Surprising Estonian Cuisine Analogues in Toronto

But even if you’re not big on eating out, delicatessens, grocery stores, and bakeries around town can also provide you with flavours from different nations. And then, sometimes you’ll find a dish that’s way more familiar than you’d expect to find.

Take, for example, the sweet bread served at the recent Toronto Estonian Men’s Choir concert. At first glance, its somewhat flakey exterior texture and sugar powdering pattern looked like that of kringel, as eaten in Estonia and around Scandinavia. It's presented in a round shape like kringel. But it actually contains coconut and is something that Brazilian and Portuguese people eat.

"Somehow, whenever there’s a concert, a drink to be drunk, a new place to eat, or some sort of social engagement, it’s out here around Little Portugal."

This almost-kringel led me back to the intersection of Dundas Street and Ossington Avenue, a familiar neighbourhood that’s sometimes known to my friends and I as “Dundozz.” These days it’s a pretty happening part of town. Somehow, whenever there’s a concert to play or watch, a drink to be drunk, a new place to eat (including the city’s best pizza slice at Badiali), or some sort of social engagement, it’s out here. Depending on who you ask, it’s part of/adjacent to what’s known as Little Portugal.