MENU GREEN The Digital CookBook provides the recipes of balanced national meals that young people themselves have offered to participants during the Youth Exchange “LOG OUT!”. Accommodating traditional healthy meals from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Italy and Greece, the CookBook offers tastes of many cuisines. There is explained the recipe and the history of each dish, accompanied with the photos of the preparation by each team. INSTEAD OF INTRODUCTION YOUTH EXCHANGE “LOG OUT!” ORGANIZED BY “SISTĒMA UN G LATVIJA” 08.05.2015 – 15.05.2015 JELGAVA, LATVIA @ĀNES MUIŽA ALL THE MEALS WERE COOKED BY PARTICIPANTS IN THE NATIONAL TEAMS AND IN THE NATIONAL WAYS “This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.” LATVIAN CUISINE Latvian cuisine typically consists of agricultural products, with meat featuring in most main meal dishes. Fish is commonly consumed due to Latvia's location on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. Latvian cuisine has been influenced by neighboring countries in the Baltic region. Common ingredients in Latvian recipes are found locally, such as potatoes, wheat, barley, cabbage, onions, eggs and pork. Latvian food is generally quite fatty, and uses few spices. Potatoes and meat are generally considered staple food of Latvians. Soups are commonly made with vegetables and broth or milk. Noodle soup, Beat soup, Sorrel soup and Nettle soup are also consumed by Latvians. HEALTHY? Any nation’s basic diet is defined by its geographical location. The wealth of Latvia has always been unevenly dispersed over its four regions. The choice of food varies from season. The colder is the weather – the hotter and heavier meals are served and vice versa. In the schools and kindergartens, introduced by the Ministry of Health the newly amended legal acts introduce restrictions on the type of food for sale of fast food, by referring to their nutrient content. Generally it is very easy to be a vegetarian as well as there are plenty of vegetarian restaurants, organic, natural health food stores. 2ND DAY - 09.06.2015 LATVIAN CULTURAL DINNER “AUKSTĀ BIEŠU ZUPA - COLD BEETROOT SOUP”. MAIN DISH: “AUKSTĀ ZUPA - COLD BEET SOUP” HISTORY: There is a special cold beetroot soup (Latvian: aukstā biešu zupa) that can be prepared in various ways and is made to suit a warm Summer day. We are not sure about the origin of this recipe, some say it's Russian, some say it's Latvian or Lithuanian, but regardless of where it came from, it's amazingly tasty, filling and refreshing. It is very likely that the first cold soup was cooked in the Middle Ages invented by simple people, farmers who were seeking a way to satisfy their hunger during the hot summer days using those products that they had available on the spot. The recipe is really versatile and the ingredients can be added, increased, decreased or omitted according to the taste. It's a perfect easy summer soup! RECIPE Servings: 5 (for a typical Latvian family) Ingredients for aukstā biešu zupa (cold beetroot soup): Beets, boiled – 1 large or 2 small Scallions – 2 tablespoons Cucumbers – 2 small Kefir – 700 ml Eggs – hard boiled – 4 Sour cream – 250 ml Milk sausage – 300 g Sugar, salt, lemon juice Dill, finely chopped – 4 tablespoons Young potatoes – 2,3 per person Directions: 1. Cool the cooked beets, peel and grate them coarsely. Peel cucumbers and chop them into small slices. Chop hard boiled eggs and milk sausage, scallions and dill. Mix all the ingredients together. 2. Pour kefir and add the sour cream. Add sugar, salt and lemon juice to taste. Stir well and place in the refrigerator at least for 2 hours. 3. Serve with boiled young potatoes sprinkled with finely chopped dill! Other Ingredients: Black rye bread – the real one and covered with cannabis butter. Goes perfect with the cold soup! Broth pies filled with minced meet. For dessert – Latvian candies “Gotiņa” and “Vēsma” to bring back your childhood memories, reminding about meadows filled with sunshine and joyous days of childhood And Riga Black Balsam - traditional Latvian herbal liqueur, based on a composition of 24 different plants, flowers, buds, juices, roots, oils and berries prepared in oak barrels. Black Balsam is also used in traditional medicine. It is considered to be a good cold remedy and is used to treat digestive problems. It has been made in Riga since the middle of the 18th century. According to legend, Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, became ill during a visit to Latvia, but was cured after drinking Riga Black Balsam. LABU APETĪTI! LITHUANIAN CUISINE Lithuanian cuisine features the products suited to the cool and moist northern climate of Lithuania: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, berries, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialties. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with Northern Europe, Lithuanian cuisine has much in common with Eastern European (Polish, Ukrainian) and some similarities to Scandinavian cuisine, also Hungarian, Romanian, and Georgian cuisines. Nevertheless, it has its own distinguishing features, which were formed by a variety of influences during the country's long and difficult history. The Soviet occupation badly damaged Lithuanian cuisine. As elsewhere in the Soviet Union, however, its people were allowed to maintain their own small garden plots; these were, and are, lovingly tended. After the restoration of independence in 1990, traditional cuisine became one of the ways to celebrate Lithuanian identity. HEALTHY? The typical diet consists of items that are readily available and not expensive. National dishes reflect the economic situation and the fact that the weather is cold for much of the year, creating a shortage of vegetables in the winter and a desire to prepare and eat warm, wholesome food. Pork, smoked meats, cabbage, beets, and potatoes are staples. Soups are extremely popular, and are widely regarded as the key to good health. Despite the apparent richness of the cuisine, Lithuania has a very low prevalence of obesity. Lithuanian eating habits depends on the season. 3RD DAY - 10.05.2015 LITHUANIAN CULTURAL DINNER “VARŠKEČIAI – CURD PANCAKES”. MAIN DISH: “VARŠKEČIAI – CURD PANCAKES” HISTORY: Pancakes are an Ancient food. The word pancakes appears in print as early as 1430. Pancakes may have been around since Neolithic humans domesticated wheat, ground it into flour mixed with bird’s egg and goat’s milk and poured the batter on a heated rock. In Lithuania pancakes (Blynai) are an essential part of National Cuisine. There is a variety of pancake recipes in Lithuanian cooking, such as pancakes with curd cheese, yeast, apples, zucchini, as well as potato pancakes. They are often served with sour cream or jam. To understand how much Lithuanians love pancakes.. there is even Pancake festival in Lithuania – Užgavėnės - that takes place during the seventh week before Easter (Ash Wednesday). Its name in English means "the time before Lent". The celebration corresponds to Roman Catholic holiday traditions in other parts of the world. Varškėčiai – local and traditional dish in Lithuania - curd cheese pancakes, either boiled or fried. Curd cheese is one of the most popular dairy products in the Lithuanian kitchen, which boast a large variety of recipes using curd cheese. RECIPE Servings: 30 (for all the friends) Ingredients for Varškėčiai (curd pancakes): Wheat flour – 1 kg Salt Eggs - 18 Oil for baking Sugar - 500 g Sour cream - 1,5 kg Vanilla sugar - 5 tablespoons Any jam (serving with) Cottage (curd) cheese - 5 kg Directions: 1. Mix well all the ingredients in a big bowl. 2. Heat the oil in a pan. With a big tablespoon take a normal quantity of the pancake mixture and put it in the oil. 3. Fry around 2 minutes from each side or till it gets golden brownish. 4. Easy, quickly and super delicious, especially if you do some jam topping Other Ingredients: Black rye bread. Dziugas – a local traditional Lithuanian hard cheese. For dessert – Tinginys - literally translated as "lazy man", tinginys is a refrigerated dessert made from broken hard cookies, condensed milk, cocoa and butter. And a drink filled with history, Zalios Trejos Devynerios! That’s a spirit that is also said to have certain health benefits in relation to a healthy digestive system. It’s a mysterious blend of herbs, roots, fruits and bark. SKANAUS! POLISH CUISINE Polish cuisine is a style of cooking and food preparation originating in or widely popular in Poland. Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to become very eclectic due to Poland's history. Polish cuisine shares many similarities with other Slavic countries, especially Czech, Slovak, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian cuisines. It has also been widely influenced by Central European cuisines, namely German, Austrian and Hungarian cuisines as well as Jewish, French, Turkish and Italian culinary traditions. It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef (depending on the region), winter vegetables (cabbage), and herbs. It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of noodles the most notable of which are kluski as well as cereals such as kasha. The traditional dishes are often demanding in preparation. HEALTHY? Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs. But, in the end, that if this food can be truly appreciated and savored and is not consumed every day, it can certainly be a part of anyone’s diet. As long as folks remember to seek out a diet filled with “balance” and consume plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains for the majority of the time.