Estonia's national peasant dish: a creamy porridge of mashed potato and pearl barley, finished with butter, bacon and onion. Mulgimaa-region origin.

Mulgi puder takes its name from the Mulgimaa region in southern Estonia, where pearl barley grew well on the heavy soils. Peasant farmers cooked the barley into a porridge then mashed it with potato to stretch the dish through winter. The barley was usually pearled and slow-cooked, then loosened with cream or milk and topped with bacon and onion. Tallinn's Old Town traditional rooms like Rataskaevu 16 still keep it on the menu year-round, alongside lingonberry jam.

Where to eat Mulgi Puder in Tallinn

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Make it at home

Serves 41 hrEasy

Ingredients

  • 200g pearl barley
  • 800g floury potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 200ml whole milk
  • 100g butter
  • 200g smoked bacon lardons
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Black pepper
  • Lingonberry jam to serve

Method

  1. Rinse the pearl barley and simmer in 700ml salted water until tender, about 40 minutes.
  2. Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft, about 20 minutes, then drain.
  3. Mash the potatoes with the cooked barley and warm milk until smooth and porridgey.
  4. Fry the bacon and onions in a pan until golden brown.
  5. Pile the mash into bowls, top with bacon-onion mixture and serve with lingonberry jam.

Editor tip. Mash by hand or with a wooden spoon; a food processor turns the puder gluey.

Common allergens: Gluten, Milk.