Lithuanian cuisine recipes. Lithuanian cuisine - traditions and main dishes. Characteristic features of Lithuanian national cuisine

Today, Lithuanian cuisine is known all over the world and loved by many. Its distinguishing features are simplicity, uncomplicatedness, conciseness, the use of the most common products. That is what she is famous for.

But few people know that along with the Lithuanian culinary school, there is also the Starolith one. And they differ from each other in the same way as a peasant woman differs from a noble lady. The traditions of the Old Lithuanian cuisine were formed from the 14th to the 18th century, and today many of its wonderful recipes are, unfortunately, forgotten. It was focused on noble gentlemen, at whose court real feasts were held. In the case of Old Lithuanian cuisine, the situation is as follows: it is characterized by the most complex recipe, an abundance of ingredients bordering on excess, and the most daring combinations of products are also not uncommon for it. Traditional Lithuanian cuisine is much more accessible and simple. Perhaps some recipes will replenish your cookbook.

First meal

What to serve for dinner? We often answer this question quite unequivocally: hot, salty and liquid, preferably with meat. But the first dishes of Lithuanian cuisine are sometimes sweet. And some of them are served cold. Very popular recipe sweet soup with dumplings.

To prepare it, boil a glass of water, add 4-5 prunes, a pinch of cinnamon and citric acid. Season with sugar to taste. While the soup is boiling, knead the dough from one yolk and 2 tablespoons of flour. We form small dumplings, dip into boiling soup. It is recommended to serve this dish with sour cream. Prunes can be replaced with plums or apples.

Zrazy

If you decide to discover such a phenomenon as Lithuanian cuisine, you will have to master the recipes first of all. They are very common, unusual, diverse. Famous Lithuanian cepelinai was invented in the deep Middle Ages, and is more characteristic of the Old Litovian cuisine, because it was served at the best feasts of the state. But his adapted recipe went to the people. In fact, it is a kind of zrazy.

To prepare the zeppelin, grate 15 raw and 3 boiled potatoes. Knead the dough by adding 1-2 eggs and a little rye flour to it. We prepare the filling from boiled beef (500 g). Boil the formed zrazy in boiling water and serve with sour cream and herbs.

Lithuanian includes many recipes for zrazy. They are not only boiled in broth, but also fried in breadcrumbs, baked in the oven. Not always a "wrap" is made from potatoes, although this recipe is the most common. Often the filling is wrapped in minced meat or chop.

Popular filling options: minced boiled meat, liver and boiled liver, forest mushrooms, smoked lard, bacon, lard mixed with bread, whole or chopped eggs.

Meat dishes

Many meat Lithuanian cuisines have analogues among other national cuisines of the world. For example, in Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian, recipes for brawn or saltison are common. Lithuanians prepared head roll. To prepare it, boil the pork head for 3-4 hours, adding spices and garlic to the broth. Then, having cooled a little, they take out the facial bones and roll the layers of meat with skin into a roll.

With the help of twine and cling film, the product is formed and allowed to cool under pressure for several hours. This roll is served chilled, thinly sliced ​​into portioned slices. It goes well with spicy sauces with horseradish or garlic.

Vegetables

It cannot be said that Lithuanian cuisine exalts vegetables and uses them widely, as, for example, the cuisines of the peoples of the Far East or the Mediterranean. Most often in recipes we meet onions, carrots, potatoes and beets. But Lithuanians, of course, prepare unusual snacks from fresh seasonal vegetables. Do you want something unusual, but without overseas delicacies? cook Lithuanian style stuffed cucumbers.

It is best to take fruits of small size. The number of ingredients depends on their size relative to each other. My cucumbers, cut into halves lengthwise. With a teaspoon, carefully scoop out the pulp. Peel boiled carrots and beets, cut into small cubes, mix with chopped pulp, season with vegetable oil, sprinkle with salt, sugar and seasonings. If desired, you can add a few drops of lemon juice, chopped blue onion, chopped garlic. We fill the cucumber boats and serve to the table.

Bakery products

Lithuanians are very fond of pies and casseroles baked in the oven. They are prepared with salty and sweet fillings. Lithuanian pastries are very diverse. If you want to master it, be sure to try making gingerbread cookies Meduolis.

Sift a glass of rye and wheat flour, sauté in a dry frying pan. Add 400 g of warmed honey, mix thoroughly. Pour in a tablespoon of vodka (preferably Lithuanian, with spices). To make the gingerbread fragrant, add an incomplete teaspoon of ground ginger, a pinch of lemon zest, a couple of black peppercorns and 3-4 cloves. The dough must be thoroughly kneaded for at least half an hour. It will acquire the necessary plasticity and roll out easily. Cut out curly gingerbread or simply cut into squares. Bake in a preheated oven for about 5 minutes.

Fish meals

Lithuanian cuisine gives a worthy place to fish dishes. with mushrooms and cucumbers" may seem unusual, because more often we eat cucumbers without heat treatment. But in this dish they play an important part.

Burbot skin is tough, it is better to remove it. Carefully separate the meat from the bone, remove the insides. The liver of this fish is edible, the main thing is not to damage the gallbladder. Cut the fillet into portioned pieces, roll in flour, fry in oil until half cooked. Separately, fry the onion and mushrooms, cut into half rings. Put a layer of onions, fish, thinly sliced ​​cucumbers into a saucepan, and top with mushrooms and onions. We also send the liver here. Add a glass of broth and white wine, salt and pepper. You can stew this dish on a small burner or in the oven. Boiled potatoes are perfect for such fish as a side dish.

Dishes with mushrooms

Lithuanian cuisine has many wonderful dishes with mushrooms. They are stuffed with pies, added to soups and borscht, stuffed with zrazy.

One of the most popular recipes is stewed morels. These mushrooms grow in forests throughout the mainland, and in Lithuania they are considered a real delicacy.

We clean half a kilogram of morels from the ground and impurities, soak for an hour in water, rinse thoroughly under a tap. Like all forest ones, they need to be pre-boiled. It is enough to let them boil for 10 minutes. Drain the broth, and transfer the mushrooms to a wok, pour oil and fry. Sprinkle with flour (a handful is enough), add a glass of sour cream and simmer. If the sour cream is too thick, you may need some water. This dish goes well with cereal side dishes.

Without a doubt, the most popular Lithuanian dish is zeppelins - huge potato dumplings stuffed with meat (rarely with cottage cheese), which are usually served with cracklings. Many Lithuanians consider this dish to be their original, but this opinion is erroneous - very similar dishes are observed in other national cuisines, in particular, in Polish and Czech.

In general, Lithuanian traditional cuisine is very closely related to Polish, many dishes are equally popular in both countries - dumplings, dumplings, pancakes, donuts. The German influence is also palpable: the Germans taught the Lithuanians how to cook numerous pork and potato dishes. Lithuanian cuisine, recipes with photos of which are presented in this section, has a lot of common dishes with Belarusian cuisine - these are potato pancakes and pancakes, potato pancakes, potato sausages. Influenced on the features of Lithuanian cuisine and Jews, and even the Tatars-Karaites.

As in other Baltic countries, Lithuania has a very diverse menu of cold snacks. The ancestors of modern Lithuanians worked a lot in the field, and therefore it was cold snacks that you could take with you from home that formed the basis of their diet. Today these are all kinds of cheeses, dairy products, smoked meat and fish products, sausages.

Incredibly wide range of hot dishes. Today, the most popular dishes of Lithuanian national cuisine are the aforementioned zeppelins, all kinds of potato pancakes and casseroles (in particular, Samogitian pancakes and Jewish kugel), boiled potatoes with curdled milk, dumplings, dumplings, cabbage rolls, meatballs, zrazy. Obviously, many of these dishes are not originally Lithuanian, but in Lithuania they have taken root very well and acquired local flavors. It is also worth noting that Lithuanian cuisine consists mainly of fatty and hearty dishes, but this does not prevent Lithuanians from being the most slender nation in Europe - it is in Lithuania that the smallest percentage of obese people. It's a paradox, but it's true.

Another incredibly popular Lithuanian dish, which in its popularity is able to compete even with zeppelins, is Lithuanian cold borscht shaltibarschai. Again, many Lithuanians tend to attribute the authorship of this dish to their people, although in reality this cold beetroot soup is well known in Poland, Latvia, and Belarus. One way or another, this cold beetroot soup on kefir, which is always served with separately boiled hot potatoes, is the most popular dish on the table of every Lithuanian in the warm season. In the cold season, hot soups are very popular, which are not much different from soups common in neighboring countries - these are borscht, pickle, cabbage soup, pea soup, etc.

An integral part of any meal is Lithuanian black bread. If you ask any Lithuanian living outside the homeland what he misses most in a foreign country, he will immediately answer - Lithuanian black bread.

When it comes to Lithuanian drinks, the undoubted leader here is beer. Lithuanians are a beer nation. The Lithuanians originally adopted the brewing traditions from the Germans, but subsequently developed them to such an extent that today Lithuanian beer is considered by experts to be one of the best in the world. Ordinary bottled beer, produced by the largest Lithuanian brewing companies and sold in supermarkets, can outperform many of its Czech and German counterparts, but despite this, Lithuanians prefer to buy draft beer, which is brewed by dozens of small breweries throughout Lithuania. In addition to beer, strong alcoholic drinks are also popular - especially various herbal tinctures. Popular non-alcoholic drinks are unoriginal - tea, coffee, kvass and compotes.

Traditional Lithuanian desserts are not much different from Polish ones - donuts, pies with apples and other sweet fillings, brushwood, chocolate. Worthy of special mention is a cake called Šakotis, a large tree-shaped birthday cake also popular in Poland and Germany.

If you come to Lithuania to relax and gain new pleasant impressions, you need to try and appreciate delicious and, at the same time, inexpensive dishes of Lithuanian national cuisine. In their national cuisine, Lithuanians mainly use potatoes, pork, raw dairy products and seasonal vegetables. Dishes are distinguished by a simple recipe, satiety and affordable price.

In Lithuania, there are specialized restaurants and cafes called "Lituviškai patekalai" (Lithuanian dishes), where you can taste traditional Lithuanian dishes. However, you can find these dishes not only there, but also in the menu of almost every restaurant or cafe. And we will help you figure out what and how they are made, so that you can choose the recipe you like by the name of the dish in Russian and Lithuanian.

Where to stay if you plan to relax and enjoy Lithuanian cuisine:

Lithuanian first courses

Šaltibarščiai

Don't forget to try this Lithuanian "pink miracle" - the famous cold borscht. This is a beetroot soup with cucumbers and greens, made on fatty kefir with separately served hot boiled potatoes and an egg. Sometimes smoked meats are added. This is my favorite light and refreshing soup. It is especially pleasant on a hot summer day.

Soup in bread (Sriuba duonos kubilėlyje)

There is another delicious culinary miracle - a soup in a rye "pot" with forest mushrooms (usually porcini). A small loaf of homemade rye bread is cut off the top and all the pulp is removed. Cream soup with mushrooms is poured into the resulting “pot” and covered with a rye lid on top. Bread pot soup is just as delicious as mushroom soup.

Main dishes of Lithuanian cuisine

In Lithuanian dishes, meat, garnish and salad are never served separately, as in Russian restaurants. If you order meat (fish), then they will automatically bring a side dish, salad, fresh vegetables and sauce (you can choose any side dish, sauce yourself, but this will not change the price).

For sauces wild mushrooms (porcini and chanterelles) are traditionally used, as well as spinach, cheeses (and its derivatives), herbal spices.

cabbage rolls in Lithuania it is served with potatoes and sour cream. Therefore, this is a fairly satisfying and inexpensive dish.

Zeppelins (Didžkukuliai)

The main culinary "attraction" of Lithuania, which every tourist should try and appreciate, is the famous zeppelins, or they are also called Didžkukuliai - these are large fragrant potato "airships" with juicy ground meat inside (they are also available with cottage cheese, and with mushrooms it is also delicious ).
They are boiled and served with sour cream sauce with crispy cracklings, onions or mushroom sauce (your choice).
There are also fried zeppelins, but who has a good stomach! For those who cannot boast of it, zeppelins are made from boiled potatoes (this is not for everybody). Please note that such zeppelins are not served everywhere!
Each serving contains two fairly large zeppelins. However, if you wish, you can order half a portion (we advise you to order everything in half a portion for testing), as they are not small, but Lithuanian dishes are hearty.

Vedarai

Vedarai is another hearty Lithuanian dish. Fried onions, cracklings, brisket, herbs and spices are added to grated raw potatoes. Pork intestines are stuffed with this mass and baked in the oven or on the grill until crispy. Served with bacon and sour cream.

Kėdainių blynai

Kedainiu blinai are fried potato pancakes made from grated raw potatoes with minced meat inside. Pancakes are served with sour cream sauce or sour cream.

Kugelis (Bulvių plokštainis)

Kugelis (potato headstock) - fried onions, cracklings, brisket and spices are added to grated raw potatoes. Formed, laid out on a brazier and baked in the oven. Served with white sauce, bacon and mushrooms.

Žemaičių blynai

Žemaičiu pancakes are made from boiled hot potatoes in their uniforms, passed through a meat grinder, stuffed with boiled ground meat with the addition of spices, sauteed onions. Then flat pies are formed and fried in a pan. Served with sour cream sauce or sour cream. When ordering, you can always choose the sauce and serving size.

Stuffed potatoes

This is boiled potatoes in their skins stuffed with mushrooms and fried onions or salted salmon. Served with kastinis or sour cream sauce.
The dish is light and not greasy - for those who do not want to gain weight.

Kastinis (Kastinys)

Be sure to try kastinis - an ancient Samogitian fermented milk product of a special consistency, made from whipped homemade sour cream and butter, with garlic and spices. The secret of the special delicate texture of kastinis is in the whipping technique. A tender and fragrant mass is served in a cafe with potatoes cooked in their uniforms.
Castinis can be bought in the dairy department of any supermarket.

Lithuanian sausages (Lietuviškai dešreliai)

Onion, garlic, spices are added to the pork passed through a meat grinder, and thin pork intestines are stuffed with minced meat. Sausages are boiled, then grilled and served with stewed sauerkraut or mashed potatoes.

Kibinai

Kibinai is a national dish of indigenous Karaite Tatars who have long lived in Lithuania (mainly in Trakai). These are very tasty and satisfying hot pies made from tender shortcrust pastry with minced meat or minced meat (pork, lamb, veal or poultry). They are baked in the oven and served hot.
Kibinai are sold not only in cafes, but also in supermarkets, where they have their own confectionery. But the most delicious kibinas can only be tasted in Trakai, the homeland of the Lithuanian Karaites.

Drinks and snacks

One of the best in the world! There is a lot of beer in Lithuania - tasty and different! There is light beer, it has less alcohol, and dark beer - it is more "thick" and alcoholic, there is filtered and unfiltered, the so-called "live" beer.
In several breweries in Vilnius you can taste this old traditional drink, which is produced using only natural malt, hop cones and brewer's yeast.

Beer snacks

For beer, be sure to take delicious crackers with garlic and cheese, peas with cracklings, boiled-smoked pork ears with garlic sauce. It's all very tasty!

Peas with cracklings (Žirniai su spirgučiais)

Peas with cracklings is a snack for beer, which consists of boiled peas and well-fried cracklings placed on top (everything is mixed before eating).

Pig ears (Rūkytų ausų)

Pork boiled-smoked ears - a great snack for beer. Lightly smoked, they have a pleasant aroma and taste. They are served with spiced garlic sauce.

Soft drinks

In addition to beer, all kinds of cold and hot soft drinks made from sea buckthorn, quince, cranberries and wild berries are common in Lithuanian cuisine.
You will definitely like the branded homemade rye kvass with raisins (not bottled), which Lithuanians make according to a special old recipe, and natural teas with the addition of wild berries are very tasty and healthy!

desserts

Šakotis

Shakotis is a very tasty and popular Lithuanian cake, shaped like a Christmas tree. It is made from egg dough and baked by rotating on a spit, over a fire or in a special oven.
Traditionally, it is served at weddings, and it is stored for up to six months. You can buy Šakotis in the Lithuanian market or supermarkets, but you will find the freshest and most delicious cakes in branded stores that make these particular cakes.
Such a gift from Lithuania will be pleasant to your loved ones and will please everyone as a delicious Lithuanian souvenir.

What delicious to bring with you from Lithuania

Lithuania is famous for its bread (especially dark rye varieties, as a rule - with the addition of cumin, and different varieties of grains), there is rye bread with dried fruits. This bread retains its aroma for a long time and does not get stale.
The most famous and popular varieties are "Vilnius" (lit. Vilniaus), Bochyu (lit. Bočių) with cumin and gray "Palanga" (lit. Palanga).
Dried and smoked meat and sausages are deservedly popular among national meat products. Skilandis - chopped dried pork meat in a pig stomach - you can buy to go.
Fried biscuits "brushwood" (Žagarėlis) and a delicious cake made of "brushwood" drenched in honey - "Skruzdelinas" are very popular.

From dairy products, preference is given to cheeses (hard, cottage cheese, smoked or traditional), cottage cheese, curdled milk and sour cream.
Be sure to try sour cream specially whipped with garlic and spices with homemade butter - this is kastinis (kastinis). Delicate and fragrant mass is served with jacket potatoes. Castinis can be bought in the dairy department of any supermarket.
Buy the famous hard cheese "Džiugas", smoked curd cheeses. Try a special apple or plum cheese of a refined taste (you can buy it at fairs and in the market from local farmers).

The gift version of Lietuviškas midus honey tinctures, which contain 6 types of tinctures from 14 to 75 degrees, is very good for a souvenir.

The famous strong drink "Suktinis" is named after a popular Lithuanian folk dance. It contains bee honey, carnation flowers, poplar buds, oak acorns, juniper berries and many other valuable plants. The strength of the drink is 50%.

Having tasted the products and dishes of the Lithuanian national cuisine, you will appreciate their satiety, deliciousness and budget!

A very relevant dish on fasting days. Low-calorie, but at the same time - a storehouse of vitamins. Cooking is easy and simple.

A classic cabbage dish of Slavic and Baltic cuisine. With what they just don’t cook it ... I suggest trying bigos with meat - it’s satisfying, healthy, and tasty!

This is a recipe for lovers of cabbage dishes and happy owners of a slow cooker. Nothing will burn, no need to stir - cooking is a real pleasure. And the taste of the dish will delight you.

One of the most popular recipes. Without much hassle, relatively cheap - and you have a great dish for lunch or dinner on your table.

A delicious dish that is especially good to eat in winter and early spring. After all, it will replenish your body with vitamin C. And it is easy and simple to prepare it.

To your attention, Lithuanian kugelis is a very simple and tasty dish of Lithuanian national cuisine, which is made from potatoes. Something like our casserole. Sweet and simple.

Christmas cookies "Kuchukai"

In Lithuania, 12 Lenten dishes are prepared for Christmas. One of them is leavened dough cookies with poppy seeds. These cookies are cut into small cubes and baked. Kuchukai are served in a bowl with poppy milk.

When I came to live in Lithuania 30 years ago, I have never tasted such soup as beetroot. Especially on kefir or buttermilk. Now in the summer this is our usual and everyone's favorite cold soup. Here is the prescription.

I can eat Lithuanian refrigeration around the clock. There are several options for the Lithuanian refrigerator, I offer you the most successful one, in my opinion. My recipe is somewhat unconventional, but also Lithuanian!

Potato zrazy with meat is a hearty dish, the homeland of which is considered to be several countries at once. This is far from the only dish that Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine share among themselves. Cooking? :)

I think if you were in Trakai in Lithuania, you must have tried Karaite pies - kibins, which are considered a local attraction there. I offer a classic recipe for kibins.

If you are tired of ordinary meatballs, then it's time to try cooking zrazy. Today I will tell you how to cook potato zrazy with minced meat.

Lazanka is a national dish of three countries at once - Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. Historically, these three states were once one. We will cook lasagna according to the simplest recipe.

Potato sausages "Vedaray"

The recipe for a traditional Lithuanian potato dish - Vedarai potato sausages. A very tasty and budget dish that regularly appears on the tables in Lithuanian families.

Cooking real Lithuanian zeppelins is not easy, but believe me, it's worth it. One of the most delicious dishes I have ever cooked and tasted. So, my master class of cooking zeppelins.