Letonya Mutfağı / Latvian Cuisine

Berfend BER - Doğu Avrupa'da yer alan Letonya, kuzeyde Estonya, güneyde Litvanya, doğuda ise Rusya Federasyonu ve Belarus ile komşudur. Aynı zamanda, İsveç ile denizden sınırdaştır. Ülke genelinde deniz iklimi hakimdir. Genel olarak hava oldukça nemlidir.

Pancar çorbası /  Biesu Zupa / Borscht 

Letonya mutfağı da kardeş ülke Litvanya’nınkiyle benzer özellikler taşır. Besinlerde yağ ve lif oranı yüksekken kimyon ve karabiber dışında çok fazla baharata rastlanmaz. En önemli yemekleri arasında pembe renkli soğuk pancar çorbası ( Biesu Zupa), Bira çorbası, bezelye çorbası ve balık ağırlıklı yemekler yer almaktadır.

Renkli soğuk pancar çorbası, yazın başlıca içeceğidir. Ayrıca tat olarak ayranı andıran, isim olarak ise bize pek yabancı olmayan Kefirs adında da bir içecekleri vardır.

Letonya'da esmer ekmek kültürü çok gelişmiştir. Süt ve süt ürünlerinde bir çok Avrupa ülkesine göre çok daha fazla çeşitlilik sunmaktadır.

Maizes Zupa

Ülke mutfağında kimyon tohumu neredeyse tüm yiyeceklerde kullanılır. En çok ekmeklerde ve peynirlerde kullanılr. Yöresel peynirleri gouda'ya benzer ancak daha yumuşaktır. Büyük şehirlerde restoranlar çoğunlukla kil kaplar içinde yemekler sunar. Her menüde bulunan "maizes Zupa" çavdar ekmeği yapılan tatlı çorbadır.

Ülkeye özgü geleneksel  tatlar ; tadı tatlı olan lor "Biezpiena sierins", özel süt ürünleri özellikle de Kefir, bir çeşit komposto olan "Kiselis", "Griki" denilen karabuğday ile yapılan ana yemek, lahana turşusu, özellikle pastırma ve soğanın iç malzeme olarak kullanıldığı bir çeşit mantı "Piragi", isli peynir, yılanbalığı, "Frikadelu Zupa" denilen köfte çorbası, "Silke ar biezpienu" denilen süzme peynir ile servis ringa balığı.

Yerli içkisi “Siyah Balsam” ot, meyve suları ve çiçeklerden yapılan geleneksel bir likördür. Ülkede en çok tüketilen içkiler arasında bira bulunmaktadır. Aldaris, Līvu ve Senču en bilindik yerel bira markalarıdır.

 Latvian Cuisine

Piragi

Food in Latvian cuisine is rich in calories and Latvians like eating out. In everyday life a Latvian would indulge in meat croquettes, meat and fish, pork ribs, steamed sauerkraut, baked potatoes with sour cream, vegetable salads, soups, but for the ancient annual festivities – Easter, the Summer Solstice (Jāņu day), the Autumn Solstice (Mārtiņi day), and Christmas – a Latvian would opt for traditional food and old traditions. Then, the dark rye bread, grey peas, baked or stewed pork, variously prepared vegetables, home-made fresh cheese, fish, meat pies, cakes, biscuits and desserts made of local fruits and berries topped with whipped cream are put on the table, along with beer and home-made wine. But this is only a part of the treat – every Latvian hostess is happy if she can surprise guests with something special seen in a restaurant, on a trip, in a magazine or a cookbook. It should be noted that almost everyone knows how to make real Ukrainian borsch, then, on Christmas, there can be a carp, made in Polish style or Jewish forshmack (herring spread), and so on.

Ecologically clean food ; Many people in Latvia grow their own food, thus, it can be said that ecologically clean food is widely available. Every person living in the countryside grows food for himself and city dwellers can purchase the farm-grown food in so-called green markets. Almost every second Rigan owns a countryside house and it is again becoming popular to tend a vegetable garden, plant small herb gardens and buy fresh cow’s milk and freshly laid eggs from neighbours.

Cuisine of different nationalities ; Present day Latvian cuisine includes influences from different regional cuisines – like German, Slavic, South European, and even Asian. For centuries the territory of Latvia was under German rule, and so in bishops’ castles as well as free citizens’ houses, western cultural standards prevailed. Latvians came into German cuisine through their estate kitchens in which, either under the guidance of a German chef or with the help of a German cookbook written in Latvian, they learned how to prepare food for the baron’s table, and then later applied this knowledge at home. So in many respects Latvian cuisine has a flavour of German cuisine – from the Germans, Latvians have learned affection for potatoes, pork, and steak with onions (LV, sīpolklopsis), cakes, prepared desserts and drinking chicory coffee in the morning.

Similarly, many recipes which now seem to be indispensible in the Latvian cuisine are borrowed from the Eastern neighbours – Slavs. Some examples are the soļanka soup that only a few restaurants do not add to their menu, cabbage soup, and cold soup – okroška –, and then there are festive pies with different fillings, pelmeņi, bļini, topped with sour cream or red caviar, vinaigrette and rasol (meat salad). In Latvia the drink kvass is popular and people here can tell an excellent from a not so excellent vodka.

Post-WWII Latvian cuisine was enriched by the best dishes of the nations of the former Soviet Union. Some examples are the Caucasian specialty shashlik (grilled meat), the filled cheese bread dish hachapuri, excellent pelmeņi, made in the Siberian style, Central Asian sun dried fruits, juicy watermelons, and pomegranates... Now, the latest additions to Latvian Cuisine are from Western Europe and the East – French fries, pizzas, sushi and other dishes.

Kaynak / Source

- Fotoğraf / Photo :

- Latvia Travel 

- Berfend BER