Latvian cuisine
Latvian cuisine has been influenced by the gastronomic schools of Russia, Belarus, Estonia, Germany and Lithuania. Latvian dishes are hearty and easy to prepare, with a special taste.
National cuisine of Latvia
Fish and potato-based dishes are popular in Latvia: for example, here you can taste smoked flounder; fish stuffed with eggs; pike caviar; baked potatoes with cheese; potato salads. Various other vegetables and legumes enjoy no less love: pumpkin and beet salads, sorrel and spinach soup, vegetable puree soup are cooked in Latvia. Meat eaters should enjoy grilled pork ribs, lamb in caraway sauce, all kinds of pates and sausages.
Are you a sweet tooth? You will be offered to enjoy sweet rice pudding, Riga bagels sprinkled with powdered sugar,“Bubert” (dessert made from sour fruit puree, whipped proteins, semolina, cream and nuts), sweet dumplings and cherries soup.
Popular dishes of Latvian cuisine:
- “beer soup” (this soup is made from beer, cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs, bread, caraway seeds, sugar and butter);
- “putra” (this dish includes meat, fish, vegetables, pearl barley or barley groats, bacon, legumes, and yogurt or milk acts as a dressing);
- “klops” (a dish in the form of a steak with onion sauce);
- “camaro” (is a chicken stew based dish);
- “siltyu pudins” (casserole with herring and boiled potatoes).
Where to taste Latvian cuisine?
In summer, you will find low-calorie food in Latvian restaurants, and in winter, warming and hearty food. It should be noted that Latvian chefs tend to cook modernized old dishes in authentic restaurants. For this reason, in many catering establishments, visitors will find on the menu various variations of dishes from gray peas or rye bread..
Are you used to leaving tips? Check the invoice: often a certain service charge is added to the total amount.
In order to satisfy hunger in Jurmala, you can look into “Laivas” (this restaurant specializes in modernized Latvian dishes, including pike cutlets, crayfish tails with red caviar and Baltic herring with quail eggs), in Riga - in “Lido alus seta” (This restaurant, which operates on a self-service system, offers a wide selection of Latvian dishes - the dishes you like should be placed on a tray, then go to the checkout to check out; in addition, beer lovers will like it here - you can order any foamy drink of 120 types here).
Cooking courses in Latvia
All interested are invited to a culinary lesson at Viesistaba in Jekaba Barracks (Riga), where they will be able to prepare 2 main dishes of Latvian cuisine, 3 appetizers and a dessert (if you wish, you can order an individual lesson, including only for the company of your friends). And the tasting of the food will be carried out at a large dining table..
A trip to Latvia should be planned for the Gastronomy Festival (August-September, Riga), within the framework of which an international food exhibition is held “Riga Food”.
