Lithuania Restaurants

Lithuanian meals are simple but filling. Traditional specialties include skilandis (smoked meat), šaltibaršèai (cold beet soup), cepelinai (potato dumplings with minced meat filling), védarai (potato sausages) and bulviniai blynai (potato pancakes). Smoked eel is a famous Baltic delicacy.
There are many regional specialties. The Highlanders, or Aukštaièiai, who live in the northeast region, are known for their pancakes and cottage cheese dishes. The žemaièiai, who inhabit the lowlands, are known for herbed dips, porridges and gruels. In the southeast region, buckwheat, mushrooms and potatoes are important staples, and in the southwest, smoked meats, sausages and cepelinai (dumplings) are part of many dishes.
A traditional breakfast may be bread and cheese with cold cuts, or pancakes filled with cheese. At lunch, many Lithuanians enjoy a hearty soup or stew. Cold beetroot soup is refreshing in summer and hot beetroot soup (barsciai borscht) is warming in winter. For dinner, Lithuanians usually have a meat dish with potatoes and vegetables; pork is the most popular meat.
Lithuanians drink coffee and tea, soft drinks, milk and beer. Midus (mead), a popular Lithuanian drink, is a mildly alcoholic beverage made from honey. Sula, a beer made from birch sap, is drunk at harvest time. Lithuanians also enjoy gira, a non-alcoholic fermented drink made from bread.
Popular Lithuanian desserts include honey cake, pastries and ice cream. At Christmas, people enjoy a special fruitcake called kisielius.
LITHUANIAN BREAD
There are things without which some nations could not exist. The French could not live without wine, the Chinese without their rice, and the Lithuanians without their black rye bread. This, for Lithuanians, is the everyday staple, eaten with soup, meat, fish, vegetables and milk. No festive occasion is celebrated without it. Guests are welcomed, according to tradition, with a loaf of rye bread on a linen towel: it is an essential part of wedding and christening parties.

Many Lithuanians returning home can hardly wait to feast on rye bread. They think that nobody in the world makes bread as delicious as here. When they go to see friends or relatives abroad they very often take a loaf of bread as a present.
Black bread has always been highly respected. It is the fruit of the joint efforts of many people: the farmer, the miller and the backer. Some centuries ago Bread was the name of a pagan god alongside Sun and Moon. Even now it is a sign of disrespect to put a loaf of bread upside down or to take a slice with a fork or a knife. Some old people will pick up a piece of bread from the floor, blow the dirt off and kiss it.
Black bread is made of rye flour. Sometimes wheat flour is added too. The finer the flour the less bran it contains, and the lighter the bread is. Sometimes loaves are put on sweet flag or cabbage leaves, which gives it an even more pleasant smell. Any baker will tell you that it is much easier to bake a pie than black bread. Although real bread should only be backed in a traditional oven, the method of making bread used by modern bakeries is very similar to that followed by our ancestors. It takes 12 hours before the ingredients turn into a nice loaf of bread.

Bread, the most important staple, is traditionally placed in the centre of the table, in front of the father. The ancient tradition of putting bread on the table before other dishes is still observed today. A piece of bread is also traditionally placed in the foundation when building a new house. Bread, salt and wine are presented to newlywed couples to symbolize the sweetness and saltiness of life.

Lithuania Restaurants

Visiting Lithuania?

Visiting Lithuania?