and milk foam
Wild mushroom cream served with a homestyle scone
Trio of fish with a cool crunchy salad and jerusalem artichoke puree
Delicately smoked pork with seasonal vegetables and beetroot sauce
Kama mousse with sweet ‘soil' and lingonberry sauce
Kristina Lupp
Fotogalerii – Fotod: Taavi Tamtik
