Once upon a time in Estonia it was customary in many homes for the first snowfalls of winter to be met with the making of snowball soup (Estonian: lumepallisupp).

This is actually a desert rather than a savory broth, with "snowballs" of beaten egg whites and sugar floating atop a soup of boiled milk and egg yolks.

Now, amateur and pro chefs alike in Türi and its surroundings hope to revive that tradition and popularize it again, particularly with the younger generation.

"I can say in my own home that my young people are not that interested. When you do make it, though, you don't do so just for just one person. So it is only very rarely, when people visit who know how to appreciate it, that you actually make it," said South Järva County cooperation network consultant Kristina Gudinas.

Järva County was Estonia's food region three years ago, and at the time discussions were held with neighbors from elsewhere in northern Estonia where the best homemade snowball soup can be found.

On Monday, that debate was put to the test as five cooks from various regions gathered in Türi. The ensuing bake-off turned out to be particularly competitive.

"Flavour and appearance were assessed, as well as whether the original concept of the old lumepallisupp had been preserved. Plöus secret ingredients are allowed," Gudinas added.

Primary ingredients are milk, eggs, flour, starch and sugar. Beyond that, chefs hoped to personalize their creations with secret ingredients, exciting additions and beautiful presentation, even as others valued staying true to culinary traditions.

"You have to follow the classics; I think that if something has once been done well, there's no point trying to improve it. And this is the kind of dessert that gives a person both protein and calcium – in short, pure local food," Maren Rits, head chef at the Sagadi Manor restaurant in Lääne-Viru County told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

Meanwhile Taigo Lepik, president of the Estonian chefs' association, said the contestants had all been highly inventive, skillfully using the interplay of sweet and sour.

"Some cooked it in milk, some baked it in the oven, others steamed it. There were a lot of different 'cool' approaches, as it were" Lepik noted.

But a winner had to be chosen, and the jury found Ave-Triin Eidemiller's snowball soup to be the winner. Ediemiller is hostess of the Paide Vabakohvik cafe. She surprised all comers with the purity of her dessert's texture and flavor.

"The sauce's texture was very velvety and pleasant, the snowball was cooked correctly, it was done to a turn. A little sourness had been added, which fitted into every morsel," Lepik said.

The success of all entrants' creations suggests snowball soup may be finding its way on to the menus of more and more cafes and restaurants in the near future.

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