CCFL

Food

Traditional cuisine

Traditional cuisine, whose primary aim was `to give to the peasants energy and strength to work in the fields, consists of simple dishes, but very satisfying based on potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, of dairy products, mushrooms and pork. The culinary traditions of Lithuania are different according to the regions. The most popular dish, which became a symbol of Lithuanian cuisine, is the Cepelin, rolls of potatoes stuffed with meat and topped with bacon, whose form recalls the famous airship "Zeppelin". Other dishes based on potatoes are very popular: patties of potatoes, the “kugelis”, chopped potatoes, sausages potatoes "vedarai", etc... This will taste the traditional "skilandis” (smoked meat), the "saltibarsciai" traditional cold soup of beetroot and cucumber cut into pieces. Among other Lithuanian specialties, smoked fish or bread and marinated black are unavoidable. For dessert, cake festive tree-shaped cakes and honey are great classics.

Source: The Aukstatija Culinary Heritage Network

Tea, with thyme, lemon balm, mint, lime or a mixture of herbs will be suitable for all climates and all moods. The coarse flour cakes with honey or cheese can also be spread with honey or jam, blend perfectly with tea.

Lithuanian beer is recognized by all, the brewing of beer is practiced for centuries, thanks to a pure and limpid water. There are over two hundred recipes for beer in Lithuania. The national drink is often accompanied with garlic bread, with crunchy crust that blends perfectly with Lithuanian beer.

A small cup of Lithuanian mead - hydra of honey - flavored with herbs, containing alcohol more or less strong (10 to 56 °), can be suitable for special occasions.

The country is composed of five ethnic regions and each one has its own traditional dishes.

Upper Lithuania is famous for its soups and dishes made with flour such as soups in milk with beet, cabbage, skryliai (rectangular kinds of pasta), "cold nose" (kind of sweet ravioli), blueberry or cherry, white cheese atria and mushrooms. Dishes of high Lithuania and from Dzūkija belong to the culinary heritage of Europe.

In the land of forests, in Dzūkija are a wide variety of dishes with mushrooms: mushroom soup, savory donuts, milk caps sautéed in butter, cooked chanterelle stew, cepes forest mushrooms or red prepared in various ways. Dzūkija sausage, dried or smoked, has a fantastic taste when the berries of juniper and herbs give a special aroma.

The most famous is the Suvalkija skilandis, chopped meatballs, smoked with alder wood, which is left to ferment for a few months so we can cut it into very thin slices, almost transparent. Duck with cherries, cooked in a sauce of cheese or apples are spicy, but no less delicious.

In Samogitia you can taste the kastinis, whipped cream with a bitter taste, that you can eat with potatoes steamed, and also other dishes more festive and seasonal such as crayfish and beef cooked in beer, or the duck rubbed with honey and stuffed with walnuts.

Finally, the Minor Lithuania, which is nestled against the delta of the Nemunas and the Courlande Lagoon, is famous for its dishes based on fish soup particularly perfumed, its fried fish, cooked stewed, stuffed and prepared in other ways again, or - the delicacy of coast - its squares and smoked eels.

The dishes are always accompanied by a black bread made of rye-based.
The latter takes the form of densed loaves, of  rectangular shape with rounded corners. It is sometimes flavored with cumin seeds.

Finally, in general, whatever the region, the desserts are often based of compotes of fruit: plums, apples, rhubarb etc and with honey, or cheese cakes. There are also good chocolate cake and also the “millefeuille” Napoleon.

The most famous dessert is the “sākot” also known as “raguolis”, it is a cake baked on a spit of egg, sugar, flour and lemon.

Source: The Aukstatija Culinary Heritage Network

You can also, find the famous “sākot“ decorated with roses and chocolate for special occasions such as weddings.