Metsik Toit
Metsik Toit is dedicated to broadening the use of wild food. Our pursuit in Metsik Toit is to urge people to (re)discover and value the gastronomic potential of edible (wild) nature.
Estonia’s rich forest and foraging culture
A ten minute drive from Estonian capital Tallinn will take you to a forest, actually there is no need to leave the city — there are small forests inside Tallinn as well. Moreover, a big part of Estonian land territory is covered with forest, making Estonia one of the most forest-rich countries in the world. Around 40% of the forests of Estonia belong to the state and these forests are now recognised as certified organic collection areas. Thus, foraging for plants, berries, nuts, birch sap or mushrooms from these forests or just enjoying the forest environment is accessible and recommended to everyone. And, indeed, these possibilities are been actively used. Going to the forest or wild nature to forage is still quite common for a large number of locals. There is a time of year — early summer to early autumn — where there is an abundance of different plants, mushrooms and berries in the forest. Then you will notice forest roadsides full of cars and people with gumboots, baskets and headscarves foraging for nature’s goodies.st
A lot of the foraging was traditionally and is still done keeping in mind the difficult winter period ahead, lacking nutritious vitamin-rich foods. So various berries, mushrooms and plants are collected and diverse preservation techniques — salting, marinating, fermenting, freezing, preserving in water, drying — are being applied to be able to consume nutritious and delicious food also in the time of year that is barren of local fresh produce. Though, hand-in-hand with this rather pragmatic relationship with the forest, other types of relationships with the forest evolved. You had to respect and give back to the one who provides — forest was an important place of worship for the old animistic Estonians. The forest as a symbol, an archetype, a place of worship and escape is engrained in the Estonian cultural history, articulated in old folk songs, stories and myths; forest was and is used as the defining framework of alternative nationalistic identity narratives.
Wild Food — Metsik Toit
Thus, forest — a truly characteristic landscape in Estonia, yet also a significant cultural archetype and most definitely a place of escape and relaxation for many Estonians. But for us, in Metsik Toit, it is also a workplace, though a really pleasant one. Metsik Toit is a platform dedicated to broadening the use of wild food. Our pursuit is to urge people to (re)discover and value the gastronomic potential of edible wild nature. Based in Estonia, we are inspired by the region’s rich foraging culture and long history of diverse fermentation and preservation practices. We conduct research and collaboration projects around the contemporary uses of and advancement of wild food culture.
Our name Metsik Toit, meaning “wild food” in estonian, revolves around the word play between the estonian words for forest (“mets”), wild (“metsik”) and food (“toit”).
“Metsik” (wild) indicates to our unconstrained attitude towards what food is and can be. The natural environment around us is full of edible potential, still we are not necessarily used to experiencing it as such. Our goal in Metsik Toit is to urge people to get to know and value the edible nature around them and to experiment with the flavours, textures and aromas of wild plants.
“Mets” (forest). We forage from Estonia’s forests, but also from other natural landscapes such as seashores, wetlands and meadows, sometimes even urban landscapes, though always keeping in mind the principles of sustainable and ethical foraging and that the areas where we forage are clean from any kind of waste. The foraged food typically ends up in the kitchen tables of Tallinn restaurants, on Metsik Toit’s food experience events or gets used in our workshops and product development projects.
In our Medium page, we will cover our thoughts, reflections and experiments regarding foraging, edible wild food and food culture topics.
We wish you a lot of interesting wild food discoveries for 2018!
Liis Tuulberg
Founder, Metsik Toit
Metsik Toit is a platform for different activities and research projects that gathers people with various backgrounds, who are united by their interest in wild food and food culture. We conduct research and collaboration projects around the contemporary uses of and advancement of wild food culture.
Find out more at: metsiktoit.ee or follow our activities on Instagram.
