Latvia – Pancakes with cranberry jam and other Latvian delicacies | At our Neighbour’s Table

Latvia, the middle of the three Baltic countries, is characterised by lonely beaches, dense forests and moors. Bogs cover almost five percent of Latvia’s total area. The plants growing there bind CO2 from the air, which is stored in the bog soil in the form of peat. They are also home to a variety of special plant and animal species. Cranberries are particularly healthy. The red fruit contains a lot of vitamin C, A and K as well as numerous minerals.

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Chapters
▷ 0:00 – Intro
▷ 00:31 – At our Neighbour’s Table in Latvia

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Irena Riežniece and her family farm 14 hectares of bog where they grow cranberries. American farmers brought them to Latvia in the early 1990s. In the USA they are called cranberries, in Latvia Dzērvene. Cranberries are slightly larger than their Latvian counterpart. This year Irena is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the company. For the autumn harvest, the whole family comes and helps. On average, they harvest one hundred tonnes of cranberries per season.

Irena’s cousin Sandra Vītola takes care of the family’s physical well-being. She prepares pancakes with cranberry jam and stuffs herrings with the berries. There is also riezis, a potato dish with bacon and onions. Traditionally, Latvians eat mainly dishes with potatoes: As pancakes, gratin, salad, mashed, fried or boiled. For dinner, Sandra makes white butter. This regional speciality is lighter than our butter and tastes a little sour. In 2018, it was registered as “Rucava’s white butter” by the EU as a protected trademark.

At our Neighbour’s Table – Latvia | Season 2022 – Episode 272
2022 © Licensed by Berlin Producers

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um [Music] [Music] thank you in the baltics a small red fruit grows hidden away in the marshes the cranberry the fruit shrubs thrive in the moist soils that are so typical of Latvia [Music] gathers the wild berry in her free time and also grows it for a living [Music] um is a passionate Baker dead when we realized that you walk when you’re gonna basically again [Music] as a jelly they give pancakes a fruity twist other Regional Specialties are white butter and every manner of potato dish cranberries are also delicious for drinks in juices and fruit cocktails the corazoni region is characterized by its lonely Baltic beaches dense forests and its many natural marshlands alongside cultivated marshes that are irrigated and replanted from September to October the Harvest of the large fruited cranberry is in full swing Irina manages 14 hectares of Marshland which is tightly packed with fruit shrubs it’s the start of the Harvest and the whole family is there to lend a hand animals father first cultivated the plants in the early bringing the vitamin Rich berries with them the latvians call them cervini for harvesting duties irena’s cousin Janis Vitos uses a replica of an American machine it’s far easier and more efficient than picking by hand aided by the machines the family harvests an incredible two to three tons of cranberries every day [Applause] is artificial Marshland is situated on the outskirts of rootsava a village near the border with Lithuania it’s home to Irena and many members of her wider family [Music] [Applause] thank you gunita pritzina is another one of Ariana’s cousins she runs a small Bread bakery that has five employees today she’s baking fruit bread with apricots plums nuts and of course with cranberries and a generous and Hearty bacon bread she started the business when her husband died unexpectedly 10 years ago foreign business [Music] next door Sandra is making pancakes for breakfast first she whisks some eggs until creamy then milk and soured milk salad milk is the starting product for Quark cheese she beats the mixture until fluffy then stirs in the flour the pancakes are fried in rapeseed oil until golden brown dark Ness is the Harvest helpers finally gets a break and some breakfast um [Music] in a large Warehouse near irena’s marshes eight employees sought the berries by color and shape unripened damaged berries are sorted out and processed into juice or jelly while the good berries go to the wholesale markets [Music] the berries are rich in minerals and vitamins C A and K yeah the factory sorts an average of 100 tons every season what doesn’t end up on the domestic Market is sold to Poland and Lithuania Janus runs the business together with Irena [Music] um foreign er’s mother Aya are preparing dinner tonight grilled Herring with potatoes first the cleaned fish are gutted cranberries parsley and Dill combined to give the Herring a fruity and tangy aroma foreign [Music] to go with the fish a latvian’s specialty is oh clear socks white butter has a slightly sour flavor and a fat content of 40 around half that of regular butter to accompany the meal cranberry juice the pure juice is extremely sour so Aya adds sugar peppermint leaves unpressed berries and lemon slices [Music] [Music] um Sandra learned how to make white butter from her grandmother tonight has been a protected EU trademark since 2018. it’s only found in this region images [Music] once a week Irena takes part in a folklore group in rozzava’s House of traditions singing is as much a part of Latvian life as the marshes in the sea Irena has invited the choir to tomorrow’s anniversary celebrations some women have been involved since the choir’s earliest days has been the choir director for nearly 40 years and recently a few local men folk have even been permitted into the fold Irena first got involved four years ago is foreign this folk song is about a mother trying to Wed off her daughter foreign s are wrapped in baking paper which keeps them nice and juicy foreign to go with the fish Sandra and Aya are making a quintessential Latvian dessert rye bread trifle the bread should be dry so that it’s easy to break apart the bread crumbs are fried in butter until crispy add sugar and cinnamon onto the breadcrumbs a layer of cranberry jelly foreign [Music] [Music] all bread more jelly as well as whipped cream are layered alternately [Music] myself [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] marshlands and peatlands make up almost five percent of the total area of Latvia peatland plants binds carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which is stored in the soil in the form of peat making the marshes into so-called carbon sinks they are also the favored home of numerous special plants [Music] foreign why do you hide in the Soggy Moors goes the folk song sung by Sandra and Irena in the natural marshes the fruits are smaller softer and juicier than their cultivated cousins there’s been a lot of rain over the last few days the water normally barely covers the ground [Laughter] Sandra is baking a cake for the anniversary of the company this afternoon foreign [Laughter] loaves emerge from gunita’s wood-fired ovens 11 different types of bread she uses wheat flour for the light Breads and Rye flour for the dog the lows go in the oven for an hour and a half at 270 degrees oh my God is gunita brushes the loaves with potato starch to give them a nice shine she’s my daddy Nations [Music] thank you meanwhile Janis and Irena are preparing a fresh delivery is [Music] the pair are driving to tadaiki a small town about 50 kilometers from Russia foreign [Music] foreign has run the small business for over 30 years some of the technology dates back to Soviet times first the fruits is halved by a special machine this is much easier when they’re frozen then into a juice extractor milia doesn’t skin up on sugar foreign the massive berries stays in the juice extractor for two days and is worked every three hours then into the drying kiln IUS is um [Music] Sandra and Aya are putting together the anniversary dinner the potato dish riosis also needs lean bacon and onions Aya mixes eggs with sour cream and folds it into the potato mixture which makes it more creamy um yeah Ayah layers bacon onions and potatoes the reassist then bakes in the oven for around one hour at 200 degrees the sponge cake is already finished and only needs decoration [Music] um [Laughter] the whole family has gathered in the house of traditions to celebrate the anniversary of the company [Music] sour cream to a company that he assists and always full cream milk to drink and a toast of what else cranberry juice [Music] I’m seeing friends [Music]