Foods for special occasions

In the olden days, weddings were the most important celebration. Guests brought their own food to weddings, as presents: baked goods, meat, groats, flour and also beer. An older wedding dish was cabbage soup. Certainly various white bread and porridge from groats or meal would be on the table, as well as a specific round loaf of bread made from fine rye flour, salt, and a plate of curds under a layer of butter, into which the wedding guests placed coins.

Most typical funeral food was kutja, made from stewed peas and honey, and later from rice and honey. Fermented oat flummery and jellied fish were also a dish associated more with wakes.

Pies and pastries were often baked for celebrations and as guest’s presents. The most common fillings were potatoes or curds. Sometimes fish, meat, groats and onion were added.

Buckwheat blini were served at celebrations in winter. A kind of sponge cake called egg cake and other egg dishes were made in the summertime. Meat dishes – jellied meat in particular – were prepared in the autumn for festivities.

The best known Seto food from celebrations is sõir - home-made pressed cheese. It was made for every conceivable special occasion: church feasts, weddings and other family gatherings.