The most symbolic seafood dish of Tallinn is ""Vürtsikilu"" – spicy sprats, pickled with a distinctive set of spices including black pepper, allspice and cloves. Making vürtsikilu presumably originated from the city outskirts, beginning in the late 18th or the early 19th century. In 1826 Tallinn merchants exported nearly 40,000 cans of vürtsikilu to Saint Petersburg, then the capital of the Russian Empire. A closely associated dish is a ""Kiluvõileib"" – a traditional rye bread open sandwich with a thin layer of butter and a layer of vürtsikilu as a topping. Boiled egg slices, mayonnaise and culinary herbs are optional extra toppings.