Kama
A roasted flour mix of rye, barley, oat and pea, stirred into buttermilk - peasant survival food that turned into a national flavour and then into dessert.
Kama started as a way to make grain edible without cooking. The four grains - rye, barley, oat and dried pea - are roasted and milled together, and the resulting flour can be eaten straight, mixed with sour milk or buttermilk. It kept in a sack, needed no fire, and travelled with people working away from home.
What it actually is
A fine tan-coloured powder that smells strongly of toasted grain. The traditional preparation is simply kama stirred into kefir or buttermilk with a little sugar, eaten cold as a summer meal or a breakfast.
Modern Estonian cooking has taken it in the other direction: kama mousse, kama cheesecake, kama truffles and kama ice cream are all standard on dessert menus now, and packets of the flour are in every supermarket.
Where to try it
- Supermarkets - a packet of kama flour costs very little and travels well, which makes it one of the better edible souvenirs.
- Cafés and restaurants - the mousse version is the most common and the easiest introduction.
- Markets - some stalls sell kama mixed with cream or as ready desserts.
Honest expectations
Plain kama in buttermilk is an acquired taste - dry, grainy and sour, and rarely loved on first contact by anyone who did not grow up with it. The dessert versions are much more approachable and are what most visitors actually enjoy.
The flour is not a drink mix. Stirred into water it is unpleasant; it needs a cultured dairy base.
Nearby
Both the Balti Jaam market in Tallinn and the Tartu market hall sell kama alongside the black bread and dairy it belongs with.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.