By Natalija Strazdina

There are only 1,993,300 people living in Latvia. More than half of Latvian people (1,018,295) live in Riga, Latvian capital city.

Latvians love to grow their own. Most of Latvian households have their own allotment, garden, summer house with a plot of land or farmland to grow their own vegetables and fruits.

Before Latvia joined EU, almost all rural families kept domestic animals for meet, eggs and milk. Most of Latvians stopped keeping animal because of strict EU regulations. But still many Latvians remember the taste of proper meat!

Latvia is full of lakes and rivers, that is why fishing is very popular. Latvians not only catch fishes, but also take them home and cook or smoke them.

There are many hunting clubs in Latvia, and Latvian hunters enjoy cooking and eating fowl and busmeat

potatoes

carrots

cabbages

cauliflowers

beetroots

marrows

pumpkins

radish

black radish

green peas

broad beans

beans

horseradish

rhubarb

onions

green onions

garlic

leaf salad

lettuces

dills

parsley

camomile

sorrel

tomatoes

peppers

gherkins

peppermint

applespearsplumscherriesblackcurrantsredcurrantsgoosberriesstrawberriesraspberriescherry plumsbuckthorn

Latvian manufacturing and farming are in decline, that is why Latvians can use all the benefits of their nature. Latvians like foraging in their forests and meadows.

Latvian forests are full of edible and very tasty berries and mushrooms.

Bilberry Cowberry Raspberry

Alpine strawberry Cranberry

Forest berries are smaller than garden varieties, that is why it takes hours to get full basket of them. But picking forest berries is definitely worth an effort because these berries are much more fragrant than garden berries.

Boletus edulis Leccinum aurantiacum Leccinum scrabum

Cantharellus cibarius Suillus luteus Armillaria mellea

Russula sp. The tastiest Lactarius deliciosus Cortinarius caperatus

is Russula virescens

Latvian winters can be very harsh with the temperature up to -30 Celsius degrees. That is why Latvians are good at food preservations. Latvian households usually have loads of jars with pickles, mushrooms, jams, juices, compotes, salads etc.

Latvians store their winter supplies in basements and cellars. Even apartment houses have basements to allow flats’ owners to store their preserves and vegetables.

Latvians eat a lot of pickled gherkins. Fresh cucumbers available at supermarkets are not suitable for pickling. Only gherkins – little prickly cucumbers – are the best choice for pickling. Every Latvian can easily tell whether a gherkin is well pickled or not. There are different methods of pickling.

gherkinsCucumbers

Sauercraut, directly translated: "sour cabbage", is finely cut cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavour, both of which result from the lactic acid that forms when the bacteria ferment the sugars in the cabbage. Dishes with sauerkraut are very popular in Latvia. There are some of them:

Fresh sauercraut

Latvian Cuisine

Traditional Cuisine

Cuisine coming from neighbouring countries

and countries which ruled over Latvian

territory in the past

Latvian food is generally quite fatty and Latvians use few spices. Latvians value the natural taste of food, that is why generally seasonings aren't very popular. The most common spices in Latvian food are:

Onion

Garlic

Black pepper

Caraway seeds

Chicken

Pork

Beef

Smoking

Hot Cold

Latvians love smoked meat and fish!

Shashlik isn't Latvian traditional dish, it is probably borrowed from Crimean Tatars, but it is so popular, that it is difficult to imagine social gatherings or celebrations without it. The most popular meat for shashlik in Latvia is pork and chicken.The meat needs to be marinated. For marinades Latvians use:• Vinegar• Mayonnaise• WineInto marinades Latvians add:• Onions• Herbs• Spices like allspice

Mangal with skewers

For main course Latvians prefer to have chops or cutlets. Chops and cutlets can be prepared from any kind of meat, but the most common is chicken and pork.

Chop Cutlet

Germans ruled over Latvian territory for long 360 years, that is why Latvians are in deep love with all sorts of sausages.

Aspic is a cold dish in which meat is set into gelatine made from a meat stock. It is very popular dish for celebrations, but aspic is very common thing in Latvians’ fridges too. It’s not possible to make aspic without:

1. A huge stewpan 2. Pork head and legs

Tushonka(from Russian) is canned stewed meat

1. Grey peas with bacon 2. Bacon buns

kefir

Pelmeni is Russian dish. Latvians love them so much! Freezers in Latvian grocery stores are full of them. Pelmeni are dumplings consisting of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough. Most of people boil them, but let me tell you one secret – they actually taste better when roasted!

1. Cod2. Sprats3. Baltic Herring4. Salmon5. Mackerel6. Pangasius7. Hake

1.2.

3.4.

5.

6.7.

Latvians love to cook fish in batter. For main courses Latvians prefer to have fish like salmon, cod, pangasius and hake.

codsalmon

sprats

salmon

mackerel

herring

Herring in a Jacket

rollmops

barbecued

marinated

Small herrings called SALAKA (rus) or REŅĢES (lv) are the cheapest fish in Latvia. But it is tasty fish too! Many Latvian people and cats can’t live without this fish. If you buy a bag of salaka, smallest fish will eat your cat, but from biggest ones you can prepare something like this dish:

Buckwheat is the fourth most important product for lunch after potatoes, pasta and rice. Latvians eat large quantities of buckwheat.

Many Latvians prefer to eat porridge for breakfast. Latvians eat oatmeal, but also porridges from other grains.

Pearl barley

oats rice Corn grits

milletPea grits

Manna -croup

Barley grits

Many Latvians keep bees themselves. There is bee keeping society in Latvia and many 'honey shops' where you can buy all sorts of honey, bee bread, bee pollen, propolis, beeswax and beekeeping tools. Latvians distinguish and sell separately different sorts of honey:

Highly liquid honey (white clover, clover honey)

Liquid honey (linden, buckwheat, rape honey)

Thick honey (dandelion, sainfoin honey)

Very thick, sticky honey(honeydewhoney)

Gelatinous honey (heather honey)

Honey cake Hazelnuts, Baked appleswalnuts and with honey cranberries and nuts

in honey

You can find all sorts of dairy products on Latvian supermarkets’ shelves. But there are some products especially valued and used by Latvians: soured cream cottage cheese curd snacks buttermilk kefir clabber Ligo cheesemelted cheese smoked cheese Russian cheese

Latvians can’t do without soured cream. They add soured cream everywhere where they can. They add it to soups, use as salad dressing, make sauces from it, use as the base for cake dough.

Latvians make pancakes, cakes, doughnuts, pies with cottage cheese. Or they use it as filling for pancakes or make cold snacks with it. Latvian curd snacks are brilliant!

Latvians make very tasty pancakes using kefir or buttermilk or clabber.

Latvians drink kefir like milk.

Kefir or clabber is the base for very tasty beetroot cold soup.

Ligo cheese – a special cheese for summer solstice celebration

Melted cheese

Smoked cheese

Smoked cheese sausage

Russian cheese

You can find all sorts of bread on supermarkets' shelves. There will be white, grey and dark rye bread. Dark rye bread plays a very important role in Latvian’s life. It is unlike other rye breads you have tasted and it is still made according to old recipes - often made by hand. Latvian meals are always served with bread of some type. Dark rye bread is usually made of rye flour, buttermilk, salt, water and caraway seeds.There is Bread Museum in Aglonawhere you can see how bread is made and taste different bread types.

Butterbrot

Layered Latvian Rye Bread Dessert

Sweet Rye Bread Soup

Crackers with Garlic

Rye Bread with Dried Fruits and Nuts

Latvian stomach starts aching if its owner does not eat soups. It is considered that a person should eat soups if not every day, then at least three-four times a week. There are some popular soups:

Solyanka Borscht Sorrel soup Meatball soup

Latvians usually drink tea without milk. They like to drink tea with lemon.

Many Latvians like coffee and hot chocolate.

In many Latvian grocery stores you can buy coffee-like chicory drink too.

All Latvians share their love to herbal tea. Gathering herbs for teas is a very popular pastime in Latvia. Latvian herbal teas are both tasty and healthy. From our grandmas we have inherited the magnificent know-how on nature powers.

chicory

Latvians usually don’t drink raw tap water. Tap water needs to be at least boiled to drink it.

Latvians drink raw water from wells and wellsprings. If they cannot collect their favourite water from their favourite source, Latvians simply buy their favourite bottled water.

The term ‘mineral water’ in Latvia means really salty water. Many Latvians love to drink it on everyday basis, but the rest of Latvians drink it for healing purposes when they have an upset stomach.

Compotes and kissels are popular cold drinks in Latvia.

Kompot is a non-alcoholic clear juice obtained by cooking fruit in a large volume of water, like strawberries, apricots, peaches, apples, rhubarb, gooseberries, or sour cherries.

Kissel is a viscous fruit dish, popular as a dessert. It consists of sweetened juice, thickened with arrowroot, cornstarch or potato starch, and sometimes red wine or fresh or dried fruits are added

Kvass is a fermented beverage made from black or regular rye bread.

Riga Black Balsam

is a traditional Latvian herbal liqueur made with many different natural ingredients mixed in pure vodka, giving a 45% abv (90 proof) drink. It can be had as it is, on the rocks or mixed with schnapps, akvavit, or vodka, or warm, in tea, coffee or black currant juice, or mixed with soda water or a soft drink, or in any variety of cocktails. It is also occasionally enjoyed as a topping on ice-cream. The drink itself is black and very bitter, but with a distinct sweetness

Any questions?