What is Latvia Like? It's Like This...

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (Hepcat)

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:21:33 GMT

Oh Elise! Now you've made me want to go to Lithuania again, which I've already visited six times in 1987, 1994, 1997, 2002, 2003 and 2007.

I tend to avoid upscale dining establishments with the foreign cuisine when I'm in Vilnius or Kaunas. I patronize the places serving Lithuanian cuisine, kugelis, cepeliniai, potato pancakes, kibiniai, šašlykai, etc., or else modern Lithuanian diner type food currently popular with the masses such as you can find at Čili Pica and Mambo Pizza. I always sample the kibiniai and čeburėkai being sold by old women from carts in the Freedom Alley pedestrian boulevard in Kaunas and any šašlykai I find being grilled on street barbecues in the old town of Vilnius as well.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (EliseT)

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 12:28:25 GMT

Uzbeki food seemed to have Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern Influences. Kabobs and lots of lamb, both grilled and in stews.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (mikeam)

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 08:55:15 GMT

Great report. Thanks for sharing.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (Foodbme)

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 05:40:16 GMT

tcrouzer

Wonderful trip report, dining digest, and scenic photos! Love that goat! I'm not sure if I even know where Latvia is, let alone anything about the country, the people or the food. But thanks to your fabulous reporting - I now know more than I did!
So....is the cottage cheese in the pancake recipe or are the pancakes filled with cottage cheese after they are cooked?
Thanks, EliseT!

The Cottage Cheese is mixed in with the batter

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (tcrouzer)

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:34:43 GMT

Wonderful trip report, dining digest, and scenic photos! Love that goat! I'm not sure if I even know where Latvia is, let alone anything about the country, the people or the food. But thanks to your fabulous reporting - I now know more than I did!

So....is the cottage cheese in the pancake recipe or are the pancakes filled with cottage cheese after they are cooked?

Thanks, EliseT!

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (Howard Baratz)

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:12:00 GMT

EliseT

Elise,

Poppy seed paste is the traditional filling (many younger cooks now use prune and/or appricot) for Hamantashen, the 3-cornered cookie served during the Jewish holiday Purim.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (Howard Baratz)

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:43:15 GMT

EliseT

I fell in love with a cottage cheese pancake so good I bought a cookbook to try to replicate them. But you can buy wet or dry cottage cheese there. We will see if drying cottage cheese dripping it in the fridge will work.

Elise,

You might try Friendship Farmer Cheese (if available in your area) as a substitute. It has the consisitency of a dry cottage cheese with a slight tang. It works great in blintzes and would probably work for you in this recipe.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (quijote)

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 22:24:47 GMT

I'm glad I logged on tonight--what a lovely, excellent report. The Baltic Countries have been on my short list for quite some time, and this makes me want to push for the trip sooner rather than later. The liqueurs, the boar, the pirags/pierogies, rye bread dessert, "black butter," and everything else have me swooning. The international food looks great, too. When I'm abroad I try to sample Indian food wherever I can, and I'd love to have Uzbeki food.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (HollyDolly)

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:05:56 GMT

What a great report.I loved your description and the food looks yummy.Someday i'd like to go there. I have a small coin at home dated 1883,looks to be russian, which my greatgrandparents the Steldts brought from Lativa when they came to the US around that time.I have some old postcards from Libau from an uncle Wilhelm to the family.Some cousins of my grandmother,the von Lilienschilds go back in the records of the city of Riga to the 13th or 14th century.My dad said some members belonged to an order of knights, but he didn't think it was the Teutonic Knights.Most likely it was the Livonian Knights of the Sword, who were later absorbed into the Teutonic knights. I don't know if i still have cousins there.It's possible they fled the advancing soviet army during WW2,and even if they are still in latvia, have no idea who to visit.
What sort of food is Uzbek? Latvian I imangine would be a combination of latvian,russian and german food, with some polish also thrown in. Surprised to see sushi in Riga.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (rumaki)

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:13:10 GMT

What a great report! I was doing some "press freedom" work and visited Riga back in the 1990s, shortly after the Soviet era ended, and even then, the food was very good and the people very nice. I remember going up in the tower of St. Peter's Church to get a panoramic view of the city. The caretaker and I didn't have any common language (we tried French, German, and of course, English), but between all those, he managed to point out the most important sights to me. There used to be a neat old ice cream parlor in Riga called the Penguin; I remember I got excellent pistachio ice cream there.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (FriedClamFanatic)

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:06:47 GMT

Lovely stuff!....ty!

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (agnesrob)

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:52:50 GMT

Wonderful report Elise! Beautiful pictures! Thanks you so much for sharing this trip report with us.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (ScreamingChicken)

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:07:38 GMT

Really neat, Elise! As soon as I saw "Soviet bloc" in your opening post I too was anticipating a lot of gray, but you presented something very different!

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (kaszeta)

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 21:50:02 GMT

Nice. I'm overdue for a visit to the Baltic states (that's where my weird last name came from, it's Lithuanian)

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (lleechef)

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:40:30 GMT

Lovely report Elise!

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (Ralph Melton)

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:36:10 GMT

Thank you very much for this report. I've quite enjoyed all I've read.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (mayor al)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 17:33:18 GMT

Hmmm, Is SouthWest Air offering direct service from Latvia to Vegas??? hehehe

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (EliseT)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:21:32 GMT

Mayor I'm afraid my next stop -- Vegas -- isn't very exotic.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (ann peeples)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:04:05 GMT

Beautiful country!! I never knew............thanks Elise!!!

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (mayor al)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 10:22:58 GMT

ET, Fantastic report, my friend!! We can count on you to produce journals that take us to some of the more exotic areas of the Roadfood world. Where to next ? Maybe you'll be entertaining the troops in Ubeckistan ?? Keep us aware of your travels, You are a fresh breath of Dill and Caraway in our BBQ and Pie scented world !

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (kland01s)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 10:21:51 GMT

Wonderful report! Thanks for sharing!

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (leethebard)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 09:49:38 GMT

This is so much fun!!!!

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (wheregreggeats.com)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 08:31:56 GMT

Wow ... Nice report.
Thanks Elise.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (EliseT)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 08:27:38 GMT

We also visited the seaside in Ventspils

And spent 4 nights in Jurmula at an old Russian resort. Some water jets were so strong there were handles to hold on to. It was all about getting cold and hot, with 4 saunas and a place to rub snow on yourself. We were right next to a boardwalk with little huts for shopping. The country's main export seems to be amber. The second most common seems to be fake amber.

Going to dinner one night we came across these crazy heavy metal album cover mountain goats...in a country that is completely flat.

My mother-in-law remarked, "If I had to pick a color for Latvia, I would say green." Very different from the anticipated gray.

In the end, we realized we ate the rye bread

We go to the castle

We visit the crypt

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (EliseT)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 08:08:03 GMT

Uncle Vic, I would love recipes! I though pirag was just the Latvian word for pierogies! Also, there is a meatball soup with dill that is not in my cookbook if you have it. It looks like this when made with chicken balls...

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (Foodbme)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 04:27:03 GMT

The pictures have that "Old World" feel. Very Nice.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (mr chips)

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 03:30:14 GMT

Great photos, great report.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (UncleVic)

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 23:15:23 GMT

Oh ya Elsie, I'll see what I can do to find the Cottage Cheese Pancake recipe for ya. My mom has a massive collection of Latvian cookbooks.

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (UncleVic)

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 23:10:36 GMT

Nice report Elsie! My parents and grandparents are from Latvia. So needless to say I grew up on this food! Also, those little treats you called Pierogies are actually called Pirags (pronounced p-rogs)... I've made thousands of these in my lifetime (and they are a pain to make, let me tell ya). I use ham, bacon and onion to stuff mine. Cant wait to see more of your report!

Re:What is Latvia Like? It's Like This... (EliseT)

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 22:57:08 GMT

We spent a few days out in the country and attended a birthday party at a farm on the river. The farmwife made all of the food. There were ground meat rolls like kibbeh, plus potatoes, latkes, pierogies, homemade cheese and a specialty called herring in a fur coat, which is herring and sour cream covered by beets and chopped hard-boiled eggs. I finally decided at that point I was full.