In the episode, I explore the cuisine of Latvia. I visit the largest market in Europe. I tell the stories of two Latvian chefs. We taste a few Latvian food and drink products, like Birzī sap, smoked fish and Getlini tomatoes – that are grown using waste. I also countdown through my list of ten important dishes in Latvian cuisine. Labu apetiti!
Thanks for listening!
I first lived in lvia as a diplomat between 1996 and 1999 a few years after lvia regained independence from the crumbling Soviet Union I returned to live in lvia in 2022 this podcast series is based on my observations and experience with some history and comparisons with my home
Country of England on aspects of life in ltia and things to see and Experience episode 7 on food and drink Ria has many restaurants and cafes with food influences from all over the world other cities and towns in lvia also have restaurants and cafes and you can find plenty of places to eat along the main roads out of Ria lvans like to eat out with friends
And family especially in summer when popup cafes and bars appear in parks and restaurants spread out onto the pavement for al fresco dining many fine food and drink products are also produced and sold in ltia and lvans also treasure their Trad traditional cuisine we’re going to explore and taste
Some of these but first a walk through a market a very large Market I’m visiting Ria Central Market in laan Ras Central Tas this is Europe’s largest market was included in the UNESCO world heritage site list in 1998 it was built between 1924 and 1930 the main structure of the market
Are five pavilion constructed from old German Zeppelin hangers the top half of each Pavilion uses the Zeppelin hangers you can I can clearly see that the strps and the roofing from uh the hangers and the bottom half constructed from Stone and concrete in an art deco style with
Little pillars and other features nice Windows the market has an area of 72,300 squ M more than 3,000 trade stands and an underground storage facility that originally had 27 freezers each Pavilion is divided into types of food I first walked through the first Pavilion which had meat tray upon
Tray upon tray of chicken beef uh um pork um probably some lamb there as well um then I walked into the next pilion which is mostly cloves now I’m in in the Gastronomy Pavilion which is brightly lit and has lots of Delicacies like cheese and milk products and
Sweets um the next Pavilion is being renovated at the moment and the last Pavilion has fish lots of it and you can smell the fresh smell of fresh fish coming through when Ria Central Market was first opened in November 1930 it was the largest Marketplace in the world during the 1930s tourists from
Germany and England visited the market and the Fish Pavilion was a great attraction with its large colorful aquariums I didn’t find the aquariums just now I think they’ve gone during the 3 and a2e Nazi German occupation of lva farmers were not allowed to sell their products freely
And were forced to supply the German Army the market fell out of use and housed the German army vehicle repair unit instead during the Soviet occupation the market was renamed the central kulk Hall’s market and sold goods from 60 Collective Farms about about 50 to 70,000 customers
Shop daily at the market up to 100,000 during weekends since lfia regained independence the renovation has been done to preserve it as a cultural heritage site and a working Market according to the market itself the daily visitor numbers stay within 80 to 100,000 per day arens C’s
Market Ria Central Market is not the only Market in Ria there are many arens Cal’s Market Lain arens naus is the oldest Marketplace on the Left Bank of the river Dava in Ria the market was opened in 1898 at that time it was a very simple
Open Air Market in 19 11 construction of a market building started but was not completed until 1923 due to delays caused by the first world war the building is an excellent example of a red brick art Newall style from 2018 until 2022 the market was renovated and now
Has lots of themed activities at weekends in addition to operating as a thriving Market this weekend focused on traditional bread making the main building consists of 116 spaces for vegetable Sellers and 108 spaces for milk and meat sellers with a further 219 spaces for sellers outside if you find the massive Ria
Central Market rather overwhelming AR argens K’s Market is much more intimate the ground floor has Market cellers the Upper balconied Floor with its ornate Armon workk has food and drink sellers including my favorite pizza in ltia vinu Pizzeria cooked in wood burning oven and served on slates these pizzas are Simply Delicious and
Affordable Two lvan Chefs that I admire Martin rtin Wikipedia entry says British born lavian Chef Restaurant businessman culinary TV presenter and author he was also the president of lvia slow food Association and has been called the father of modern lvan Cuisine Martin was born in 1949 at a
Refugee camp in cheshier England to lvan parents who had fled lva at the end of World War II he grew up in Corby before moving to London to become a chef from the mid 1970s to the early 1990s he worked in various restaurants for a London Hotel
Chain Martin next moved to Canada from 1984 to 19 1992 where he owned a catering company in 1993 he moved to ltia and founded the restaurant Vincent becoming its director and executive chef in 1995 he started hosting his cooking television show kasab labak par what could be better than this traveling
Around the world and introducing foreign ingredients and dishes to his lvan audience in 1997 he also published a cookbook from the late 1990s he started organizing official state Banquets and dinners for rooty presidents and celebrities such as Queen Elizabeth II George W bush Tony Blair Angela Merkel
And Sir Elon John uh and me his restaurant Vincent was nearly next door to my home on elizabeta yella and he he provided the catering for my official receptions as Deputy British Ambassador Martin also hosted the monthly dinners of the British lvan Chamber of Commerce of Vincent I’m so glad that the chamber
Still exists 25 years from when I was first living and working in lvia Martin has described his cooking style as fine dining influenced by escoffier rooted in French cuisine which was the foundation of his training in London Martin has characterized his cooking as much lighter less greasy and
Less fatty than the traditional Lan Cuisine which he jokingly summarized as pork pork pork pork I laugh at this as trying to persuade my household to eat food different from traditional Lan food is Quite a feat he recalled that his Caesar salad was sometimes sent back to the kitchen
During his early days in ltia because it did not contain the mayonnaise that lvans were so used to I recall eating kangaroo for the first time at Vincent’s and quail was often on the menu in 2007 Martin received the order of of the three stars for his service to
Service to Gastronomy and culinary education in lvia in 2017 he retired as the Director of Vincent but returned to it in 2020 I guess he missed the buzz of the restaurant although I left lvia at the end of 1999 please listen to my episode on memories for more stories about
Martin I returned over many summers in the 2010s to participate in the positivus music festival Martin had a fish and chip stand there to an Englishman fish and chips are a part of life but are unknown in ltia Martin oversaw the cooking operation ringing a bell and an oldstyle
Bike trumpet when each order was ready ever the showman sadly on 11th of February 2020 2 Martin died of complications from covid-19 at the age of 72 a year ago exactly I dedicate this episode to his memory in English we would describe him as Larger than Life a real character rest in peace
Martin Martin’s Legacy is the slow food movement in ltia the slow food movement originated in Italy in 1989 as a response to the growth of fast food and other changes in the food system worldwide the movement now has millions of members from more than 1,500 convivia local chapters in more than 150
Countries members are typically chefs Farmers Fishers activists academics and producers anybody with a passion for food I was a member of slow food UK slow food’s primary missions are to prevent The Disappearance of local food cultures and traditions counteract the rise of fast food and fast life combat
People’s dwindling interest in the food they eat where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us Martin was a leading advocate for slow food ltia my second Chef is Ryon suers another restaurant influenced by classical French cuisine he has a restaurant in Ria called
Entol he was also the chef of the year in ltia in 2006 stroke 7 by chance I came across his cooking on the cruise Ferry between rer and Stockholm I am no fan of Buffets and didn’t fancy steak studying the menu on board the ship I found something called kapas basically
Lvan Tapas using local seasonal ingredients the word in laia means scarce in other words small fresh ingredients in small portions with maximum taste I remember enjoying four or so of these treats delicious you can guess what we ate on the return ferry to Ria after our day in
Stockholm see if this wets your appetite from entas Soul’s menu bin Putra a latan porridge with cured ostrich meat and hemp seeds vegetable roll with cheese cafar and horseradish lightly sorted trout with Soro radishes and horseradish cream I still have a gift card to use at entur which will be spent on
Claas I want to highlight some latan food and drink specialities with a story or two I spoke to edins labovitz to find out more about biry so thank you do tell me me what is biry biry is a brand mostly Birch sub products but also M which are gathered in spring in
Laa we we are making different kind of uh first of all in Spring we in ltia we drink fresh sa which means the first sign of the spring is that tree gives or something other Lang languages is just a juice there’s no difference in names uh we top
Uh Maple and get out the liquid what we drink uh but as probably uh you know that in Canada they make also syrup from Maple the same I’m doing I’m producing a small amount of mle Sy but mostly I’m doing making Birch Sy which is totally different
In it’s twice as expensive because uh example I need 50 liters of maple to make ly but for Birch I need 100 lit that’s more yeah labor intense and also more energy to produce and uh then we do a lot experiments making other products like FY balam alcoholic beverage which 95% is from
Birch we try some snacks we experiment experiment with our partners example we make birge beer um different kind of products great and um years ago I was on a a rubber Plantation in in Africa where they were tapping the rubber trees is that something similar is that what um where the Birch sap
Comes from from from making the cut on the tree and it slowly drips into a little pot it could be but uh there are slight difference that you can top uh these two types of Tree Maple and Birch only in Spring it’s a sign that tree wakes up
After winter needs uh um nutritions minerals uh to Blossom leaves I suppose your mentioned uh is tree you can like Harvest it all year around probably but this you can only in a spring there there also some other types of tree what the you can t to get up example
Walnut uh but that’s um not so much in commercial use because there’s not a lot of sap liquid and it’s not so sweet but I will try uh I found one place where is like 50 years old walnuts we will try to top this spring there I’ve also seen your product so we
We have a bottle of the um balam and therey sap and it’s a beautiful bottle and a beautiful container um you know just like you would with a single maltt from my country um and it really is very very impressive looking product but if someone was interested in in buying um
The different products you mentioned made um from the sap how can they do that they can uh go to our homepage be. LV there is in laan and in English language uh look all products what we produce and also order them and uh if there is uh interest about bigger
Volumes then write me call me Zoom me whatever works I’m open to for discussion and if if people I I know your beautiful home and and where the trees are as well the plantation if I may call it that is um what I would describe as a little bit in the middle
Of of um nowhere um if people are interested in seeing what you do is it possible to come and and visit and see the the sapping and and perhaps even um try some products do you organize any any visits like that yeah from 1 of May till end of
October we um offer kind of tastings and excursions who can visit our place try our products and hear a story because canot tell tell you now in 10 minutes all uh interesting things products you can make uh from sap and what is history also what uh this is could be a
New way also for Farmers uh to um let’s say this word Agro forestry to do Agro forestry means that you keep forests you don’t cut them but you get other benefits than wood this this case is SA or mushroom or other they we try uh different approaches on this just this
Not spring but winter we planted 50 uh chuga mushrooms on in on a birch which are medical mushrooms and growing only on a birch I I have to say the Birch is Wonder tree so many benefits from it and so many things you can use not only sub wood and the
Mushrooms growing you can use the leaves uh for Cosmetics for SAA and also there is with more complicated chemical reactions how you can extract uh things from the skin of the Birch which is also very uh useful for cosmetic and medical Tre interesting yeah so there’s a lot of
Things what I could tell and people are welcome to to visit us we will share our view on the world and taste great thank you so much indeed another bioproduct is laia’s Kip loocks we stock up on garlic Flakes and Delicacies like garlic tagliatelli pasta
At a small shop in Raa not far from Bey it’s situated next to the supermarket they will happily give you an explanation of the products the winter garlic field and production recently moved from rounda to Levy just south of CIS you can check out their products online at Latvia kl.
LV on the outskirts of Ria is a bio waste plant a gin it takes half the sorted household waste of ltia and turns it into gas which it burns to produce electricity and heat this in turn Heats the plants green houses of tomatoes and cumbers in fact 19,200 tomato plants and
17,600 cucumber plants they grow the most amazing Tomatoes of many shades of color and size don’t think about what they are grown on only concentrate on the taste my son recently went on a school trip to G lini and returned with a bag of tomatoes in summer when we are enjoying
A road trip along the coast my wife love loves to stop by one of the many small roadside Shacks in fishing villages that self smoked fish smoked mackerel place and even one that looks like a sawfish you can also buy smoked fish at Ria Central Market a Best Loved dish is
Leoy men sing a comforting dish made from smoked Cod potatoes onions and cream farming is a tough life Mara and Martin are a lovely young laian couple with a farm in the countryside near tukums they grow potatoes and other vegetables on their land we helped them
Harvest the potato crop one day in late summer and were rewarded for for this hard work with a lovely meal and a bag of Spuds we got to know them when looking for a lan equivalent to the farm shop near our home in the suffer Countryside
Of England they didn’t have a farm shop but did deliver a weekly organic vegetable order to our home in Ria they decided this winter that the small income from farming wasn’t enough to survive Martin is presently dry having a lorry in another part of laia living there away from his family for 5
Days a week they are both knowledgeable speak fluent English and other foreign languages there is just no future for smaller farms in ltia with high costs of seed and energy at the moment compared to large non-organic Farms they are not competitive in price here is a run through of some typical
Lvan Cuisine and some Russian influence like the top 10 countdowns on top of the pops on English TV many years ago number one gcki or as my son calls it nuts gcki believed to stem from the term for a Greek person is the Lan name for buckwheat a staple
Ingredient of traditional Lan Cuisine especially at schools cricky is a simple dish consisting of buak we Groats cooked in water with butter and salt before being served on their own or ACC companying pork while England had a toilet paper shortage at the beginning of the covid pandemic lvans had a run on gcki
Number two Yano seers Yano seers is a fresh cheese made from milk and curds to which butter or cream eggs salt and caraway seeds are added the reason why Yano seers is unique lies in the traditional production methods with the correct proportion of ingredients giving this cheese its distinctive color and flavors
All of which have remained unchanged for hundreds of years made for the midsummer Festival of Yani even the round shape of yanu seas has a special meaning it symbolizes the sun and the world and when eaten it is believed that a person takes part of the sun’s energy enjoy the cheese with beer
Is my advice number three Ry bread the average Lan consume UMES about 50 kg of Ry bread per year tradition dictates that if the bread is accidentally dropped it must be picked up immediately and kissed another rule is never to place a loaf of rye bread upside down or you’ll
Experience hunger Riser a dark Ry bread is a dense loaf that accompanies most traditional meals together with herb flavor butter fried sticks of Ry bread are often provided as bar snacks number four shashlick shashlick is a Russian Kebab that was brought to lvia during the Soviet Russian occupation it is a much loved
Dish in lva consisting of cubed meat and vegetables grilled on skewers when summer arrives Lans like nothing better the lighting up the barbecue chass leaks is the favorite barbecue food number five carbonada pork features heavily On LAN menus and carbonada is one of the country’s most popular dishes much like
A schnitzel the pork is pounded flat and then fried in breadcrumbs it’s typically served with creamy mushrooms on top and with some dill seasoned potato Poes on the side I’m going to folk club’s albs in Ria’s Oldtown to celebrate my birthday and eat carbona locals and visitors highly rate
Folk clubs check it out on trip advisor number six gallet as Mama made it resembles an archaeological dig but my wife loves it she usually cooks it with Pig’s hot conf feet some chicken and a variety of vegetables when cooked the bones are removed the meat is sliced
And the mixture is refrigerated until it turns in a into a gelatinous treat an aspic dish number seven alar zupa alar zupa is a refreshing Lan cold soup with an unusual deep pink color is made with beets cucumbers cafir hardboiled eggs and milks and milk greens such as dill
And scallions are essential and most people also enjoy the soup with a dash of vinegar all the ingredients are mixed together and seasoned with salt and pepper and the soup is then left in the refrigerator until well cheered it is recommended to serve the soup with a few few slices of dark bread
On the side ala zupa is a seasonal summer dish number eight pagi these cresant shaped pastries are one of the laian national dishes that appear in numerous varieties throughout the country when prepared with yeast they are traditionally larger and served as a snack the smaller versions usually
Made with a thin buttery paper history are intended to be eaten alongside soups all the varieties are filled with a flavorsome mixture of onions minced meat bacon cabbage or creamy cottage cheese number nine Sanka Sanka is a thick Russian soup that is plentiful enough to be a meal in
Itself this soup is made with various types of meat including sausage bacon ham and beef as well as vegetables such as cab cabbage carrots onions and potatoes chopped pickles and a traditional lemon slice play an essential role in giving this recipe its sour flavor it can also be made with fish and pickle
Cucumbers often serve the morning after a heavy drinking session as a hangover cure on board a boat in yela for my wedding guests a few years ago and finally number 10 has to be a dessert Clinger Clinger is a traditional lavian birthday cake shaped like a large
Pretzel it can also be served on festive occasions or simply as a dessert this big cake is made with flour butter eggs heavy cream sugar yeast water saffron lemon and orange zest cardamon and raisins before baking the dough is brushed with beaten eggs and sprinkled with almonds after it has been baked Clinger
Is often dusted with powdered sugar and decorated with bows candies or biry candles enjoy the cake while it is warm and pair it with butter or Jam my wife made one for my birthday this week lvia is the number one European nation in the volume of alcohol consumed per person eurostat recently published
Statistics in 2021 households in lvia spent 951 million EUR on alcoholic drinks making it proportionally the country where people spent more on alcohol than anywhere else in the EU more than twice as much as the EU average valir muja beer everyone who likes beer will have a favorite
Brewery my favorite Lan Brewery is valm muja Lan breweries apart from the bigest alderis which carlsburg now owns usually take the name of the town they’re situated in I’ve been on trips in the countryside where the lapan suggest we find the local Brewery which will have a
Shop where we will buy bottles of beer anyway back to my favorite because the beer is to my taste and because they experiment with a range of beers including wheat beer my absolute favorite since spend since spending a summer in Munich learning German courtesy of my employers the foreign
Ministry it was a reward for good work during a difficult time the fand’s war back again to my favorite they’re situated in valira in the northern part of ltia they also have a shop at arens K’s Market I talked about earlier so there is no need to track to valir for
Some excellent beer and you can also find it in all the supermarkets they we also have a restaurant in valira that after a long drive we are looking forward to enjoying some food and a beer the staff was so rude they told us in colloquial language
That at 2: p.m. they were no longer going to work finding that that attitude to service is now quite rare in lvia more common when I lived here in the 1990s but disappointing from one of the major food and drink producers Ria black Balsam this laian herbal liquor is based
On a combination of 27 different Botanicals including wormwood valoran black pepper gentian and ginger the herbal infusion is later matured and mixed with honey and caramel It is believed that the drink was first produced by a pharmacist named Kuna in 1752 and was initially launched as the real kuner’s Ria herbal
Balsam the production of the lure was abruptly stopped during the second world war but it was later restored and the drink is still produced following the original secret recipe this smooth and slightly bitter lure is best enjoyed neat but it also goes well in cocktails and long drink
Drinks or poured over vanilla ice cream sabila Vineyard the saila wine Hill used to be the most northern Vineyard in the world registered in the Guinness Book of Records it symbolizes the city of Sabula as grapes are depicted in the town’s coat of arms saila is west of tukums and south of
Talii the seila wine Hill was formed twice wine production was established there during the 14th century but fell into disrepair but was renovated for the second time in 1936 by sail’s mayor osval rerberg with funding from the lvan president Caris almanis Terrace’s 2800 M long with 1,350 vines or more than 20 varieties
Were planted before the second world war the annual Harvest reached four tons during the war many of the planted Vines were lost and during the Soviet occupation The Vineyard fell into disrepair restoration work on the vineyard started in 1989 but again stopped in 1992 eventually a land ownership dispute
With lith Lithuania was resolved and the vineyard now has 1.5 hectares since 1999 a city festival has been held every summer called The sabila Wine Festival you can walk on the hill and around the vines at any time I’ve done it in concluding this episode I don’t
Know about you but I got rather hungry describing all that delicious food and drink Lau ATI