Soolatud

Soolatud is an Estonian adjective meaning salted or cured by salting. It describes foods that have been treated with salt, typically for preservation, flavor, or both. The form is a past passive participle derived from the noun sool meaning salt and the verb to salt, with the suffix -atud to form an adjective.

In usage, soolatud is most commonly found with nouns for food, for example soolatud kala (salted fish) or soolatud liha (salted meat). The term covers different methods of salting, including dry salting and brining, and it can be combined with other preservation methods such as smoking (soolatud ja suitsutatud). The degree of curing can vary, from light seasoning to heavy salting with high salt content.

Historically, salt preservation has been important in northern and Baltic cuisines, where soolatud products could be stored through long winters. In contemporary cooking, soolatud foods are often prepared commercially or at home and used to impart specific textures and flavors.

In Estonian grammar, soolatud behaves as an adjective and agrees in number and case with the noun it modifies (e.g., soolatud kala, soolatud kalad). It can also appear in predicate position as kala on soolatud, though this is more common in descriptive phrasing than everyday speech.