Latvian cuisine

Latvian cuisine is not very sophisticated and varied in taste. However, this does not change the fact that it serves dishes rich in nutrients, minerals and vitamins. It is extremely nutritious, but also hard to digest.

Latvia is a Baltic country where salmon, herring, trout, sprat or flatfish dishes reign supreme. These fish are served in many ways, such as smoked, stewed, marinated, dried or stuffed. There should also be no shortage of fish in soups or salads. As for flour dishes, you can easily find dumplings in many forms (with pork fat, bacon, cabbage, cottage cheese, etc.), pasta, rolls with cheese, marmalade or poppy seeds. Not to mention donuts and croissants with icing. A Latvian delicacy is wholemeal and rye bread. Bread with caraway seeds is also worth tempting. Interestingly, soups are very rarely eaten in Latvia (corn and cream soups are the most popular). Latvians do not cook them because vegetables here are very expensive and difficult to grow. For this reason, local housewives have learned to use all the gifts of nature and leftover produce they have left. Most often they prepare tasty casseroles or salads from them. Latvian cuisine is largely based on meat dishes. Latvians are particularly fond of pork knuckle and pork jelly. They are very fond of dumplings stuffed with pork fat or bacon. In addition, they indulge in pork dishes. Much less often they prepare dishes made of poultry, beef or mutton. Latvians are very fond of beer (the best is Aldaris).

Characteristic dishes of Latvian cuisine:

Bacon Buns – dumplings with fried bacon and onions
Frikadelu soup – broth with meatballs
Skaba putra – sour cream soup
Karbonade – breaded pork chops
Rasols – potato salad
Manna – cold cream dessert; can be served with cranberry sauce, for example
Alexander cake – muffins with raspberries
Apple bread – dessert made from apples