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Lithuanian cuisine is known for its simplicity; it is the product itself which above all gives the dish its flavour, followed by various additional ingredients and seasoning. The natural and healthy character of its dishes is what makes Lithuanian cuisine unique.
Photo: www.travel.lt
 Our Lithuanian moms' recipes
Many of our readers are very interested in food and recipes. Not least, there seems to be many who would like to find recipes for traditional Lithuanian dishes. VilNews will provide some highlights from time to time, but we also recommend all of you with special interest to join the Facebook group "Our Moms' Lithuanian Recipes" Click here to find this page. |
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Sat, 25th August, 2012 - Posted by - (0) Comment
Prie lietuvių stalo – at the Lithuanian table
Text: Vin Karnila, Associate Editor
vin.karnial@VilNews.com
Sveiki garbingi skaitytojai,
Lithuania is steeped in traditions. It would be difficult to think of any part of daily life, family events or holidays where age old traditions are not practiced. Included in these are the time honored traditions that are practiced at the table. Yes, even sitting at the table to enjoy your meal is something that involves traditions practiced for generations by Lithuanian people all over the world.
Sat, 25th August, 2012 - Posted by - (5) Comment
Our moms’ Lithuanian recipes is on Facebook. Click HERE to find it!
In 2011, a few of first generation Lithuanians from the Hartford Connecticut area in USA started posting on internet that they’d like to share some recipes that they grew up with. Many of these recipes may have been stored in someone’s head and not written down, and the group wanted to make these recipes and food history from their beloved homeland at the Baltic Sea available also for future generations.
The group’s vibrant Facebook Page has till now collected over 1,000 members!
Sat, 25th August, 2012 - Posted by - (5) Comment
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So often we hear something like this from people “I remember Sundays when I was a child. My mom would make cepelinai (potato dumplings filled with meat) and we would all gather around in the kitchen for this special meal”. Sadly what we also hear is “I have no idea how to make these traditional Lithuanian foods”.
Sat, 25th August, 2012 - Posted by - (10) Comment
There are a number of things that make any Lithuanian swell with pride;
Rich History, Amber, Beautiful Nature, Basketball, etc.
There is, though, one that has a special place in their hearts. This source of pride is the Lithuanian Beer. Today, Lithuanians are among the best beer producers in the world, enjoying numerous international awards for the subtle taste and high quality of their drink. But is beer a truly “Lithuanian” drink and how deep are the traditions of brewing beer in Lithuania?
Sat, 25th August, 2012 - Posted by - (1) Comment
A story from the page “Juozo philosophy”
http://www.hbhjuozas.lt/?en=1103006956
This is one more area Lithuania has reason to be proud of. The Russians may disagree, as they claim to have started producing vodka in the 17th century. Lithuanians, however, claim that the Russians didn’t know how to make real vodka until the Russian chemist D. Mendeleev (1834-1907) discovered the process of the rectification of the alcohol. He also was the first, who suggested mixing alcohol and water according to the weight, and not volume, something not known to the manufacturers of the poor vodkas in Western Europe up till today.
Sat, 25th August, 2012 - Posted by - (0) Comment
Photo by Yours For Good Fermentables
I’m very excited to share this recipe with you because
KUGELIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE
Once again I have been elected to share a traditional Lithuanian recipe with you due to the fact that I am so very “culinary challenged”. Please remember that I need to be supervised when I’m in the kitchen so that I don’t hurt myself. But the powers to be of VilNews feel that I’m the best person to share these recipes since if a person with my limited cooking skills can cook these tasty meals than it shows to every one how easy they are to prepare.
Sat, 25th August, 2012 - Posted by - (0) Comment
Dark grey days and cold nights are soon here again as autumn is making its way back to Lithuania. The summer season is coming to an end, but the early autumn sunshine will still be very much welcomed, somewhere in nature or in a garden, where the people of Lithuania still will be enjoying the typical early autumn sun with a tasty, warming šašlykai prepared over the charcols.
Sat, 25th August, 2012 - Posted by - (2) Comment
Mushroom ‘outlet’ at a Varena roadside.
Mushroom picking is undoubtedly one of the favourite activities of the Lithuanian people. It starts in the spring and lasts till the first frosts, normally early November. Mushroom hunting is probably Lithuania’s second most popular sport, after basketball. When rumours start to float around that the first mushrooms of the year have been seen in the woods, people get up at 6 am on Saturday morning and go to the woods with their baskets and plastic bags. You can actually experience traffic jams at that time on a Saturday morning! Entire families go mushrooming and return with overflowing baskets.
The most abundant forests are in Dzukija, the south eastern region. Traditionally the inhabitants of this part of the country are the most prolific mushroom gatherers and this region’s cooks are known for the most creative mushroom recipes. The mushroom capital of Lithuania is the town Varena, founded in 1862 as centre of the Varena District.
Sat, 25th August, 2012 - Posted by - (0) Comment
Lithuania offers a modern, international cuisine
fully on par with western Europe.
Text: Aage Myhre
Did you think that this country only offers traditional food? Think again… Today’s situation is that numerous Lithuanian restaurants follow the best world traditions of offering exceptional international cuisine, as well as a number of Lithuanian masterpieces, first-class service in surroundings of refined elegance and impeccable hospitality. Modern Lithuania’s excellent cuisine together with a high class service will leave you a memorable experience.
Let me bring you to some of my favourite international cuisine restaurants, this time unfortunately only in Vilnius!
Below you will find letters from readers who have comments related to topics/articles under this section.
We would be happy to receive letters from all who have comments or suggestions about new articles, events, ideas and more...
A few days ago our Associate Editor, Vin Karnila, wrote a well-tasting article about 'kugelis'. In addition to presenting his favourite recipe, he also claimed that this is a national Lithuanian dish. Here are a few of his phrases that got several reactions from readers over the latest days:
"Once again I have been elected to share a traditional Lithuanian recipe with you..."
"I think that 'kugelis' has more variations for recipes than any other Lithuanian dish..."
"In spite of what you may have read about "traditional Lithuanian breakfasts" in books, I can tell you that in Lithuania very often what you had for dinner last night is what you have for breakfast (and lunch) the next day."
To read more, go to our
Section 21 – FOOD, WINE AND MORE
Sorry, but this is yet another example of the erroneous assumptions made about things that are nothing to do with Lithuania and yet, generally because a couple of letters have been on the end of a word (in this case the addition of the letters i and s at the end of the Yiddish/German word kugel), people assume that they're Lithuania. This not a Lithuanian dish.
Richard Schofield
In response to Richard Schofield – Potato Kugelis is indeed a cherished Lithuanian dish. It is also called "Bulviu Plokstainis" (flat potato dish). It often contains pork products (like bacon) as that is what was in abundance in Lithuania and still is, although you can find Plokstainis with chicken as well.
I'll bet that there is not one Lithuanian family, regardless of their religious beliefs, that does not have a Potato Kugelis/Plokstainis recipe that is passed from generation to generation.
Rima Raulinaitis
I was really interested to read that kugel (or Kigel) which is eaten by Jews all over around, may be a Lithuanian dish, I'd be interested in more information on the source of Kugel(is).
If you are already doing a research on that, could you tell me if Tshulent does sound familiar to Lithuanians?
Gershon Lehrer, Antwerp, Belgium
My cousin from Stakiai grates the raw onion into the potato mixture….she said it keeps the potatoes whiter. I've tried it and it seems to keep them from turning gray. Kugelis is a favorite with all our family and I've made both bacon and vegetarian options – all are consumed pretty quickly!
Sandy Abramovich
We should not confuse the Lithuanian Kugelis with the Jewish Kugel. I think the only similarity here is the name. The Lithuanian Kugelis is made with potatoes, while the Jewish kugelis is made mostly with noodles. The Lithuanian Kugelis requires bacon bits (and perhaps bacon fat). So try serving Lithuanian Kugelis to a religious Jew (after you tell him what's in it), and see what reaction you get.
Val Ramonis
I am a professional translator and trained linguist and I have tried to find out the etymology (origin) of the word "kugelis" (N.B. the word, not the object). But no one seems to know for sure. One theory is that the word is of Germanic origin. This theory is around because it resembles the German word "kugel", which means "ball, sphere, globe". Well, sounds a little shaky to me, because kugelis is certainly not sphere-shaped, not even round in most cases (at least not these days). Another theory is that it may have something to do with the German word "kochen" (to cook), but the implication with that word is usually more about boiling than baking in the oven. ("Backen" is "to bake" in German.) In the end, does it matter? It's silly for Richard Schofield to proclaim "This not a Lithuanian dish." Millions of plates of kugelis are consumed by Lithuanians every year. In common sense terms, that makes it a Lithuanian dish.
Gintautas Kaminskas
Great article with one noteable fact that is wrong. Lithuania only had one "king", the rest of the time it was the Grand Dukes who ruled. Wish there were something in there about the beer brewed at Avilys which happened to be my favorite when I was there.
Bernardas Tirva
Sveiki Ponas Bernardai,
Thank you for pointing that out.
Yes, I stand corrected. I should have said with the permission of the Grand Duke.
Your comment about "Avilys" beer peaked my interest so I did a little searching.
The result was that I couldn't come up with anything about a brewery or a specific beer named "Avilys.
What I did find was that there are two micro breweries/restaurants named "Avilys". One is in Vilnius and the other in Kaunas. Naturally the beer they produce is called "Avilys beer". These two establishments currently are in operation so when you said "when I was there", I don't know if this is the same company making the same beer.
So many breweries in Lithuania have come and gone. Some have merged with other breweries, some have changed their names and some have simply just closed their doors. In the article, I wrote about the breweries that are still operating in Lithuania today. I'm sure volumes could be written about the others that existed in the past. If you could give us some information about the "Avilys" beer that you remember, I for one and I'm sure our readers would find this very interesting.
In fact we invite all of our readers to share any information you have about Lithuanian breweries from the past.
Su pagarbe – Vin Karnila
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Šaltibarščiai – cold beet root soup