Page 312 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

310 TRA VELLERS ’ NEEDS

The Flavours of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
Traditional Baltic cooking is hearty and filling, designed to satisfy
after hard physical labour and during long, gloomy winters. In the
past, staple dishes were mostly soups and porridges made with
grains such as barley, although coastal communities also ate fresh
and preserved fish. Meat was usually reserved for festivals. Today it
is central to most dishes, typically accompanied by boiled potatoes
and rye bread. Popular seasonings include garlic, onions, caraway
seeds and dill. Baltic cuisines have been influenced by those of
neighbouring countries, particularly Russia and Germany in Estonia
and Latvia, and Poland in Lithuania.
Bunch of fresh dill
animal could be wasted. and an extensive network of
Chicken and beef are also rivers and lakes throughout the
widely available, while region. Many traditional recipes
game such as wild boar, fell out of use during the Soviet
hare and venison, may be era when most fish was
found in both rural and exported. The Baltic sprat, in
urban restaurants. particular, was canned and
eaten through out the Soviet
Union. Today, fish is usually
Fish and Seafood
prepared by frying or baking,
Fishing is a venerable history in but it is also smoked and
the Baltic States, with the long salted. The prevalence of this in
Basket of wild mushrooms gathered in the coastlines of Estonia and Latvia Estonia is said to show a link
woods of Latvia
Salmon fillet
Plaice Herrings
Sprats
Meat, Poultry and Game Trout Bream
Pork is on almost every Baltic
menu, whether breaded and
fried like a schnitzel or in the
form of bacon and sausages.
Roast pork has long been a
festive treat. Pork fat is also
eaten, often accompanied by
rye bread, and several dishes,
such as Lithuanian liežuvis
(cow’s tongue), stem from a
time when no part of the Some of the many varieties of fish caught in the clear Baltic waters
Baltic Dishes and Specialities
The long list of Baltic soups and porridges includes
Latvian putra (porridge with pork fat, often
with meat or smoked fish added).
Popular sausages include
Lithuanian vėdarai, made from
pig’s intestines stuffed with
potato. Estonia is noted for
verevoorst (blood sausage)
and verleib (blood bread). Latvia’s
signature dish is pelēkie zirņi (grey peas
Red caviar on rye bread
with bacon). Lithuania’s kugelis (grated
potato pudding often incor porating bacon, onion and eggs) is
served with sour cream. A favourite Lithuanian snack is kepta duona, Pīrāgi (Latvia) and pirukas
also known as grauzdini (fried rye bread with garlic) in Latvia and (Estonia) are small leavened
served with cheese. Throughout the region, you can sample Russian- pasties, usually filled with bacon
style pelmeni (dumplings). or cabbage.