The transition from Soviet Estonia to the Republic of Estonia was strongly felt in the food sphere. "It was a relatively long adjustment as the food crisis started gearing up already in the late 80s. Among its catalysts was Gorbachev's prohibition, one side-effect of which was that sugar disappeared from stores. It was necessary to resort to sugar stamps in Estonia in 1988," Kannike said. The situation got worse from there and hit bottom in 1991-1992, before the June 20 currency reform.

According to Kannike, methods and tricks Estonians had used in previous crises had to be dusted off again. It meant growing food in garden patches whether in the countryside or cities. People grew vegetables and often reared a calf, next to taking on extra work. Inflation was so bad that it was simply impossible to survive on a salary.

Several foodstuffs were in short supply, which is why people had to settle for all manner of substitutes. "Sugar beet had been used to make sugar decades before. Newspapers ran ads and instructions for making sugar beet or potato syrup, alcoholic beverages were substituted with moonshine and real coffee with cereal coffee again," the researcher said.

New foods and flavors

Following the 1992 currency reform, all manner of never-before-seen foods and flavors started arriving in Estonia, all of which had to be sampled. "It was a period of great excitement when goods were plentiful while money was not. It also meant getting used to new things. Sponge cake from Germany full of preservatives became the crown jewel of spreads, and people soon realized that while it was not particularly tasty or healthy, being able to afford it was an achievement in itself."

Foreign food packagings were not thrown away and became a kind of status symbol. "Empty beer cans were put on display in liquor cabinets and coffee containers were also left out to make sure the guests knew you had the good stuff. That is how it was."

Various types of eateries also soon arrived in Estonia: pizza bars, burger kiosks, bistros and restaurants. Pizza also took on a hybrid form in Estonian homes. "Well-known cookbook author Peeter Kard wrote in Maaleht that if you don't have the ingredients to make a proper pizza, fashion the base from one-third egg, barley flour and pig fat. For toppings, black pudding or bacon could be used. Such hybrid forms appeared when people used what they had to give form to ideas of pizza or burgers," Kannike said.

Western drinks also started to arrive. An unprecedented selection of soft drinks, beer, the Finnish long drink, or gin and tonic in a can, appeared. "People picked drinks not just based on taste but also what they could afford. One popular cocktail was Mehukatti syrup and Royal spirit, which was a big hit among university students. People continued to drink good old vodka too as the new stuff was expensive and usually saved for special occasions," Kannike said, adding that drinking culture was still Soviet at heart. "People drank a lot and for the purpose of getting well and drunk."

Restaurants and exotica

A proper restaurant landscape could only take shape once the living standard had improved slightly. "The growth period of the second half of the 1990s was when people started regularly going to restaurants and the elite to swell. Celebrating a jubilee at a restaurant became common," the historian said.

Next to gourmet restaurants, world cuisine appeared. "It is an interesting phenomenon. One of the first was the Maharadža Indian restaurant in Tallinn's Town Hall Square, which has really stood the test of time. I remember the first time I went there and how the palette of spices was interesting but also very unfamiliar."

People started cooking more exotic food at home, which sometimes led to tensions. "For example, when your grandmother refused to eat a bite of what you cooked for her birthday, or when your husband who had very conservative tastes and had spent 30-50 years eating the same boiled potatoes with minced meat sauce was now suddenly presented with a paella or wok. It was a source of household tension sometimes," Kannike noted.

The 1990s were a time of searching, adjustment and discovery on the food scene. "Changes in food culture also reflected a wider acceleration, life became more frantic and fast food appeared. People were less likely to sit down at table together at set times. A kind of fragmentation happened where you would grab a burger and then work until midnight before popping to the corner gas station for a little something. Lifestyles changed," she admitted.

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