Tag: baltics

Last summer i visited Latvia and Estonia. They are not too far from Scandinavia, and I was curious to find what they have in common with Nordics.

1. language and identity in the Baltics

While Latvians and Lithuanians are Baltic people – speaking an Indo-European language, related to Slavic languages- Estonians are Finnic, and their language is very close to Finnish, making Estonia the most ‘Nordic’ of the Baltic countries. Livonians are a small Finnic minority in Latvia.
Estonia in particular has deep ties with Scandinavia – it used to be under Swedish and Danish rule. Though you can find a Swedish gate in Riga too!

There is actually a Swedish minority in Northern Estonia and coastal areas, that has existed since the 13th Century: eestirootslased or rannarootslased in Estonian, estlandssvenskar or aibofolket  in Swedish, similarly to Finlandssvenskar, Finland’s Swedes.
Its number shrinked however significantly due to the USSR occupation in the 20th century, that urged many to flee to Sweden, being very small today.

There is also significant proficiency in Finnish in Estonia, thanks to its linguistic proximity with Estonian and exposure to Finnish broadcasts during the Soviet era. Nowadays, young Estonians are not as exposed to Finnish media as older generations were during those times, and Finnish is not as intelligible for them as it used to be for their parents.

According to a poll done in 2013, about half of the young Estonians considered themselves Nordic, and about the same number viewed Baltic identity as important.

2. Baltic cuisine

• Rye bread is king! As dark as night! Rye bread chocolate is a things both countries!! Says enough..
• Herring, Redbeet, (potato) pancakes are staples – all stuff to be found at LIDO chain self-service restaurants, Latvian of origin.
• Soups in Latvia are a very common part of meals as in Slavic countries, notably the redbeet cold soup. Something typical Latvian are the dumplings Pelmeni, similar to Polish Pierogi etc.
• A galore of Baked goods were everywhere in Latvia, maybe not as much in Estonia. Nordic style buns were in both! Something that seemed very common were custard buns, and coconut coated buns. Latvians seem to love cookies.

Kalev is Estonia’s chocolate brand, Latvia also has its national confectionery brand Laci.

3. Nordic stores and products in Baltic

• Stockmann department stores are present in both countries – you can find a lot of Nordic stuff, including Norwegian Brunost and carelian pastries!! Though I saw carelian pastries in Estonian supermarkets, and ICA cloudberry and lingon jam at a Rimi supermarket.. Finnish fast food chain Hesburger is present in the Baltics – I have to say I did not see any special items from it though…
• You can get bulk candy in supermarkets like in Nordics. But it seems in the Baltics they enjoy bulk cookies as well!

Finnish brands as Fazer chocolate and some moomin stuff is common in Estonia. At Tallinn airport they had a whole selection of more Finnish and Swedish candy brands, and even a Pippi + moomin merch corner!!

4. architecture

Looking at some buildings, you could be in Scandinavia, though others make you think of Eastern European cottages.

Folk Culture

As in Sweden and Finland among others, Baltic celebrate the Summer Solstice, a.k.a. Midsummer – or Saint John’s night – jääni in Estonian, Jāņi in Latvia. People go to the countryside to gather and eat, drink, sing and take part to old pagan traditions. Among others lighting a bonfire and gather herbs to make flower crowns and oak leaves wreaths!

Folk costumes are also quite distinct from Scandinavian ones, and are often characterized by a headgear in both Latvia and Estonia.

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