20 Lithuanian Should-Eats

What’s Lithuanian meals?

First time vacationers to Vilnius might surprise about the kind of meals they’ll be consuming all over their talk over with. Earlier than we spent per week consuming our manner thru Vilnius, we questioned concerning the meals in Lithuania too.

After our first bites and sips, we knew we have been in for a week-long culinary journey. From conventional meals to trendy delicacies, we tasted all of it all over a Vilnius meals excursion and at the most efficient Vilnius eating places. And bet what? We discovered concerning the nation’s storied previous thru our stomachs.

Without reference to why you’re visiting Lithuania, you’ll most certainly devour 3 foods an afternoon. Whether or not you’re a meals traveler like us otherwise you’re visiting for different causes, you will have to devour the most efficient meals conceivable all over the ones foods.

We dove into the Lithuania meals scene all over out time in Vilnius. Watch our YouTube video for a sneak preview of the tasty meals you will have to devour all over your commute.

Learn our Vilnius Eating place Information.

For ease of use, we’ve separated this information into the next classes:

Like meals in maximum Japanese Ecu nations, conventional Lithuanian meals is hearty, easy fare that warms the bones on a chilly wintry weather’s day. Standard substances come with potatoes, rye seeds, beets and wild mushrooms – all pieces that develop during the rustic on farms and in forests.

We liken conventional meals in Lithuania to convenience meals for 2 causes. First, it reminds us of vacation foods when our grandmothers would prepare dinner identical meals handed down from their grandmothers. However maximum of all as a result of consuming the next Lithuanian classics made us glad.

Sometimes called didžkukuliai, cepelinai is the primary dish all guests will have to check out after they arrive in Lithuania. No longer simplest is it thought to be to be the rustic’s nationwide dish, however it’s additionally an excellent meal to experience with a mug or two of Lithuanian beer

Cepelinai were given its identify because of its similarity to the zeppelin airship, each in form and dimension. However, when it comes right down to it, a cepelinas is principally a meat-filled potato dumpling very similar to dumplings served in nations like Austria, Belarus, Germany and Poland. Bring to mind it as a knödel that meets a pierogi.

Plan to devour those Lithuanian dumplings with bitter cream ladled on best or served at the aspect. In case you’re vegetarian, you’ll change the beef filling with curd cheese or mushrooms.

Go away your impressions at house whilst you style šaltibarščiai for the primary time. Regardless of its bright red colour, this iconic chilled Lithuanian soup is as refreshing as it’s vibrant.

Very similar to borscht in Poland, šaltibarščiai will get its red colour from beets. The soup’s different substances come with cucumber, dill, inexperienced onions, onerous boiled eggs and kefir (a fermented milk product made with kefir grains).

Lithuanians usually best šaltibarščiai with bitter cream and contemporary dill and devour the chilled soup with potatoes at the aspect. The combo of a bowl of chilled soup and crispy potatoes is a winner.

Uncover extra of the highest soups on the planet.

If bulviniai blynai is Lithuania’s highest potato dish, then kepta duona is the rustic’s highest bar snack. No longer simplest is the dish affordable and simple to organize, however it additionally pairs neatly with Lithuanian beer.

Even supposing kepta duona interprets to baked bread, Lithuanian chefs fry strips of darkish rye in oil earlier than rubbing them with garlic. The result is addictively crunchy, particularly when dipped into cheese sauce.

Paying homage to meat pies in London and burek in Zagreb, kibinai are crescent-shaped pies historically full of a savory lamb filling. Different filling choices come with rooster, curd cheese and fruit.

At first offered by way of the Jewish Karaite sect who immigrated to Lithuania from Crimea all over the Center Ages, kibinai have withstood the take a look at of time and converting tastes. Regardless that they’re hottest in Trakai, resourceful meals vacationers can to find those crammed pastries during Lithuania.

Žirniai su spirgučiais is a bar snack that’s now not simplest widespread in Lithuania but in addition in neighboring Baltic states like Latvia. Regardless that the dish’s identify interprets to peas with cracklings, it reminded us of consuming corn nuts.

To make žirniai su spirgučiais, chefs boil small yellow peas earlier than pan frying them with smoked bacon. The result’s a salty, protein-rich snack that pairs neatly with beer.

Lithuanian delicacies options healthy substances that locals develop on farms, to find in forests and pluck from the water. Those substances took on heightened significance when marketplace choices have been sparse all over the communist technology.

Even supposing communism is now a reminiscence, many Lithuanians make a selection to devour native merchandise each at house and in eating places. No longer simplest are those meals conventional, however they’re additionally wholesome and ecologically sustainable.

Regardless that Lithuanian farmers mill grains like wheat, rye and buckwheat, the rustic’s most standard Lithuanian bread is made with herbal yeast and darkish rye flour. Regardless that historically baked at house, darkish rye bread is to be had at markets and eating places too.

Past pairing the bread with soup, Lithuanian eating places use the bread as a base for hearty sandwiches and fry it in strips to make kepta duona. In different phrases, you received’t have any problem discovering darkish rye bread in Lithuania.

Particularly well liked by the rustic’s former Jewish inhabitants, pickles have been a staple that Lithuanians historically made at house by way of fermenting cucumbers and beets in wood barrels. Industrious house chefs would get started the pickling procedure each and every spring and benefit from the culmination (or will have to we are saying greens?) in their exertions throughout the year.

Regardless that some Lithuanians nonetheless pickle greens at house, the simpler choice is to shop for pickles at markets like Vilnius’ Halės Turgus. In case you sign up for the pickle birthday party, you’ll devour your bounty as a snack or pair them with potatoes or a bowl of chilly beetroot soup.

Regardless that now not as well-known as cheese produced in nations like France and Italy, the manufacturing of Lithuanian cheese dates again centuries. Curd cheese is the commonest selection, however a couple of Lithuanian cheeses have accomplished Safe Geographical Indication (PGI) standing.

You’ll most probably to find cushy curd cheese on breakfast menus in addition to at native markets and meals retail outlets. Consume it with rye bread and honey. This mixture is a Lithuanian vintage.

Regardless of the abundance of greens and grains in Lithuania, meat performs an similarly vital position within the nation’s delicacies. A first-rate instance is skilandis, a chilly smoked cured sausage that’s well liked by locals.

From a technical standpoint, artisans get ready skilandis by way of stuffing a pig abdomen casing with seasoned minced red meat, dry smoking it and letting it mature. The result is a high quality charcuterie that carnivores purchase at markets and serve when entertaining.

Very similar to salo in Russia and lardo in Italy, lašiniai is a standard Lithuanian smoked meat product made with red meat fatback and seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic.

After purchasing this porky product at markets and butchers, locals devour thick slabs atop sliced darkish rye bread. For a amusing twist, you’ll pair lašiniai with pickles to create a novel snack.

Lithuanians devour a lot of fish together with pike, perch, cod and bream. Then again, herring takes the #1 place with regards to approval for aquatic protein swimming within the nation’s waterways.

Without reference to the season, you’ll most probably to find fish on a Lithuanian menu. Eating places bake, smoke and salt fish and serve them with carb-friendly facets like boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes and darkish rye bread.

With such a lot of other folks passing thru Lithuania over the ages, it was once inevitable that many would depart their mark.

Meals vacationers who dig their utensils deep will discover contributions from nations like Italy, France and Germany; on the other hand, it doesn’t take particular effort to search out Jewish and Russian influences in Lithuanian meals.

In case you’re intrigued to discover those world influences, get started with the next Lithuanian dishes:

13. Beigels (Bagels)

Offered by way of Polish immigrants and courting again to the seventeenth century, bagels have been well liked by Lithuania’s Jewish diaspora till Global Struggle II. Unfortunately, the bagel’s reputation died in Lithuania when over 90% of the rustic’s Jewish inhabitants was once killed all over the Holocaust. After a number of many years of exile, ex-pats have introduced bagels again to Lithuania

Even supposing Lithuania declared its sovereignty from the Soviet Union in 1990 and joined the Ecu Union in 2004, remnants of Russian delicacies stay many years later. And this phenomena doesn’t ponder dishes like herring and borscht which are traditionally widespread in each nations.

Chiburekki is a smart Russian dish for curious meals vacationers to devour in fashionable Lithuania. Even supposing the deep-fried turnover is very similar to kibinai each in form (crescent) and beginning (Crimea), it’s a tougher meals to search out. In different phrases, should you see a chiburekki on a Lithuanian menu, order and devour it.

Truffles in Lithuania run the gamut from cookies fashioned like mushrooms (sausainiai grybukai) to fried dough fashioned like angel wings (žagarėliai). Some Lithuanian muffins incorporate native merchandise like honey, curd cheese and poppy seeds whilst others characteristic chocolate sourced from far flung locations.

We suggest the next candy treats should you simplest have abdomen house to pattern two Lithuanian muffins:

15. Šakotis (Cake)

Formed like a tree with jagged branches, sakotis is a festive Lithuanian cake served at weddings and eaten on vacations like Easter and Christmas Eve. Regardless of having easy substances like butter, cream, eggs and flour, a sakotis cake develops a spiky look whilst it bakes on a horizontal spit.

Courting again to the seventeenth century, this conventional dessert originated in Poland as sękacz. Permutations of the unique stay widespread in that nation in addition to in Germany (kurtoskalacs), Hungary (baumkuchen) and, in fact, Lithuania.

Even supposing donuts are widespread around the globe, Lithuanian donuts known as varškės spurgos are distinctive because of an additional factor – curd cheese. Formed into balls, those amusing muffins usually come dusted with powdered sugar and every now and then full of fruit jam.

Varškės spurgos are moderately simple to bake and simply require a handful of substances past curd cheese. In case you’re fortunate, you can be invited to a Lithuanian house the place you’ll check out fluffy curd cheese donuts immediately out of the oven. In a different way, you’ll to find them at Lithuanian bakeries and donut retail outlets.

Uncover extra nice donuts eaten around the globe.

In case you assume Lithuanians drink so much, you might be right kind. Lithuanians lead the Ecu Union with a consistent with capita reasonable of 15 liters of alcohol consistent with particular person each and every yr. The Czech Republic, Germany, Eire and Luxembourg whole the highest 5 on this doubtful contest.

This standing isn’t essentially new. Lithuanians had been consuming a spread of drinks for a millennium and feature exported vodka for hundreds of years. We ‘researched’ this historical past at bars, pubs and low bars.

Learn our Vilnius Nightlife Information.

In response to our dip into the rustic’s liquid libations, we advise the next conventional Lithuanian drinks:

17. Alus (Beer)

Lithuanian vodka is also recognized around the globe, however it’s now not the preferred alcoholic drink within the Baltic nation. That honor is going to beer.

Referred to as Alus in Lithuania, beer has performed a task in Lithuanian society since locals began brewing farmhouse ales way back to the eleventh century. Beer fanatics can nonetheless imbibe those self same ales in addition to craft beer produced at microbreweries.

Diehards can chug down unboiled beer at spots like Šnekutis in Vilnius. Different choices are to take a Vilnius beer excursion or practice one in every of Lithuania’s beer trails.

Ingesting midus (mead) is a should in Lithuania. No longer simplest has the rustic’s fermented honey wine accomplished Safe Geographical Indication (PGI) standing, however its candy taste is enhanced by way of the addition of substances like berries, lemon, cinnamon, thyme or even hops.

Mead’s historical past pre-dates beer in Lithuania, making it the rustic’s alcohol elder statesman. Regardless of its complicated age, mead is experiencing a reputation resurgence with pubs providing this historical ‘drink of the gods’ as an alternative choice to craft beer and cider.

Lithuanian wines are other from varietals produced in nations like Spain and South Africa. Because of the rustic’s cooler Nordic local weather, Lithuanian winemakers use culmination like apples, blueberries and black currants as a substitute of grapes.

Touring oenophiles might thumb their noses however they’d fail to notice making an attempt a mode of wine that’s totally ‘of position’ and produced within the spirit of Lithuania’s sustainable meals tradition. Plus, now not all Lithuanian fruit wines are cloyingly candy. Some are strangely dry and neatly price consuming.

Courting again centuries, espresso was once at first a area of expertise merchandise completely loved by way of Lithuanian the Aristocracy. Regardless that it later accomplished large scale reputation around the nation, espresso resumed its standing of a luxurious drink all over the Soviet years when beans have been scarce in Lithuanian markets.

Lithuanian espresso’s lengthy, bumpy espresso historical past is now prior to now. A brand new technology of Vilnius baristas and roasters has embraced the 3rd wave espresso motion, making flat whites and filtered espresso readily to be had at area of expertise espresso retail outlets within the capital town.

Learn our Vilnius Espresso Information.

Often Requested Questions