September 13, 2006
I was very impressed by the food in Lithuania. I thought it would be rather bland and uneventful. but to my surprise, I really enjoyed it and even bought a cookbook. The central staple is potato (of course) that was prepared in just about every way imaginable including pancakes, dumplings, zeppelins, pies and sausage. I noticed a lot pork and curd cheese being used to flavor the dishes along with Dill.
Lunch on the first day consisted of cepelinai (meat filled potato dumplings) along with a hot broth. When I heard about it, I pictured a pierogi but the tour guide explained that the dumplings were baked so you could hold them in your hand and that Lithuanian version of the pierogie is the Koldunai.
Mushrooms also appear in a lot of dishes. I noticed while going to places outside of the city, there were many people walking with baskets going in and coming out of the forests, harvesting mushrooms. At the hotel, there was a really nice display of some of the largest mushrooms I have ever seen.
For lunch in Kuanas, Allan and I had what is in the photo at the top of the page. On the Left – varskociai blynelai pancakes with curd cheese. On the right side of the tray – Saltibarsciai (cold beet root soup) served with hot potatoes. On the Lower right hand side of the tray – blynelai Potato pancakes with sour cream.
As far as drinks, Lithuania make Lithuanian vodka. In addition there was another beverage called 999 which is made from herbs and grasses. I have never had anything like it and cannot really describe it.
A really fascinating drink was Gira (kvass) made from fermented grains or fruit and rye bread. It tasted like liquid bread.
Popular beers include Svyturys and Utinos.
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