Latvian cuisine

A dinner consisting of cold beet soup, pot-cooked cabbage, a meat cutlet, a pickled cucumber, sour milk, and some kvass

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.[1] Common ingredients in Latvian recipes are found locally, such as potatoes,[1] wheat, barley, cabbage, onions, eggs and pork. Latvian food is generally quite fatty, and uses few spices.

Meals

Contemporary Latvians usually eat three meals a day. Breakfast is normally light and usually consists of sandwiches or an omelette, with a drink, often milk. Lunch is eaten from noon to 3 p.m. and tends to be the main meal of the day; as such it can include a variety of foods, and sometimes also soup as an entrée and a dessert. Supper is the last meal of the day, with some choosing to eat another large meal. Consumption of ready-made or frozen meals is now common.[2]

Common foods and dishes

Latvian cuisine is typical of the Baltic region and, in general, of northern countries, being especially similar to Finnish. The food is high on butter and fat while staying low on spices except for black pepper, dill or grains/seeds, such as caraway seeds. If you are from the Mediterranean, you might find the food rather bland, tasteless and lacking, but if you come from England or the Midwestern U.S., you will probably not have any trouble getting used to most of the dishes.

The Latvian cuisine originated from the peasant culture and is strongly based on crops that grow in Latvian maritime, temperate climate. Rye or wheat, oats, peas, beets, cabbage, pork products and potatoes are the staples. Meat features in most main meal dishes. But fish also is commonly consumed due to Latvia's location on the east coast of the Baltic Sea: smoked and raw fish are quite common. The Latvian cuisine offers plenty of varieties of bread and milk products, which are an important part of the Latvian cuisine.

Popular alcoholic beverages are beer, vodka and balzam.

Milk products

An assortment of Latvian cheese products

Latvia is much richer in milk products than other Western countries. Biezpiens (which is quark), skābais krējums (sour cream), kefīrs and a lot of varieties cheeses with different flavours. A cheese similar to smoked gouda, but softer, is the cheapest and, arguably, tastiest variety. There are various tastes available for purchase in most grocery stores. A Latvian specialty is the biezpiena sieriņš which is a quark with a sweet taste (most popular manufacturers of the snack are Kārums and Baltais).

A traditional Latvian cheese that is in the picture to the right, is Jāņu siers (caraway cheese); this is traditionally served during the celebration of Jāņi or midsummer.

Soups

Soups are commonly made with vegetables and broth or milk. Noodle soup, beet soup, sorrel soup and nettle soup are also consumed by Latvians. The beetroot soup (Latvian: biešu zupa) is another dish that you are suggested to try. 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.

Sweets

The most traditional and exotic Latvian dish is maizes zupa (literally "bread soup"), which is the sweet soup made from rye bread and fruits. Also, the already mentioned biezpiena sieriņš is quite sweet and tasty. Zefīrs is a soft marshmallow-ish type of sweet. Rhubarb cake is worth trying.

Two main local sweets manufacturers Laima and Skrīveru Saldumi are well known and they offer a variety of sweets ranging from chocolate bars of various kinds, to candies, to marmalades, fruits in chocolate, biscuits and more. It comes with glazing and without, in various tastes. A caramel sweet named gotiņa (translated as little cow) is worth a try. These two companies sell some of their sweets in nice gift packages, which may be handy to bring souvenirs home.

Breads

Rupjmaize is a dark bread made from rye, and is considered a national staple.[3]

Pīrādziņi are buns filled with bacon and onion. Kliņģeris is a sweet pretzel-shaped bread that is usually served as a dessert on special occasions, such as name day.

Traditional dishes

If you want to try some really traditional dishes, then try these:

Other

Some other noteworthy foods:


See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category:Cuisine of Latvia.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Latvian Cuisine." Latvian Institute. Accessed September 2011.
  2. ↑ "The Cuisine of Latvia" (PDF). Latvijas Institūts. 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  3. ↑ BBC - Eurovision Song Contest - Guide to Latvia, BBC