Sunday, August 4, 2013

Gastronomy in Lithuania…or Eating our way through the Baltic's. ::burp::

Breakfasts each morning were an assortment of breads, juices,pickled herring and eel, smoked salmon,cheeses, dried meats, caviar…marmalades
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each morning a bit different than the last
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I would often order a soft boiled egg
that would come with a small horn spoon… wearing a boiled wool cap.
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Blinai…like crepes, would have smoked ham and cheese…or salmon in them. Always served with sour cream.
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This was a dried cheese, loaded with caraway seeds that was delicious…and everywhere.
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They grow mushrooms in the forest….and pick them and use them in so many things.
And I am sure if you looked reallly hard in said forest
you would see little teensy families harvesting them.
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One of Lithuania’s most favorite meals is called ceipalini…
essentially means zeppelin they are made with potatoes, potato flour. stuffed with
wait for it…potatoes and sausage.
They are the size and weight of an airship. And I am pretty convinced
Led Zeppelin was named after them. Why not?
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In the town of Trakai….where honest to goodness castles still remain…
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we had kyblinai…a phenomenal pastry filled with minced meat and onions and mushrooms.
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And a soup of cabbage and mushrooms in a bowl made of rye bread. Those forest families were working overtime for us!
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We tried as much of their local food as we could
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Haddock with more caviar
A favorite was Šaltibaršèiai …. a chilled soup with kefir, cucumbers beets,  dill and an egg
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I braved a trip to their local market in Vilnius
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And lost myself in several of their grocery stores
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They have a drink they call Gira. which is made of fermented bread and sugar
A whole different kinda taste.
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We even  had grapes growing outside of our hotel room window that we could reach out and taste.
Anyone else eat their way through the Baltics?
::Burp::
‘scuse me.
 
 
 

10 comments:

donna baker said...

No, but what a wonderful place to visit.

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

It truly was phenomenal, Donna. You should go. Everybody should!!

Rick Forrestal said...

Great post.
I love learning about different cultures, different countries, through their FOODS.
Pretty fancy fare for the Baltics, if you don't mind me saying so. :-)
One of my favorite things to do when I visit a new and different country is to head to their grocery stores and markets.
Thank you for these wonderful photos.
Yum.

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

You are right Rick....we stayed in a a lovely small hotel on a cobblestone street...their breakfasts were certainly worthy of their 4 stars....but when we travelled through the countryside we were able to experience the classic food. I agree...I love to go to their groceries and markets!

VirginiaC said...

It looks like a magical place, and I'm glad that you enjoyed your trip. The food looks like it jumped right off the pages of a gourmet cook book.
I like the little woolen cap on the egg, so cute. I also like the soup bowl made of rye bread.
My mouth is watering over here...BURP!

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

Virginia....I cannot TELL you how badly I wanted to take those little felted wool hats home with me. I didn't. Somewhere that should be noted.

Deborah said...

Oh how WONDERFUL!!! I LOVEloveLOVE the wool egg cap! Looks like a great vacation.

**happy smiles**
Deb

Unknown said...

Omg...how wonderful .your photos are beautiful,,I want a boiled woo; green cap on my eggs!!!!! I make long curtain panels out of the fish fabric out pillows are made with will send you photo!!!

Renae Moore said...

Linda,
You crack me up! I've never been, what great adventures you are having!

FROM THE RIGHT BANK said...

I love this look into a place that's still relatively undiscovered. I love going to grocery stores when I travel too - it's such a great way to learn about a country. Oh and the little egg hats kill me!

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