Traditional and modern LATVIAN AND BEVERAGES has a wealth of culinary traditions, During the autumn, Martin Day’s rooster because the country is at the crossroads or goose is roasted in the , with apple of Europe, and so influences from other cake or pastry for desert. nations have come from the East and the Work sessions are held during the autumn, West over the of centuries. Latvian and pancakes are served. Fish, is distinctly seasonal, because we , sausages and even cheese can be have four seasons, and each of them offers smoked. Fresh butter is smeared on a specific products and tasty treats. slice of rye . Cranberries are used to produce lemonade. People buy and sell During the springtime, eagerly summer produce at annual markets. await the availability of birch juice. They grow green on windowsills. The Christmas table will groan under skins are used to dye Easter eggs. , gingerbread, roast meats is sought out in gardens or meadows. Tarts and . The Christmas table on with rhubarb are baked. New Year’s Eve, people roast fish and put fish scales in their pocketbooks so as to The summer begins with wild and garden ensure money in the new year. All of the strawberries. Summer Solstice would not peas on the table are eaten so as to ensure be Summer Solstice without seed no tears in the coming year. People believe cheese and . Summer also involves that at least nine dishes must be served on new potatoes, cherries, tomatoes from New Year’s Eve to ensure that the next year the garden, ice cream, fresh honey, herbal will be a good one. teas and aromatic apples. Cranberry fool is whipped. Mushrooms are roasted Latvians are hospitable, and they will bring and marinated. Mushroom hunting and gifts when they come visiting and always fishing are nearly cult rituals or examples give you one for the road when you’re of meditation for Latvians. Meat is grilled leaving. over hot coals, and fish is cooked. Soured cream and dill can be added to Welcome! nearly every dish. -shaped pastry is baked for birthdays, and tarts are baked for weddings. People can pickles and jams, and they dry and freeze various goodies from the garden and the forest, because a long, hard winter is coming. MAIN SEASONAL HOLIDAY DISHES: Easter: Coloured eggs Summer Solstice: St John’s cheese St Martin’s Day: Roast rooster Christmas: Grey peas with bacon

Rye bread has a powerful taste, and it pro- often bring it along when they travel. Rye vides strength. is made of a start- bread is tasty with hemp butter, honey and er, caraway seeds are added, the dough , ham, or a bit of smoked fish. An old is properly kneaded, and then the bread belief is that if bread falls to the ground, one is baked in a very hot oven. Rye bread must blow upon it to clean it off and kiss it. remains fresh for a long time, and people Hemp butter

Hemp butter is made of hemp seeds. It is butter and can be added. Hemp butter very nutritious and with a powerful nutty is usually eaten with rye bread. Hemp is also taste. The seeds are first toasted a bit until used to produce candy or as an ingredient they are crispy. Then they are ground up in salads. Hemp oil is also valuable. until they turn into a dark mass to which MILK AND CHEESE

Milk in Latvia comes from cows and goats. nuts, dried fruits, clover or mixtures of dried Various fresh and aged cheeses are made. herbs. Cheese is often smoked, while fresh Sweet, salty, spicy and aromatic ingredi- cheese is served with garlic and herbs or ents can be added to cheese – seeds, aged in oil. POTATOES WITH AND COTTAGE CHEESE

Cottage cheese is a popular with boiled potatoes, lightly salted herring, in Latvia. It is often eaten for with soured cream, onions and greens – that is a soured cream, added to salads, and used traditional luncheon dish in Latvia. for cakes and desserts. Cottage cheese SMOKED MEAT

Every farmer in Latvia knows how to smoke are very much appreciated. Smoked meat meat with the smoke of alder wood so that is part of cold buffets, eaten in sandwich- it is juicy, aromatic, and neither too lean nor es, cooked with eggs, added to , or too fatty. These are talents that have been enjoyed with sauerkraut, root , developed over the course of centuries and peas or beans. SMOKED FISH

Smoked fish is characteristic of Latvia’s exports, and fish are both cold-smoked and seashore – the famous sprat, hot-smoked. The taste and aroma of such lamprey, bream, flounder and salmon, of- fish are so expressive and self-sufficient ten brought from more distant seas. Dried that they can be eaten without anything as perch, mackerel and other fish are common, a side dish. too. Smoked sprats are one of Latvia’s main LAMPREYS

Round-mouthed lampreys are caught in Lat- Lampreys have a very mild and specific via’s rivers with special equipment and then taste. They are served with fresh bread and grilled over hot coals. Pressed lampreys are butter, and sometimes lemon and herbs are marinated to create a delicious jellied dish. added. Baltic Sprat

Baltic Sprat is mostly prepared at home. in flour, and then onto the pan to produce a During the spring, when leaves are ap- golden fish with a crispy tail. Baltic Sprat is pearing on the trees, fishermen look for eaten with boiled potatoes and green salad so-called leaf . A bit of salt, a dip with and soured cream. Meat salad Rasols

Traditional Latvian Meat salad Rasols in- they are cooked for Meat salad Rasols, and cludes peas, carrots, eggs, pickles, roast that creates the special taste of the dish. No meat or sausage, and a creamy Latvian party could ever be imagined with- dressing with and . The out it. potatoes and carrots are not peeled before Cold Soup

Cold soups are prepared as soon as the , fresh cucumbers, boiled eggs and weather gets hot during the springtime. Tra- various greens. The taste must be balanced ditional Latvian cold soup is light, refreshing in terms of sourness, saltiness and sweet- and a bit spicy. Cold soup is made from kefir ness. or curdled milk with boiled beets, chopped

Latvia’s pure lakes and rivers are just wait- produce a stock. It is strained, and then the ing for fishermen, because they are full of cook adds pieces of fish, potatoes, carrots, bream, pike, roach, catfish, eels and other herbs and greens. Dill and soured cream fish. The catch is used to cook tasty soup on can also be added. a campfire. First the smaller fish are used to

Sorrel is among the first plants to appear in boost the vitamin content, the cook can re- gardens and meadows in the springtime. place the sorrel with spinach or young net- Sorrel soup involves pearl-, root veg- tles. Sorrel can be gathered until mid-June. etables, smoked ribs and boiled eggs. To MUSHROOM SOUP

Mushroom picking is a national hobby for of mushrooms that are used – many differ- Latvians. Mushroom soup is cooked with ent kinds of wild mushrooms are found in clear or as creamed soups. Boletus Latvia. Mushrooms are also dried or frozen soup has a particularly elegant taste. The for use in the winter. taste of the soup will depend on the types MUSHROOM

Various types of boletus or chanterelles with boiled new potatoes and lightly salted are the tastiest for mushroom sauce that cucumbers as a basic dish. Smoked bacon also involves onions, garlic and sweet or is often added. soured cream. Mushroom sauce is eaten GRIT SAUSAGE

Grit sausage is a true dish for the autumn sausages are baked in a pan until they are and winter. The filling is made of boiled grits crispy. Sweet-and-sour lingonberry jam is or pearl barley and bits of bacon that are great with grit sausage. mixed with pig’s blood. Before serving, the BROAD BEANS

Broad beans are a true delicacy during the can also be baked, sautéed and boiled. summer. They are boiled, peel shelled and During the winter, Latvians prepare hearty eaten with salt. Soured milk or buttermilk dishes with dried, frozen or conserved le- can be used to wash them down. The beans gumes. Bean or is common. SAVOURY

So-called “bukstiņputra” is a classical lun- served with roasted streaky bacon, onions, cheon dish in Latvia, made of barley grits, and sometimes also lingonberry sauce. milk and potatoes. Some cooks whip the Oatmeal is a favourite for breakfast. porridge to add air to it. The porridge is Chicken Frikassee

Chicken is sautéed in a cream sauce and prepared in the same way. Rabbits in Latvia with and herbs. It is eaten with pota- are raised in organic farms, and the meat is toes or . Other fowl, as well as rabbit, is very nutritious and healthy. PORK CHOPS

Pork chops are salted and peppered, it in nearly every taverna, as well as on par- dipped in egg, floured, and then baked in ty tables in the countryside. Pork chops are a pan until they are golden brown. This is a served with vegetables, root vegetables or very popular dish in Latvia, and you will find salads. LOIN OF PORK WITH SAUERKRAUT

Slow-roasted loin of pork with sauerkraut recipe for sauerkraut, with the possible ad- are enjoyed in the autumn and the winter. dition of sugar, salt, caraway seeds, cran- Each lady of the house has her own perfect berries or carrots. WILD GAME

Latvia’s forests provide ecologically clean ions and garlic are added to game so as to and tasty game – bucks, European elk, ensure that it is juicy and savoury. Ground deer and wild boar. Juniper berries, rose- game can be used to make meatballs that mary, thyme, bird cherry, laurel leaves, on- are slowly sautéed in a sauce. SWEET Dumplings

Particularly vivid culinary traditions are found bu bļīni” or “kļockas,” these dumplings are in the eastern Latvian region of Latgale, where eaten by hand, and tradition has it that you among other things you will find sweet cot- must wipe your hands on the apparel of your tage cheese pierogi that are made of yeast dearest neighbour. Anyone who is still per- dough, baked, and then warmed up in melted fectly clean after this kind of is probably butter or cream. Known as “guļbešņīki,” “buļ- not a good person, traditional lore tells us. Pancakes

Savoury pancakes are eaten as an entrée, cheese, caviar or ground meat. Sweet pan- while sweet pancakes are enjoyed for cakes are served with forest berries, fruit or breakfast or dinner or as a dessert. Savoury berry jam, or honey. Soured cream is deli- pancakes are eaten with salmon, cottage cious with all kinds of pancakes. Berry fool

Berry fool is made of manna and sour ber- to create a mass that is so airy that it easily ries or fruits. Cranberries are particularly of- floats in milk. Other popular desserts from ten used for this purpose. After boiling, the fruit, berries, milk, cream and flour include dessert has to be whipped for a long time stewed fruits, creams and jellies. Ice cream

Ice cream in Latvia is made of milk, cream, breadcrumbs. Some cafés produce “salty” and all kinds of ingredients. Typical flavours ice cream with horseradish, for instance. It in Latvia include black currant, rhubarb, wild is served with salads. strawberry, cranberry and even toasted rye Layered rye bread

Layered rye bread is a traditional Latvian namon is put on top of the dish, and it is dessert, made of rye breadcrumbs, black often served with fresh berries and cottage currant or lingonberry jam, and whipped cheese ice cream. cream. Grated dark chocolate and/or cin- Bacon pierogi

The aroma of bacon pierogi pervades ev- of or rye flour and yeast and stuffed ery Latvian home before the Winter Solstice with finely chopped streaky bacon and on- and the Summer Solstice, but they are also ions. Caraway seeds are sometimes added. popular everyday snacks. Pierogi are made Tarts

People bake tarts from sweet yeast dough den and forest berries, sour apples, cottage on holidays or weekends, and atop the cheese or jam. Whipped cream and egg and tarts there can be anything that is available a crunchy topping are added, with cinna- during the relevant season – rhubarb, gar- mon sprinkled on top for aromatic purposes. Carrot buns

Known as “sklandu rauši” in Latvia, this is filling is made of carrots, potatoes, cream a speciality of the region of Kurzeme. The and sugar. The buns are baked until the bun is made of strong rye dough without dough is crispy, the sugar has melted, and yeast. It is rolled out into circles, and then the tastes have melded. the edges of each circle are crimped. The Honey cake

Honey in Latvia has medicinal and healthy and is offered at many bakeries. Aromatic properties, because during the country’s layers of honey biscuit are filled with creamed short summers, the nectar becomes very soured cream and then decorated with concentrated. Honey cake is very popular crunchy toppings or nuts. Beverages

Various herbal teas that are made of plants Birch juice is gathered during the spring, that are wild or grown in gardens are popu- and it is drunk fresh to detoxify the body. lar in Latvia. People drink them as everyday The juice can also be fermented with vari- beverages, as well as for reasons of health. ous spices, making it sparkling and bubbly. Peppermint, linden blossom and chamo- Soured milk beverages such as kefir and mile teas are particularly popular. soured milk are drunk with hot dishes. Beverages

Beer brewing has an ancient history in that are hearty enough to survive northern Latvia, with light and dark beer usually climes being developed. Wines are also brewed with barley, yeast and hops. Live made of raspberries, black currants, and and unfiltered beer is particularly popular. other fruits and berries. Grape-based wine The non-alcoholic drink known as is is produced in very small quantities, but somewhat similar to beer, and it is particu- Latvians also produce light and sparkling larly popular when it is hot outside. . Farms often steep berries in vodka Winemaking is becoming more and more and produce vodka of their own. common in Latvia, with types of grapes MODERN FLAVOURS IN

Understandings about tasty and nutritious have changed over the course of time. Traditional recipes are adapted to reduce the amount of fat and to make the structure of dish- es lighter. Restaurants in Latvia present dishes that offer the most surprising combinations of foods from Latvia’s countryside, meadows, for- ests and bodies of water, thus preserving dis- tinct seasonality in the ingredients that are used.

Latvia’s best chefs and pastry chefs prepare dishes that resemble thoughtful artworks, play- ing around with elegant nuances of tastes and aromas, as well as with colours and textures. “3 Pavāru restorāns” restaurant Each dish will take the diner on an adventur- ous trip through the Latvian world of taste.

The restaurant of Dikļi Manor “3 Pavāru restorāns” restaurant

“3 Pavāru restorāns” restaurant Popular everyday dishes

STARTERS SOUPS - Latvians eat many seasonal soups Garlic toasts Cheese plates Spring, summer: Autumn, winter: Smoked meat Marinated mushrooms Fresh Sauerkraut soup Smoked fish milk-based soup Bean soup Dried fruits and berries Fish soup Mutton soup Cold soup Sorrel,

ENTRÉES SIDE DISHES - Potatoes, grits, rice, seasonal vegetables Pork chops Steak haché Spring, summer: Autumn, winter: Kabobs Roast fish Green salad, dills, Sauerkraut Potted dishes parsley, green onions Marinated pickles Roast pork cucumbers, tomatoes, Marinated beets Roast chicken fillet carrots Marinated pumpkin Hunter’s sausage Stroganoff

BAKED GOODS DESSERTS Cottage cheese tart Honey cake Spring, summer: Autumn, winter: Apple/rhubarb tarts Carrot buns Berry or rhubarb fool Layered rye bread Pierogi Strawberry soup Manna-based desserts Biscuits Blackberry dumplings Cottage cheese and Oatmeal cookies Ice cream with berries chocolate creams Caraway or poppy seed buns Pretzel-shaped birthday pastry Gingerbread

BEVERAGES ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES Coffee Beer Herb teas Home-brewed sweetened beer (“miestiņš”) Fruit juices Vodkas Birch juice Berry-flavoured vodkas Kefir Kvass Homemade wine Spring water

This culinary map will be of practical assistance when you travel around Latvia, because it marks out dining facilities that prepare Latvian dishes in all of the country’s regions.

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We are all different but are bound together by the Baltic Sea. With this in mind we have joined forces to preserve and promote the local culinary traditions found all around the Baltic coastline, creating unforgettable food and drink experiences.

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© The Association of Latvian Rural Tourism “Lauku ceļotājs” (2014) Text and photography: Sandra Ošiņa and Valdis Ošiņš

Supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Rural Support Service of the Republic of Latvia.

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