In its gastronomic traditions, Baltic Lithuania has a lot in common with its neighbors. In the usual menu of her restaurants, you can find dishes similar to Belarusian, Latvian, Ukrainian and Russian, as well as notice a certain identity with the kitchen techniques of the Scandinavian countries. All this was due to the active role of Lithuania in the international arena at all times: the country has invariably sought to establish close historical and cultural ties with its neighbors.
The culinary traditions of the republic have evolved over many centuries, and during the Middle Ages, an aristocratic gastronomic trend literally flourished in Lithuania. The principality of Lithuania even acted as a trendsetter in culinary fashion at the international level. By the middle of the 18th century, exquisite aristocratic trends were supplanted by solid peasant traditions, but the recipes for those very delicacies of "haute cuisine" survived.
Tourists who are interested in what to try in a restaurant or cafe in Lithuania are advised to choose a simple meal that has survived many historical upheavals and revolutions. It continues to form the basis of Lithuanian gastronomic traditions, rightly elevated to the rank of national treasure.
Lithuanian chefs and housewives prefer to cook from simple but valuable natural ingredients. They often choose pork and lamb from meat, potatoes, cabbage, beets and greens are popular among vegetables. Dairy products are held in high esteem, and sour cream and cottage cheese are always present on the tables of Lithuanians. The first courses in summer are represented by cold borscht, and in winter - by rich soups on meat broth. Bread in Lithuania is still the head of everything, and local varieties of dark flour with caraway seeds are well known even outside the country. Drinks served to the table are also traditional - kvass, dark strong beer, liqueurs, and from strong ones - vodka. The technologies for preparing Lithuanian national dishes are usually roasting, stewing in the oven and smoking.
Top 10 Lithuanian dishes
Zeppelins
Similar dishes are found in the kitchens of many other potato-growing nations. In Lithuania, they are called "digkukuliai", although the general public is better known as "zeppelins". This is how potato dumplings were nicknamed in the First World War, when Lithuania was occupied by the Germans and airships of the Zeppelin brand flew through its territory to the front line all the time.
"Zeppelins" are made from grated potatoes (usually raw, sometimes mixed with boiled ones). A filling is placed inside the potato base: usually from minced meat, but there are options with cottage cheese. Fresh homemade sour cream is attached to huge dumplings as a sauce, and it is customary to pour over all this wealth with fried melted pork lard with cracklings.
Chefs of modern restaurants can sprinkle "zeppelins" with finely chopped dill, but the traditional serving avoids any delights - the dish was usually prepared in winter, when one could not even dream of fresh herbs.
Zrazy
In the process of preparing the second most popular hot dish of Lithuanian cuisine, everything happens exactly the opposite: the meat in it does not serve as a filling, but as a base in which vegetables, potatoes, eggs, cereals and even mushrooms are hidden. In shape, "zrazy" can be cutlets (everyday version) or meatloaf, if the dish was prepared for a festive table.
The ancestor of "zrazov" Lithuanians consider the Italian Bona Sforza, who in the 16th century was the wife of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund I and brought many culinary recipes from their historical homeland.
In modern Lithuanian restaurants, "zrazy" is most often prepared with mushrooms or boiled eggs and served with herbs, vegetable garnishes or salads under a variety of sauces: from simple meat gravy to complex berries made from wild berries - cranberries and lingonberries.
Zemaichyu pancake
The name of the next variation of potato cooking is written without mistakes: this is how the transcription from Lithuanian looks like. Potato pancakes with meat filling were born in the emaitija region and took root throughout the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The dough for "zhemaychu blinay" is made from potatoes. It must be pre-cooked, moreover, "in uniform", and this nuance is the main secret of the success of Lithuanian pancakes. To tell the truth, they are more like potato pies with onions and meat, but it is now pointless to argue with the authors of the recipe. It is better to try zemaichyu in any Lithuanian restaurant that offers dishes of national cuisine.
Pancakes are usually served with sour cream dressing with melted lard with cracklings, with sour cream filling with ghee, or with sour cream-mushroom sauce. In general, sour cream will certainly be present on your plate, and the rest you can choose at your discretion from the restaurant menu.
Shalltibarshai soup
The classic Lithuanian "khaltibarschay" (or "chill" from our neighbors in Belarus) is prepared with pickled beets. Each housewife has her own secret of cooking, and therefore you will not find two identical "cold makers". In restaurants, they often use just boiled beets, and this can hardly be called a classic of the genre. That is why, having decided to try the specialty cold soup in Lithuania, ask the waiter how vegetables were prepared for the "chill".
The basis of the soup should be either kefir, or beet marinade or broth mixed with milk. The sudden taste effect of such a mix is softened by the addition of aromatic fresh vegetables and spicy herbs - crispy cucumbers, aromatic dill and spicy green onion rings.
"Shaltibarschai" is especially successful if it is prepared the day before, has time to brew, and is served with a good portion of thick sour cream, hot boiled potatoes on a separate dish and dark Lithuanian bread baked with caraway seeds.
Soup in bread
The traditional hot version of the first course has a very original presentation. Mushroom soup in Lithuania is definitely worth trying, because it is served in bread!
The dish itself is prepared from forest mushrooms - more often chanterelles, and therefore it is usually seasonal - autumn. But at other times of the year, soup in bread is found on the menu of restaurants, but, for example, champignons or oyster mushrooms will be taken as a basis. In addition to mushrooms, the recipe includes potatoes, carrots and onions, as well as flour and cream, with the help of which the soup becomes thick and rich. The plate is round bread, from which the pulp has been cut. The dish is seasoned with ground black pepper and dill.
Sausage Skilandis
The branded sausage product "skilandis" has been awarded the trademark of the European Union, which guarantees the tradition of production. This status obliges the manufacturer to comply with certain standards, and therefore you can taste skilandis in any public catering establishment in Lithuania - the quality will be at its best.
It is made from pork chopped in a coarse-mesh meat grinder. Pieces of bacon, salt, coriander and black pepper are added to the mass, and for drying the minced meat is placed in a natural shell - the stomach of a pig. The drying process takes about two weeks, after which the almost finished "skilandis" is subjected to long-term cold smoking.
In restaurants, Lithuanian sausage is served as a cold appetizer, thinly sliced and accompanied by freshly baked bread, sauces and fresh vegetables. The second way to use "skilandis" in Lithuanian cookery is to cook cabbage soup and borscht with it. Sausage gives a unique aroma and taste to the first courses.
Sausage Vederai
In Lithuanian, "buderay" means "guts". Behind this name lies a very popular snack in the country - blood sausage with cereals. Previously, the dish was seasonal, because it required pig blood to prepare it, and the cattle were slaughtered only in winter. Now "buderay" can be ordered in Lithuanian restaurants at any time of the year.
The sausage is prepared with various cereals: buckwheat, barley, and even rice can serve as a basis. The groats are usually boiled until half cooked and mixed with fresh blood, pork rinds, and seasonings. Then the intestines are filled with the resulting mass and the resulting sausages are baked on a baking sheet in the oven. Vederai is served with flour and spice sauce or sour cream mixed with ghee and chopped herbs. The dish is best eaten hot.
Kugelis
The potato casserole "Kugelis" is an example of a hearty and good-quality meal of a hard-working Lithuanian. Its base is mashed boiled potatoes. The filling is usually chopped onions, fried with a substantial portion of lard, and hard-boiled eggs. The mixture is seasoned with black pepper, marjoram and bay leaves and placed in a mold between layers of boiled potatoes. Then the dish is baked and served with apple or lingonberry sauce.
As an addition, you can order fried pork, but "kugelis" is such a hearty and self-sufficient food that meat on your table may not be enough. Ask the waiter for a portion of sour cream - often the taste of the casserole is especially vividly "revealed" in her presence.
Cookies "Khvorost"
The favorite delicacy of Lithuanian children got its name from its resemblance to fallen tree branches. It is made from wheat flour, eggs, butter and milk. Rum or cognac is added to the dough, and the blanks are fried in a saucepan with boiling oil. Spread the "brushwood" on a dish with a paper towel so that it absorbs excess fat, and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. In restaurants and pastry shops, popular Lithuanian biscuits are served with coffee or cocoa.
Shakotis cake
The pinnacle of Lithuanian pastry chefs' skill is rightfully considered "Shakotis" - a cake that usually participates in wedding parties. In everyday life, you can order it in restaurants in Vilnius and other cities, so there is no need to wait for an invitation to a wedding.
Shakotis is made from flour and a huge amount of eggs. The dough turns out to be liquid and it is baked on a special skewer, dipping it again and again into the egg mass as it hardens. Flowing down, the dough forms "twigs", and the cake looks very original and impressive.
Lithuanians tell a legend that Shakotis came out by chance. The chef accidentally spilled the dough on the skewer over the fire, and Queen Barbara loved the resulting sweet dessert. One way or another, Shakotis is now a culinary symbol of Lithuania, and tourists are offered to try it in almost all cafes and pastry shops.
