Haute cuisine

A survey ordered by the Ministry of Agriculture has revealed that the two things tourists associate most closely with Estonian cuisine are meat and beer.

The survey showed that tourists remain pleasantly surprised by their encounters with the nation's food and drink, describing it as "good, tasty and fresh". Daytrippers and weekend getaway visitors are also better informed than they have ever been about - and increasingly interested in - the country's national dishes.

When asked to nominate what they thought most characteristics of Estonian dinner tables, 46% of tourists nominated meat, 22% said fish, and 10% each posited potatoes, cakes and the like (including "it's not cheesecake but we'll call it that anyway" kohupiimakook) and cabbage. Beer was most frequently seen to be the national drink, with the full list almost entirely comprising different types of alcohol.

Many tourists expressed disappointment that traditional Estonian food was so hard to come by on their visits, highlighting the small number of restaurants that offer it. When they found them, though, they clearly spent big: an average of 1457 kroons per person per day on food and drink, almost twice the amount spent in 2006. Mind you, this figure also included money spent on stuff they were able to take home with them as comestible souvenirs; chocolate proved most popular, although one in five also stuck some black bread in their suitcases.

The other four clearly already had them stuffed full of Viru Vodka and Gin Long Drink.