So you have arrived at this small Baltic country Lithuania and, most likely, you are wondering what authentic Lithuanian cuisine tastes like and whether you could take some of it home as a souvenir.
As we have discovered in my previous post, lots of Lithuanians will present you with a variety of hearty potato dishes as authentic Lithuanian cuisine, although historians strongly disagree with this choice of menu.
So I listened to these learned men and women, did a bit of research of my own and came up with
11 AUTHENTIC LITHUANIAN FOODSTUFFS YOU CAN EASILY BUY IN ANY SUPERMARKET.
1. JUODA DUONA - RYE BREAD
This bread has been made in Lithuania (as well as the whole region) for thousands of years, initially simply from rye flour and water, nothing else.
Some foreign visitors, especially those coming from countries where rye is not a popular grain, find this bread slightly on a sour side. Others though, appreciate its quality and even take it home as a delicatessen.
Lithuanians love this bread and eat it with almost every meal, especially soups.
You can get a loaf of rye bread in any supermarket and there are many varieties to choose from.
OMG, someone is selling Lithuanian Rye Bread on Amazon! See HERE
2.BALTAS SŪRIS – WHITE COTTAGE CHEESE.
This cheese is usually formed in a sort of triangular shape and is often eaten with honey.
I still remember my granny making it the traditional way, squeezing it in a special wooden apparatus for a couple of days.
Every supermarket in Lithuania sells a few varieties of this cheese, ranging from savory to sweet.
3.FERMENTED CHEESE.
It seems Lithuanians started fermenting cheese around the 16th century in the region of Samogitia. Across Samogitian borders, this cheese was known as Lithuanian cheese.
Today in Lithuania you’ll find a huge variety of Lithuanian fermented cheeses to choose from.
A couple of brands that are worth exploring and even bringing home as souvenirs are:
Hard cheese DŽIUGAS – you’ll find it everywhere, they even have specialized shops and cafes where along with their cheese they sell all sorts of products made with it, even cakes and ice cream! Here's their website, I think they also sell the cheese online
Another cheese worth trying is semi-hard cheese ‘Liliputas’. In 2015 this cheese was included in EU Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication product lists. Here's the cheesemaker's website
4. LAŠINIAI (SALO IN UKRANIAN AND RUSSIAN), SALTED AND CURED SLABS OF PORK FATBACK.
Lašiniai has been a popular food across the country for many hundreds of years and loved by the locals today.
It can be eaten raw or cooked, added as a condiment to a variety of dishes. You can get a slab of lašiniai in any supermarket or meat shop.
…and the best part is – it turns out dietitians call slabs of pork fat...
wait for it...
diet food…, go figure!
Guess what? Lašiniai is sold on Amazon too – can’t quite believe it! Check it out here
5. SKILANDIS ( A KIND OF ROUND DRY CURED LITHUANIAN SAUSAGE).
Skilandis was first mentioned in the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania palace inventory books in the 16th century.
It was traditionally made of pig’s stomach or bladder stuffed with a variety of meats, that's where the round shape comes from.
This was a perfect way to preserve the meat for longer periods of time and transport it when going to battles, the fields for work and other places.
Today butchers do not necessarily stuff an animal’s stomach or bladder but keep the same recognizable round shape.
As with other products, you can get skilandis in every supermarket, butcher’s or grocery’s shop.
6.ŽEMAITIŠKAS KASTINYS (SAMOGITIAN SOUR CREAM BUTTER).
It is an ancient dish coming from Samogitian region in Lithuania.
Kastinys is a savory spread made from cream with consistency reminding that of butter.
Made with garlic, pepper and various herbs it can be served with a variety of hot dishes, such as potato, dumplings, pasta or can be used as a spread in sandwiches.
Today you’ll find kastinys in butter or cream section of any supermarket.
7.BLYNAI (PANCAKES)
While most likely, you will not be able to buy pancakes in supermarkets in Lithuania (or maybe you will), but you can easily order them in restaurants across the country.
This dish was traditionally a staple food in Aukštaitija (highlands) region and was made using different flour varieties; they even used dry pea flour!
Apparently, each woman in this region used to know at least 20-30 pancake recipes.
8. ALUS (BEER).
Like most nations in the world, Lithuanians have their own long history of brewing beer and, of course, enjoying it.
Any supermarket has a huge variety of Lithuanian beers, so I dare you, go get one and see what you think of it!
9. MIDUS (MEAD).
Well known across the world for thousands of years, traditionally this alcoholic drink was made of water and honey.
We are told that Lithuanian recipe is among the oldest in the world.
The first time Lithuanian midus was mentioned in written documentation was around 64-24BC, when in his famous manuscript ‘Geographica,’ the great Geographer of Antiquity Strabo mentions Baltic tribes making a drink from honey and grain.
Today midus is loved by the locals and is often presented as a gift to foreign visitors.
So if you are looking for a gift for those who stayed at home, midus will be a perfect choice. Here's for example, one of the seller's website
10. KARAIM KIBINAI.
Strictly speaking, it is not a Lithuanian dish, but I have to mention it here since it is a living monument to Lithuanian Karaim community, whose ancestors were brought to Lithuania in the 14th century by Grand Duke Vytautas and were settled in the old capital Trakai.
In Lithuania you’ll find kibinai as a fast food option everywhere - cafes, street vendors, supermarkets bakery sections. They usually come with meat fillings, but there are vegetarian options as well. Kibinai can be eaten hot or cold.
11. FERMENTED CABBAGE, CUCUMBER, AND OTHER VEGETABLES.
Yes, you can buy these in shops!
Fermentation process for food preservation has been known around the world for many thousands of years, and Lithuania is no exception.
Today, fermented cabbage and cucumber are two most popular winter foods in almost every Lithuanian home where every family has their own recipes.
Fermenting your vegetables at home can be a bit of a hassle, so thankfully, supermarkets and outdoor markets sell this goodness ready-made.
Did you know that fermented vegetables are actually one of the most nutritious foodstuffs you can get?
But make sure not to confuse fermented vegetables with pickled ones – these are two different processes.
So if you taste any of the above, you can pat yourself on the back as you have just tasted a piece of authentic Lithuanian cuisine and know more about it than the average local.
Lithuanian heritage food of superior quality can certainly be found in delicatessen shops and artisan markets across the country, that is, if you have the time and energy to seek them out.
But if you are like most visitors, chances are, your trip to Lithuania is going to last only a couple of days.
So head to a local supermarket and enjoy a journey through Lithuanian culinary history in one place!
Eat authentic Lithuanian food, enjoy your life!
If you fancy discovering more about authentic Lithuanian cuisine, have a look at this book on Amazon where the author takes you on a journey of Lithuanian cooking.
*Another interesting book about the essence of Lithuanian home cooking is by a locally famous food journalist, author and presenter Beata Nicholson, discover HERE.
All text is my original content.
You can see copyright signs on some photos because they were taken for my blog www.curioustovisit.com .
Photos in this blog post were taken from wikipedia and pixabay
If you liked this post, let’s connect – leave a comment or follow me at @vliet , I’ll check out your profile as well.
You can also find me on my travel blog www.curioustovisit.com or Facebook Page HERE
We almost have everything from your list here in Romania. Maybe shaped otherwise or consumed without honey, but those products exist, except for the midus. It's nice to see other country's tradiditional food :)
It's funny @erikah , the more I travel the more it seems to me that food and its preparation across the world and especially Europe doesn't differ that much. I suppose there are only so many ways one can preserve a piece of meat or cook it :-)
Plus, throughout history people have been in touch with far away nations through war or trade, so they have learned things from one another :-)
I'm really hoping one day soon I'll finally visit Romania and have a chance to compare our traditional food :D
I couldn't agree more, well said!
This is a Wonderfull post I throughly enjoyed this
Thanks @rbjones !
As an American, many of those foods are made available to us either through Amazon or the local grocery. The local rye bread is not nearly as good as yours. I love the European ride because it is of a denser quality and I actually do not find it sour, but rather enjoy the flavor. It could be because that is the way my mother made it. By the way, she is French, so I guess perhaps the French have there bread in much the same manner. I found it hilarious the first time I saw it on Amazon and their biggest shout-out was that it was authentic. I have seen that cottage cheese and my mother even used to make it squeezing and squeezing it for days. I can remember her using a cheesecloth and a wooden piece of equipment. Nowadays, I usually buy mine in a tub at the supermarket, I have fond memories of the homemade and if I weren't so lazy I would probably make it. The favorite things that I love to do it is simple different cheeses from around the world. Interesting Lee enough I both most of them and they are so very different and yet there are so many qualities that are the same.
I just love that pork fat is now diet food, after all these years of avoiding it! Go figure!
The cured sausage is something that I am glad that they moved away from the Oregon casings because of all the different problems they have had with cancer and organ meat. True or false you just never know. Better safe than sorry. On the upside I love their sausage! And I have been looking and looking for a recipe or even a pre- packaged waffle mix. Going to Lithuania on the weekends isn't always convenient from the Washington DC area. Just saying.
I actually tasted Mead for the very first time last year and the entire family found it delicious. It was homemade and I couldn't believe that it was alcoholic and made of water and honey. Who knew? I have one bottle left and I won't be able to get any more until September so it's highly coveted, so now I thank you for getting me the sellers website. The little meat pies I am familiar with because I think everywhere I go somebody has some sort of meat pie and or vegetable and they are delicious and you can grab them in your hand and take them to go. I want to thank you so much for pointing out that fermenting and pickling are two different things and so many people here mix them up. Fermenting is definitely the way to go both nutritiously and diet.
I want to thank you very much for taking the time to post to Market Friday and I'm very much enjoyed everything that was written and the way that you presented your article.
Upped and steemed
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Hi @dswigle ! Thank you so much for reading my post and for your thoughtful comments as well as upvote and steeming!
We were saying with @erikah that so much of authentic food is actually so similar across different countries and continents. I find it really interesting that your French mom used to make her own cheese the same way we in Lithuania used to do (and some people still do).
I totally agree about cured sausages, it's really not the healthiest food on offer, although if you can make it at home, then it's a different matter :D My granny used to make epic dry cured sausages, I was thinking just the other day, I must ask for the recipe from my aunt. I bet I could dry cure it in one of those electric ovens. Let's see :)
Thanks for stopping by, lovely to meet you @dswigle !
Oh, that sounds awesome! I was thinking with the organ meat that you buy as opposed to the ones you raise! Thank you for your reply! If you get a good dry cure that you don't mind sharing, I would love it!
Will let you know if I'm successful in dry curing something nice :)
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#5 and #6 are the best. Mmmmm....
They are delicious!