A Look At Estonia - Part 1 Of Our European Adventure

 

Estonia was a bit of a surprise food wise. I wasn't expecting to not enjoy the food in Estonia, but I also wasn't expecting  to enjoy it so much either. I didn't expect to find a theme restaurant that worked so well, and I wasn't expecting to find one of the most creative chocolate shops either. I also wasn't expecting to learn so much about the areas food history.

The food history in Estonia (Tallinn in particular) is right on display. There are two areas of history that seem to be front and center in this town in general and with food. The oldest is the medieval period, and this is ever present when you're walking through the old town part of Tallinn. There are all kinds of restaurants and snacks available that help you get a sense of what it might have been like a long time ago in Tallinn. Most obvious are the many people selling nuts and snacks on the street in small carts, they really give you an old timey feel. There are also several restaurants around town that show off traditional cooking, however none pull it off as well as the Olde Hansa.

 

The Old Hansa appears at first to be more of a gimmick than a real restaurant, but it really does both so very well. While you can't deny that it's a little gimmick like to have all the staff pretend that it's the medieval period, there are so many other reasons why this restaurant's theme works. First of all the minimal lighting really sets the mood. Most of the light from the restaurant is candle light, and most of the visible decorations are traditional, even the utensils are traditional. The really unique thing about this restaurant though is the food, it's not modern food dressed up to look old. Apparently the restaurant's chefs spent time researching what would have been the traditional food at the time. They serve this food the way it may have been served, and really spent a lot of time perfecting these details. While I'm sure the hygiene is much better than it would have been, there was something about the flavour of the food that really put us in the mood.

After the medieval period, the most noted time in Estonia is the period when the country was occupied by the USSR. There are many areas of life that were greatly affected by the occupation of Estonia, and the food was no exception. One of the interesting stops to check out is the Hotel Viru. This functioning hotel used to house one of the most important spying areas of the KGB. It was one of the only hotels in the USSR to allow foreign guests, and not wanting to appear poor, it was one of the hubs of fine food in the area back then. The restaurants and bars were some of the finest in the entire USSR empire. There are stories of the cakes that were sold at this hotel being used as currency, and that three cakes could get you a sofa. Today, the grocery store in the mall at the base of the hotel still sells the same cakes.

Another place that really tells a story about the USSR period in Tallinn is the Chocolate Museum in Chocolala (a great candy store with a museum attached to it). This museum is a great place to learn all about the history of sweets in Estonia, and tells the story of this country before, during and after the occupation. There are great collections of old packages and lots of information about how this country's candy evolved and changed. Best of all this museum is housed in a great modern chocolate shop that has some pretty unique sweets to try. They're liberal with the samples, and if you can I recommend trying the chocolate covered reindeer moss (it's not that great, but it's really unique).
Estonia was a very surprising place for us.

When we were planning our trip, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find enough content to write about the food in this place. After the first day I knew that this wasn’t going to be a problem at all. You don’t often come across a city where the food history is so well preserved and presented.

CC

Candy In The Media

All photos copyright the Museum of Brands, Packaging, and Advertising.

Around the world there are many museums and museum exhibits dedicated to candy.  Most of these museums focus on chocolate, but there are a few that diversify.  Many candy museums are also found at the end of factory tours at various candy factories, and those obviously focus on one particular brand.  It's rare to come across a museum, or even a museum exhibit, that shows off a diversity of brands and types of candy.  One of the best candy themed museum exhibit that I've ever come across can be found at the Museum of Brands, Packaging, and Advertising in London England.

All photos copyright the Museum of Brands, Packaging, and Advertising.

I've never seen such a huge collection of candy packages in my entire life. They have packages dating back to Victorian England, all the way to modern packages of today.  The museum is set out in chronological order and contains packages and branding for all kinds of products, but their candy collection is superb.  There are a few sections dedicated to candy, however there are a few candies also spread around in other sections as well.  Surprisingly some of the packages aren't empty, and while I wouldn't want to eat these ancient candies, it's pretty amazing to see.

All photos copyright the Museum of Brands, Packaging, and Advertising.

The only downfall is that that you don't really find a huge range of candy packages from outside of UK (and to some extent Europe).  It's not really that big a deal because the UK has been one of the biggest candy innovator's since the Victorian era, and this is a prime example of just how much they've given us.  I could not recommend a museum more than the Museum of Brands, Packaging, and Advertising.  It's a great place for any candy history buff, and even has plenty to see for those without a sweet tooth.

Click here to get more info on this awesome museum.

CC

Chocolate Factory Find In Athens

While walking up a street in Athens today, I noticed a really big sign on the front of a building. I noticed it because it happens to be a sign for a very well known chocolate making company here in Athens.  I then noticed that the whole building was in fact covered with this sign and realized that this was a factory where this chocolate is made.  I could tell it was a factory because of the large vats on the left side of the building.

I decided to walk around the factory to see what else I could see.  For the most part the factory was pretty bleak and un-impressive, but then I came to a small pedestrian street along the side of the building.  The first thing I notice was another huge sign, then I noticed that this street must be where the ventilation system ends, because the smell was fantastic.

I decided to walk down this street, so I could enjoy the smell, and I came across two really great machines.  It appears that they've decided to decorate this exquisite smelling street with a few of their old chocolate making machines.  The first one I came across was an old cocoa bean crusher.

The second one appeared to be an old cocoa bean roaster.  The street was fairly sparse, except for these machines, and that's a shame.  I think you could turn this little street into a chocolate museum.  Maybe add a few more machines, and a few interpretative panels explaining the history of chocolate in Greece as well as how chocolate bars are made.  The wonderful smell of the factory would really enhance the whole experience.

CC

Wednesday's Candy Links

Did you know that Ben Affleck was an expert on the fair trade chocolate and the problems in the Congo?  No seriously he knows his stuff.

BBC food offers up some great little facts about chocolate, accompanied by some mouth watering photographs.

If you find yourself in San Diego why not check out the Natural History Museum's new exhibit called Chocolate.

CC

My Olive Filled Adventure - Part 2 Sparta

On our way back from our trip to Kalamata, Allison and I decided to stop into Sparta (or Sparti).  I figured that the famous Spartan army was reason enough to make the stop, but Sparta has another great site, well worth checking out for the Olive fanatic.

The Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil, is a mouthful to say, but it's a great place to visit.  It's a beautiful building full of olive history and information.  You wouldn't think that there would be that much to talk about with olives, but this museum really shows how important this little fruit was, and is, to the world.

The first part of the exhibit is all about the history of the olive, including these ancient fossilized olive branches.  They also explain the differences in the many varieties of olives (there are dozens of varieties), and how olives have changed the coarse of many civilizations.

My favorite part of the exhibits was the giant olive presses and grinders.

This is an ancient mortar and pestle, one of the earliest ways people extracted oils and paste from olives.

This giant corkscrew press would smush the olives until the oil would drip into the bucket bellow.

All over Greece you find that many of the ancient buildings are fabricated using old olive grinding stones.  They're round stones with a hole in the middle, and they weigh a ton.  I never really could figure out how these grinding stones worked, until I saw a traditional grinder at the Olive Museum.

Did you know that olive oil also works as a fuel for lights.  Churches and homes all over the Mediterranean used to use olive oil to light up their homes.  I'd love to get an old oil lamp and try this out myself, I never knew olive oil was that flammable.

Here's another bonus I discovered on our road trip.  Did you know that you can improve chicken souvlaki?  As with just about anything, all you have to do is ad bacon.

CC

Chocolate Exhibition In Orange County

If you find yourself in the state of California, and more particularly in Orange County, you might want to check out the Chocolate exhibit at the Muzeo Museum.

Click here to read about the exhibit.

Click here to check out the Muzeo website.

CC

Best Chocolate Museums

Why have I not visited one place on this list.  I've been to a few chocolate and candy museums in my time, but not one of these places.  I'm kind of sad, and I feel like I may have wasted my vacations up until this point in my life.

Click here to see the list.

CC

Food Museum is Having a Sweet Show

I've never visited the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and frankly I've never even heard of a "Food and Beverage Museum", but it sounds like a great place to check out.  Now would also be a great time to go because they're having a special show all about sugar, and this Sunday they're celebrating with some free treats.

Click here to read more.

CC

Tour Of A Candy Store

I've been lucky enough to get myself invited on a few tours of candy stores in my day and all I can say is it's a really good time. It's great to talk candy with people who really know what they're talking about and great to see people making a living doing what they love.

Click here to read about a particular tour.

CC

Cancel All Of My Travel Plans!!!

I just came across this great list of the top 10 chocolate museums in the world and that means my new priority in life is to visit each and every one of them.

Click here to read all about these museums.

CC