Latvian food!

[Inese]

Hi!!! I want to inform you about our eating habits a little bit!! First a wquote from wikipedia because their english is better!!! :D

Latvian cuisine typically consists of agricultural products, and meat features in most of the dishes. Since Latvia is situated on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, fish dishes are also often served.

Latvian cuisine has been influenced by the neighboring countries. 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. A typical example would be boiled grey peas with pieces of bacon. In fact, grey peas and ham are generally considered the stereotypical staple foods of Latvians.

A traditional Latvian cheese is Ķimeņu siers (caraway cheese); this is traditionally served during the celebration of Jāņi or midsummer. Other dishes are borshch (beet soup), rasols (potato salad), and sauerkraut. There is also a Latvian version of the smorgasbord, Aukstais galds. Like many east European countries, Latvia has an orignial version of pīrāgi. Latvian pīrāgi are of the baked variety. Popular drinks are beer, vodka, and balzam.

Pickled mushrooms are also a Latvian speciality.

Ķimeņu siers --- caraway cheese!!
http://www.travelnews.lv/gallery/1791/mid_23322.jpg

Mjam Mjam!! :cool:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/79/233769413_a84ec58287.jpg

Piragi --- Bacon bread rolls!
http://www.lettland-guide.de/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/essen-piragi.jpg

Aukstais galds --- it is like Swedish smorgasbord but with little other incredients! :P:D
http://www.irlaiks.lv/images/upload/recipies/145934/kazu_uzkodas.jpg

What have Latvians and Germans common in cuisine??? Sauerkrauuut!!! :eek:

http://www.li.lv/images_new/content_images/cuisine/M-ribi.jpg

I looooooove biezpiens! http://www.radioskonto.lv/images/izdzivskola/preces/biezpiens_l.jpg


And recipes are here: http://www.latvianstuff.com/Cuisine.html

Happy cooking!? :wink

[Birka]

My Lithuanian grandmother made beet soup with lots of dill. As a matter of fact, she used dill in many dishes. She also made a very thick potato pancake we ate with sour cream and chives. The food she made was soooo very good, and it probably had to do with the fact that she cooked and baked on a cast iron wood (or coal) stove. (It also heated half of the house)

I remember a hot beet soup in the winter, and an cold beet soup for the summer, with a lot of thick cream so that it turned a beautiful pink color. Both had a lot of dill. ha ha

[Brynhild]

I'm starting to feel hungry...

[Skandi]

Hey Inese could you put up some recipes that you use? It would be interesting to try real ones.

[Sol Invictus]

the bacon bread rolls look like a great idea..

i'll have to try that sometime..

valete,

[SPQR]

the bacon bread rolls look like a great idea..

i'll have to try that sometime..

valete,

I immediately thought that myself. Anyone have a recipe?? They look delicious!

How'd I know that video was going to end up in your signature, VA? :p

[Sol Invictus]

personally i want to know how many strips of bacon are to be stuffed in there.. it's making my mouth watering..



How'd I know that video was going to end up in your signature, VA? :p

psychic? Apollo Hyperboreas has blessed you with the gift of foresight? :D

vale bene,

[SPQR]

Piragi (Latvian Bacon Rolls) Recipe
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 to 6 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Filling:
4 slices bacon
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound fully cooked ham steak, diced in 1/4-inch cubes (2 cups)
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

Glaze:
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Directions:
In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1/2 cup of the water; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining sugar, salt, and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Cut in the butter, then add the yeast mixture and remaining water. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, turning to grease the top, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Prepare the filling while dough is rising.

Filling: In a small pan over medium heat, cook the bacon. Drain it, chop, and set aside. Saute the onion in the butter until it is soft, but not brown. Add the ham, stirring until it's combined with the onion. Stir in the caraway, pepper and bacon, and remove from heat.

Assembly: Punch the dough down and divide it into four pieces. Working with one piece at a time (cover the remaining pieces with plastic wrap) roll each piece of dough into a 1/8-inch thick circle. If the dough "fights back" give it a 5-minute rest, and resume rolling. Use a cookie cutter to cut the dough into 2 3/4-inch rounds. Place 1 teaspoon of the filling mixture into the center of each round, fold in half (to make a half moon shape) and pinch the edges closed.

Place the piragi on greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets, rotating them so that the seam-side is down. Shape them into crescents, and brush with the egg wash. Bake the piragi in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 75 to 80 piragi.
Recipe (http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/170/piragi-(latvian-bacon-rolls).html)

I'm going to try this in the next few days. Does the recipe look correct, Inese? I might just have to Americanize this recipe and stuff some extra bacon in there..:D

[Inese]

Hey Inese could you put up some recipes that you use? It would be interesting to try real ones.
I dont use many recipes because my mother cooks the most time!!! :wink But her recipes are not in Internet because they are family recipes , hand written from my grandmothers in small books.

But i checked some sites and the recipes here

http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Latvian_Recipes

sound good and are fine explained---- I can say that they are real latvian recipes and not garbage!!!! :)


personally i want to know how many strips of bacon are to be stuffed in there.. it's making my mouth watering..

We take 4 stripes but you can use as many as you like!!! How large your mouth is , lol!!! :P

[Skandi]

well he'll have to use a whole side to fill up his mouth :p

[lI]

A typical example would be boiled grey peas with pieces of bacon. In fact, grey peas and ham are generally considered the stereotypical staple foods of Latvians.
Here's a Latvian girl (on the left) and a Russian girl (on the right) showing how to make that dish (people in the background at 3:52 are Lithuanian):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UAahsaJvCQ