Estonians are continuing to build a veritable stockpile of quality educational videos online. And if cooking videos are your thing, Tõnu Peit’s channel is worth subscribing to.
This YouTuber regularly publishes videos for recipes, from marineeritud skumbria tarrendis (marinated mackerel in jelly) to ciabatta bread and Uzbek meat soup. Not only do they provide helpful, visual break-downs of the steps, Peit speaks Estonian clearly and at a moderate pace, making it a linguistic learning opportunity as well.
Everything on this channel is in Estonian without subtitles, but even viewers with an upper-elementary level of comprehension in Estonian will gain something. In any case, you can always focus on the videos themselves.
His videos have been viewed over 1.2 million times and each new video is enjoyed by 7.8 thousand subscribers. However, Peit also connects to foodies in-person through his home café, Kapteni Kohvik in Kakumäe, a suburb of Tallinn.
In the lead-up to a pungent fermented herring party he is hosting (more on this below), Tõnu Peit spoke to Eesti Elu / Estonian Life about the origins and operation of both a café and a YouTube channel:
How long have you been cooking? Did you teach yourself?
My world changed. I saw a proper smoker oven during the course. I wanted one for myself, too.
(Tõnu Peit)
I have always had an interest in cooking. I’ve also smoked meat and fish for a long time. But around eight years ago, I attended master courses in preparing ham and sausage. My world changed. I saw a proper smoker oven during the course. I wanted one for myself, too. But professional smoker ovens are expensive, so I made one myself. I also made a smoke generator and wanted to show it on Youtube. That's how it all started.
Quite a few of those who watch my videos have said that I’ve turned their understanding of smoking meat upside down. The thing is, most people smoke the wrong way. When people watch my videos and see how beautiful smoked meat is, then they go and try to make it themselves.
Can you describe the Kapteni Kohvik that you are the owner of?
Kapteni Kohvik (“Captain's Café”) is a home café in my backyard. It’s not open all the time, but rather, when we organize an event. In the summer there are pizza days. There have been hamburger days and ice cream days. We’ve done a garden concert. On February 11th this year is the Surströmming Festival, when we eat smelly, canned Swedish fish outside. Last year, ETV filmed this festival.
There are between 20 and 40 cafés that take part on Kodukohvikute päev.
(Tõnu Peit)
In Estonia, we’ve celebrated Kodukohvikute päev [Home Café Day] at the end of May for the past eight years. I am the main organizer of the entire event, in addition to operating Kapteni Kohvik. There are between 20 and 40 cafés that take part on Kodukohvikute päev. Sometimes there are more participants, sometimes there are less. But I should mention that my home café is the most popular.
I also have a company — Kapteni kohvik OÜ. Everything is official, and the health protection officer checks that the food is of high quality.
Photo gallery
Photos used with permission from Tõnu Peit
What made you decide to share cooking videos on YouTube?
When I started making videos about smoking, I wanted to show what a proper smoker oven should be like and how its used to make quality food products. Most people haven’t seen a proper smoker oven. In Estonia, one can’t buy proper smokehouses, the kind that have convection inside, with clean smoke that comes from a generator.
Then I discovered that there aren't very many people who smoke meat. To get viewers on YouTube, you need to cook other types of meals. That's how it went.
Do you make the videos alone, or with a video team?
I don't make a script first, I simply turn on the camera and start talking.
I make videos alone. I set up two cameras and a light and start filming. I don't make a script first, I simply turn on the camera and start talking. I also edit the footage with the DaVinci Resolve program. At first my son taught me how to use it, as he knows how to edit with that software. From time to time I still ask him about new tricks that I don't know about yet.
What has been your favourite recipe to cook and film?
Like I mentioned, I like working with meat: grilling, smoking, and curing. I also like to make sausage, but rarely do, because washing the sausage press and the meat grinder is tedious.
Try out some of Tõnu’s recipes, and when you do, send an email to digitaleditor@eestielu.ca to let us know what you made and how things went!
This interview has been edited and condensed.
