Estonian fare has never been too plentiful, and this is perhaps the reason why the habit of wishing one another 'bon appetit' has not taken root here. Instead, people say: "May your bread last!" Apart from a few periods of famine, Estonia has not lacked black, leavened rye bread. Even those who have lived abroad for dozens of years still do not forget its characteristic taste.

To those Estonians who have moved to the cities over the last few generations, the cuisine of their mostly country-based forefathers of the late 19th century has become rather unfamiliar. Regional distinctions, sharply defined a hundred years ago, have now become fairly hazy. In the past, islanders and coastal people, living on poor, stony land, mostly ate potatoes and salted, dried or smoked fish with their bread. Inland farmers raised cattle, of which only the milch cows and breeding animals were kept over the winter. The fatal day for rams was Michaelmas on September 29th; St. Martin's Day on November 10th always boasted a goose on the table, and on St. Catherine's Day (November 25th), one had a chicken.