Lithuanian cuisine is rich in caloric and nutritious foods... from šaltibarščiai to cepelinai, let's discover all the typical dishes.
The traditional cuisine ofLithuaniait is rich incaloric and nutritious foods, as is typical ofEuropecontinental. Thepotatoes they dominate the table of every Lithuanian family and, sometimes, one wonders what the locals ate before the potato was brought from the Americas to the old continent! Cucumbers, carrots, red turnips and, above all,beets, are equally frequent in the diet of the inhabitants of the southernmost of the Baltic Republics.
And the cold soup is prepared with beetsšaltibarščiai, considered one of the national delicacies in Lithuania. The soup ofšaltibarščiaiit is served cold and has avery bright pink colour, due precisely to the beets to which they are addedkefyrand cucumbers. It is usually accompanied by boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs.
Recently the Lithuanian Department of Tourism focused on this pink dishshockingits advertising campaign for the Italian market. “Some things are too good to be true. Discover Lithuania”. This is what the promotional message that has accompanied the image of a dish ofšaltibarščiai, inside which the dill leaves (a spice widely used for condiments in Lithuania) made up the shape of geographical Lithuania.
There are also numerous dishes based onmeat, especially pork, but there is no shortage of white meat dishes. Lamb meat is used more rarely. However, the so-called make extensive use of itkaraimi, an ethnic group of Turkish stock and language, established in the Middle Ages in the Trakai area, not far from Vilnius. The Karaime families still jealously guard the recipekibinas, a tasty panzerotto filled with minced lamb meat, enriched with garlic, spices and other flavourings.
One of the most consumed foods is undoubtedly theblack bread, produced with rye grown throughout the country, as in the rest of Northern Europe. It often serves as an appetizer if fried in garlic (kepta duona) and is usually served in thin slices together with a good bowl of soup and accompanied bybeer (it should be mentioned that precisely because of the excellent quality of its beer, the New York Times has included Lithuania among the places of interest to visit already in 2013!).
But the best known specialty in Lithuania are thecepelinai(orzeppelin): large potato dumplings filled with flavored minced meat or cheese, which in shape and name recall an airship, to be eaten seasoned withbaconinto pieces andsour cream. Ingredienti poveri, gustosi ma soprattutto… sconsigliati a chi soffre di alti livelli di colesterolo!
In collaboration withLitintour, Lithuania Travel
