Pop-up comes to granny’s kitchen

Photo: Lauri Laan

Tõnis Saar, a cook at restaurant Leib Resto & Aed, took over from head chef for a day and treated the folks with a revivalist Estonian menu. We present a couple of his favourites.

As in fashion, pop-up is no new word in the world of restaurants. A restaurant might well come home for a night, change locations for a moment, or change chefs – as demonstrated by Leib Resto & Aed at Independence Day.

There and then, cook Tõnis Saar stepped into the shoes of Chef Janno Lepik for a festive dinner, greeting visitors with Baltic herring, bread treats, herbal mayonnaise and hot apple drinks with a tiny drop of Vana Tallinn – good for those fresh from the parade.

As main course, smoked pork feet hit the table, coming with roasted onion and celery crème and beef in marinade. To say nothing of meatballs according to the cook’s own mother’s recipe – for kids.

All deeply Estonian, and as timely and fresh as can be. Lion’s share of it from small farmers – as prescribed by the restaurant’s world view. Still, a little more cutting edge and sophisticated than a home might offer.

And, had the cook indeed celebrated Anniversary at home, he still would have stuck to a classic pig thing – the old time way. First you get the meat all nice-coloured on pan, then comes iron pot round in bouillon and vegetables – three-four hours. The result? Delicate and soft – especially when cooked on coals of wood. Griddlecake with apples, curds and littered with crumbs could not go missing, as well.

Apples from vacuum

Born in Märjamaa, taught in Kehtna, trained at both Radisson Helsinki and Pädaste manor – to name a few – Mr Saar is mostly fond of the festive appetisers i.e. potatoes cooked with garlic lard, with herring caviar.

«This was everybody’s favourite while the menu was in the testing, already,» shares the cook. What’s most important: the public liked it, responding with stormy ovations.

«A fun part of cooking is the instant result. Good to have honest and immediate feedback,» smiles Mr Saar. At any rate, he seems to have made it big – his first strike at being chef.

On the dessert side, Mr Saar is a fan of the curds éclair, the dough receipe having to be recalled from school-days. It proved no big deal – and not a marathon, time-wise, with contemporary kitchen tools.

As lacing, sea buckthorn ice-cream came handy. Another one was of apples, cooked in vacuum-bag in 85^o C water with marinade of  Põltsamaa Tõmmu and spices. In vacuum, you see, the apple-balls don’t overcook. Nor do they come out raw. Plus – the marinade taste comes through nice.

Whipped semolina nostalgia

You’ll never do state-of-the-art vacuum cooking at home. However, whipped redcurrant semolina can be done by anybody. Here, cook’s granny’s skills came into play, for she used to do it world class.

«True Estonian food is what the grannies cook at home,» Mr Saar believes. And recalls cooked mutton, herring in marinade and freshly smoked flatfish from back home.

The main course whipped semolina, he remembers, was once listed in his «final paper» menu at school (on Estonian kitchen classics). Both then and now, iced milk causes the ancient dessert to come alive. Add vanilla, if you like.

When trying out the things underneath, you don’t have to sieve the ingredients – leaving it more rustic. The chef, however, thinks it worth the effort, for it will then be creamier, cleaner and cooler.

Whipped redcurrant semolina with ice milk

4-6 servings

For whipped semolina:

•    300 g frozen redcurrants

•    400 g water

•    50 g wheat semolina

•    Dan Sukker crystal sugar, according to taste

For ice milk:

•    500 g 3.5 % milk

•    1 table-spoons of sugar

For decoration: dried dewberries

Put water, redcurrants into pot, heat to boil. Make puree of berries with hand blender, press through fine sieve. Pour the resulting juice into clean pot, boil and add sugar and – continually stirring – add the semolina. Boil on low heat, occasionally stirring, for ca 10 minutes. Remove from fire, whip up until cooled.

Pour milk into bowl, add sugar and mix until sugar is dissolved. Put to deep freeze for 2 hours. Take out and whip up until foam forms, even in texture. Serve immediately with whipped semolina.