Estonian head cheese: meat from pork hocks slow-boiled with bay, allspice and pepper, then set into a clear aspic. Sliced cold and served with mustard and rye bread at Christmas smorgasbords.
Sült belongs to the broader European tradition of head cheese (German Sülze, Polish galareta), absorbed into Estonian cooking through Baltic German aristocracy and Hanseatic trade in the 13th to 19th centuries. Estonian farmers boiled pork hocks for hours with bay, allspice and pepper, then set the gelatinous broth into a mould. The slices became a winter staple at every Estonian smorgasbord and remain a Christmas-table standard alongside verivorst.
3 editor picks for Sült in Tallinn, ranked by editorial score. All Tallinn signature dishes · Sült across every city.
Olde Hansa ★ 4.7
vanalinn · Vana turg 1, 10140 Tallinn
Olde Hansa on Vana turg in the Old Town is a long-running Hanseatic-feast restaurant with medieval costumes, live hurdy-gurdy music and a 14th-century menu.
Rataskaevu 16 ★ 4.5
vanalinn · Rataskaevu 16, 10123 Tallinn
Rataskaevu 16 in the Old Town is a long-running Estonian comfort-food institution, with braised elk roast and chef's choice white fish carrying a vegetable.
Pegasus ★ 4.0
vanalinn · Harju 1, 10146 Tallinn
Pegasus on Harju has been a Tallinn dining-room landmark since 1962, with three floors of modern European cooking and Harju Hill views above the Old Town.