Estonia's culinary scene comprises an exciting mix of native, homegrown talent and chefs coming to the country from abroad. In this two-part series, we take a look at the stories of two of the country's top chefs: Angelica Udeküll of Michelin-recommended Wicca in Laulasmaa and Karoliina Jaakkola of Michelin Green-Starred SOO in Maidla.
Angelica is a born-and-bred Estonian who champions the produce and cuisine of her country and acts as an ambassador for its culinary scene. Karoliina, meanwhile, hails from Finland and also spent time living in New Zealand before making Estonia her home. Neither chef started life with the aim of taking up the profession – Angelica was destined to be a musician, while Karoliina was set to become an ice hockey player – but both found their true calling in the kitchen and have never looked back.
We asked them about their life growing up, their career to date and their hopes for the future.
Personal Background
Tell us about your life growing up in relation to food.
I am originally from a very small city called Forssa in Southern Finland. I lived there until I was around 16, after which I moved to a bigger city to play professional ice hockey. After I turned 20, I was more or less always on the move. I went to New Zealand for a bit and, after spending a while back in Finland, I moved to Estonia.In my childhood home my mum usually cooked for us, but she often included us kids (me and my brother) into the preparations, peeling potatoes and such. My mum worked as a chef and her mom was a very good baker, so I think the two are the root cause of my passion for cooking.
Professional Background
Tell us about your professional journey.
I wasn't exactly planning on becoming a chef. My original idea was to become a professional hockey player and a gym teacher. However, I got very badly injured while playing and had to find a new career path and, well, having chefs in my family, and having a strong need to work with my hands, it felt like a natural calling to follow this path. I applied and got into culinary school, and started working immediately whilst studying.I got a job as a busser/barback at Restaurant Muru in Helsinki and, at the same time, I was working as a chef in a small hotel in Rihimäki – and, since I was very hungry to learn, I took one more job to fill up my Sundays working as a baker in Hyvinkäa. All three jobs were in different cities, but within the same train line. I remember one Saturday night I missed the last train to leave from my work in Helsinki and had to sleep a little while at the train station to catch the morning train to my bakery shift which started at 8. I was very dedicated to learning everything I possibly could.
I've worked most of my career in Helsinki, but I have lived and worked in New Zealand and now also in Estonia. I have done some pop-ups and private catering events in Italy during my culinary studies, and just a while back with my colleague we did a private event on a yacht in Barcelona. I do travel quite a bit, chasing cool cuisines and new recipes on my own time. The latest research trip I took was in Japan last month!
The biggest helpers on my career have been the people I've had the pleasure to work with. The one place that taught me the most as a young chef is Restaurant Muru. I would not be doing what I'm doing today without the patience and the guidance of the team I worked with back there. Our menu changed every two weeks and for a young and hungry chef, that is a proper gold mine for learning. There I also received some priceless experience on combining food and wine. I got to experience tastings with Finland's top sommeliers and to work alongside them to gain a deeper understanding of wines and spirits.
Current Restaurant
How did you choose your current restaurant and location?
I originally came to Estonia to create a pop-up restaurant with my previous colleagues. One thing led to another and I started doing some concept consulting work for restaurants in Tallinn. During one of the projects I met the CEO of Maidla Nature Resort, Katrily Purga, who offered me a position taking over the kitchen at Restaurant SOO and helping design this unique experience we are offering today. I chose to take on the challenge and here I am!I chose to participate in building this concept for the freedom I was offered. I get to express myself and highlight my skills the way I see fit, and I am lucky to indulge in the trust of the team around me.
I see Restaurant SOO as bringing together the past and the present, a place where a rustic milieu meets the refined and luxurious feel of fine dining in the middle of a forest. We are building a cuisine and an experience that is very uniquely SOO. The history of Estonia, its traditions, nature and ingredients are presented in a way that I feel really brings out the best and the most interesting parts of this country. I use techniques from around the world to really highlight all the Estonian ingredients and what they have to offer.
Estonian Cuisine
What is your favourite Estonian ingredient and why?
Potatoes. It might be a silly answer, but the potatoes here are magnificent and extremely versatile. They survive the harsh conditions of the winter time and still taste delicious. I also really love the game that roams around in the forest – especially the roe deer for its tender and delicious meat.What is your favourite Estonian dish and why?
I like verivorst, the Estonian blood sausage. It's a nice hearty dish and we have something similar in Finland, so it remotely reminds me of home.Would you say that you are an ambassador for Estonian cuisine or do you prefer to include European / global flavours as well?
I like to include global flavours and techniques to keep things a little playful and also to bring out the best features of the beautiful ingredients we have here in Estonia. As an example, I might have a beautiful locally sourced celeriac as the main character of a dish, but then I bring in some flavours like black cardamom from the other side of the world to give this beautiful ingredient something new.Are your cooking techniques influenced by places that you have lived, worked or travelled to in the past?
My cooking techniques are most definitely influenced by the places I've worked and lived in. Most of my recipes are collected in an old-school way by memorising something by heart and then writing it down in my old notebook once I get home. Nowadays I do a lot of recipe exchange with my previous colleagues and share very openly anything worth trying, I am very lucky to have such an international group of friends from whom I get a lot of things I haven't tried before.How do you incorporate flavours from your home country / your travels?
Estonian and Finnish cuisines and ingredients have a lot of similarities so it has been quite natural for me to combine the two. As for my travels, I like to bring ideologies and combinations of flavours in small roles just to elevate something we already have, or to create something completely new.
Michelin Green Star
Tell us about the ethical / sustainable aspects of your cooking.
I have a strong take on sustainability. For every ingredient that comes in, I try to use every little bit of it to honour it to the fullest. I actively seek new collaborations with the local community to get my hands on some locally sourced ingredients to decrease our carbon footprint to the minimum and also to bring in the beautiful abundance of nature surrounding us. Especially during the summer months we indulge in a very large variety of vegetables and berries coming from the surrounding area. At SOO we also have a small garden to grow herbs, edible flowers, apples and even hazelnuts ourselves. That's one aspect of my job that I truly adore as well, being able to grow the ingredients I use with love and care, at least for me, it feels even more special to put that on the plate.I personally value social sustainability as well in a very high regard. My goal is to put an end to the toxic work culture that has been the unfortunate reality of many in the industry for such a long time. My belief is that if the working environment is physically and psychologically safe, it will create a place for everyone to grow and do the best they can, and that way also bring more passion and love to the experience we offer to others. I still have a lot to learn on that subject, as I believe many others do too, but at least the conversation is on the table, and I try to push the open discussion to better ourselves within everyone I work with on a daily basis.
The Future
Looking 10 years into the future… Do you see yourself staying in your current location / staying in Estonia? Or would you like to experience cooking elsewhere in the world.
The past has shown that I am a rather restless soul and always down for an adventure. I do believe that I will be working within the current projects at hand for a long time, but since I do a lot of other consulting projects and private catering on my own time as well, who knows what the future holds. I like to keep my mind open for any opportunities, as ultimately I want to build something that is truly my own – what exactly that means, we will have to wait and see!
As mentioned, I do private catering and other consultation projects as well, helping those who see value in my knowledge and skills. There are some fun collaborations coming later this year with other very talented chefs, at the minimum in Estonia and Finland, and I'm very excited for those! I have chef friends around the world and I'm always excited to invite them in to do collaborations – I think that itself casts more light on the ever-growing culinary scene of Estonia!
Discover more about Estonia and its cuisine at visitestonia.com
All Images © Iris Kivisalu/SOO
