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EESTI ELU reedel, 4. detsembril 2020 — Friday, December 4, 2020
Nr. 48
Blood, guts and glory Yes, we heathen Estonians take great pleasure in calling our traditional Yule food “blood sausage” instead of the more politically correct “black pudding”. After all – this delicious wurst in crack ling casing IS made with fresh blood, minced meats, barley and secret herbs. We, the oldest peoples of Europe who have continually inhabited the same territory on the shores of the Baltic Sea for over 10 000 years (according to various archaeological exca vations and carbon dating of artifacts) and proud of our Viking heritage, do enjoy this “gruesome” delicacy. Espe cially in the times of militant veganism. To us it symbolizes the sacred circle of life – using every last bit of a slaughtered farm animal, who got to enjoy a happy life in fresh air and green pastures. Rather than just feast ing on the prime cuts of his loin, we collect the blood, chop up lesser cuts and use the intes tines as sausage casings – thus honoring the life the beast gave up to feed us. Very much the same philosophy of Native Americans, who are also big on using every last bit of the harvested animal – from skin to bones and everything in between. The making of blood sausage is not something to be done on a whim. It does involve an entire team and several days. Mind you – this is just the pro duction of blood sausage. They still need to dry, cure and rest in a freezer before the day of actually baking them to be consumed. In other words – a labor of love. A very communal
effort, best led by someone with years of experience. Just like any ancient skill that is handed down directly from masters to apprentices. It is in that time honored tradition that we gather at Lakewood Estonian House in New Jersey, one of the few re maining active bastions of Estonian diaspora. The scene that unfolds in the kitchen does indeed look like a crime scene – there is a huge galvanized tub. The right size to water cattle or bathe babies and golden retrievers in. Into that go many pounds of cooked meats, sautéed onion, boiled barley and secret herbs. We stir it with paddles the size of boat oars. It is quite a workout; no gym needed that day. One is almost tempted to climb into this humongous tub and stomp the mixture with bare feet like Italians squashing grapes. I am told that it would not be a good idea. And then – the piece de la resistance – into that mixture jugs of fresh blood from a trust ed local butcher gets poured. At this point, some fainthearted avert their eyes, others more comfortable with grue some realities of farm life start stirring the pot. The inevitable splatter of blood on the table and floor definitely conjure Dexter. Once this unholy mix ture has been paddled enough, it gets divided into smaller batches to be chilled in the refrigerator. A sausage machine gets set up while some cut string and others wash intestines. Let me explain – the pig intestines will be used as a natural casing for the blood sausage. They need to be clean, wet and pliable. The natural string needs to be cut
Global Business Summit 2020 Estonian American Business Alliance Ave Maria Blithe and Raivo Reinup.
into about foot-long strips for tying up the filled casings, thus forming sausage links. The sausage stuffing machine looks like a giant meat grinder with a long tube, over which a strip of casing will be pulled like a certain super long latex preven tative device. I assume that is why it is usually a man who is entrusted with this particular task. The chilled mixture will now be forced into this press and tube and casing – a delicate task usually handled by a woman as it needs to be held firmly yet gently. Needless to say, the entire procedure is accompanied by various adult jokes, not suitable to innocent ears. The sausages now need to be boiled in huge pots. To test their doneness, it has to be pricked with a huge sewing needle. If it still squirts blood, it is not done. If not, it can be lifted out to cool. Erik Must, the chef extraordinaire of Lakewood Estonian House, has a designated needle for this pivotal task – attached to a piece of string and a real bullet like a fancy keychain. Needless to say (pun intended) I declare this a bullet-proof method of never losing this particular nee dle. We Estonians might seem
Photo: Sven Must
When: Wednesday, December 16th, 2020 @ 12.00 GMT Where: www.globalbusiness summit.online Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonia invites everyone to be come more digital! like a reserved bunch to out All ministries and agencies siders, but get us together parti who are looking to advance cipating in one of our time- their government in the digital honoured tasks rooted in histo field, school and university ry, and communal spirit mixed leaders and education authori with laughter will soon fill the ties, smart mobility and lo room. It just takes coed sauna gistics companies, hospitals, or stuffing pig intestines with medical centers and other blood and barley mixture healthcare facilities, banks, food instead of superficial cocktail businesses, and manufacturing hour small talk. companies are all welcome to AVE MARIA BLITHE join the event online. Currently, over 30 countries will be participating. A commission consisting of experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Commu than 3,000 institutions across nications, the Enterprise Esto nia, the Estonian Information Europe). Technology and Telecommuni Fat Margaret has also applied cations Association, Startup for the highest cultural heritage Estonia, and Tehnopol made the award Europa Nostra, and nom selection of the companies to inees will be published at the present their digital solutions. beginning of December. The seven Estonian Fat Margaret has also companies are: reached the final round of the Estonian Construction Project Guardtime – digital vaccination of the Year competition in the system (winner) building category, the winners SK ID Solutions, Smart ID – of which will be announced on cybersecurity/e-government November 25. NET Group, Schoolaby – The annual awards of the e-health Estonian Association of Archi Nortal, SimplyGo – e-health tects and the Estonian Asso Timbeter – digital wood mea ciation of Interior Architects, surement and production whose nominees also include FoodDocs – digital food securi the project of the Fat Margaret, ty system will be announced on December Datel – infrastructure tracking 9. The competition for the system SILLE annual awards of Estonian For any questions, please museums is also taking place. contact Business Diplomacy (ERR) Bureau team: globalsummit@ mfa.ee Join to tackle complex chal lenges posed by COVID-19 Your source of news about Estonia and through digital transformation Estonians, home and abroad in the public and private sectors.
Fat Margaret wins Europe-wide digital cultural heritage award The Estonian Maritime Museum has been awarded the Heritage in Motion ‘Best Achievement Award’ for its digital and audiovisual solu tions at Tallinn’s Fat Mar garet permanent exhibition “Towering Tales of the Sea”. Heritage in Motion is an an nual multimedia competition on
Fat Margaret.
themes related to Europe’s cultural and natural heritage for the creators and users of films, games, apps and websites. It celebrates the best multimedia achievements and products, engaging the public with Europe’s outstanding heritage in all its forms. The “Towering Tales of the
Photo: Hendrik Osula
Sea” exhibition features more than 30 digital solutions. Some use big real-time data, others are more hands-on and ex periential, and some are based on a vast amount of historic research. The jury said: “The approach is ambitious and multifaceted by combining various technolo gies dynamically, thereby con tinuously engaging and sur prising visitors.” The digital and audiovisual solutions were created in co operation with the Platvorm studio. The contest “Heritage in Motion” is organized by Euro pean Museum Academy, Europa Nostra (The European Voice of Civil Society committed to Cultural Heritage) and Euro peana (Europeana is a web por tal created by the European Union containing digitalized museum collections of more
Dear Friends and Colleagues, On December 16th, Estonia and the United Arab Emirates will co-host the virtual Global Business Summit 2020. This event is a platform to discover the best digital solu tions from a number of coun tries across various sectors, such as health, education, e-governance, cyber security, smart mobility and logistics, fi nance, and manufacturing, to help in the fight against COVID-19. It will feature in spiring keynote speakers and experts in their fields, as well as high-level government officials. They will present the various digital solutions that have made significant differences for them during the pandemic.
ESTONIAN LIFE
