https://doi.org/10.7592/FEJF2018.71.laineste THE TASTE OF “ESTONIANNESS”: COOKBOOKS AS PART OF NATION-BUILDING IN ESTONIA Liisi Laineste Senior Research Fellow Estonian Literary Museum, Estonia e-mail: liisi.laineste@folklore.ee Abstract: This paper takes a diachronic look at the culinary trends in the present- day Estonia. It sheds light on the process of nation-building enacted through recipes that refer to the social ideals, convictions, and stereotypes widely held at the time of the frst Republic of Estonia (1919–1939). The idealised notions of the past create a distinct atmosphere of nostalgia that can be observed in two sources discussed in this study: Maria Laidoner’s Cuisine (2008; compiled on the basis of notes taken down from published cookbooks and hand-written recipes from the 1930s), and Gifts of Taste (Ilves 2011). Behind both of these books stand women who have had an important status in society: Maria Laidoner fulflled the role of the frst lady of the state in the 1930s, and Evelin Ilves was the frst lady between 2006 and 2015. The two cookbooks point at a feeling of nostalgia that the nation harbours towards the authentic, Estonian cooking frst advocated in the 1930s, which combines the rustic and noble into a modern and trendy whole. Keywords: cookbooks, Estonia, food, identity INTRODUCTION Idealised notions of the past create a distinct atmosphere of nostalgia which is evident in different walks of life, among them culinary traditions. In this study I aim to show the role of nostalgia in present-day nation-building processes, relying mainly on two sources: Maria Laidoner’s Cuisine (2008; compiled on the basis of notes taken down from published cookbooks and hand-written recipes from the 1930s), and Gifts of Taste (Ilves 2011). The common denominator of these two books is the important status of their authors. Maria Laidoner ful- flled the role of the frst lady of the state in the 1930s and Evelin Ilves was the frst lady between 2006 and 2015. The books represent the period of the frst Republic of Estonia and the present time (twenty-frst century) respectively. In http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol71/laineste.pdf