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Enjoy a variety of dishes by trying different typical Latvian foods

The kitchen is a place where we tend to spend a lot of time. Sometimes you have to wait for a particular food to be ready, and you cannot go far from the kitchen because you need to make sure that nothing burns. This kind of waiting can be a little boring, so in the meantime you can find some fun entertainment on your phone or tablet. To make the time pass more quickly, you can play a fun game, such as Book of Ra. It is a popular and entertaining game that anyone can play – there are no complicated rules to learn.

Preparing a new dish can also be a challenge, but you can treat it like a game. It is always interesting to prepare something new. The best thing is that traditional Latvian dishes are not difficult to prepare. Sometimes you need specific ingredients that may not be easy to find abroad, but you can find various alternatives. Here we have compiled five interesting, delicious and easy-to-prepare traditional Latvian dishes that you should definitely try if you have not done so yet.

Cold Soup

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Cold soup is a classic summer dish. It is excellent on hot days because nothing needs to be cooked. Usually, on hot days, we avoid using the stove or oven because they create additional heat. At such times, classic cold beet soup is ideal. It does not need to be cooked (only the eggs need to be boiled), so it is perfect for hot weather.

It is also a great way to surprise foreign guests, as pink soup like this is not often seen abroad. The combination of ingredients may also seem unusual to many people. In fact, this soup has several variations, and everyone can add whatever they like, but traditionally it contains pickled beetroot, a boiled egg, fresh cucumber, spring onions, dill and kefir. In Latvian shops, you can find grated pickled beetroot in jars, which is specifically suitable for preparing this soup. However, you can also pickle the beetroot yourself to make this soup.

Bread Soup

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Bread soup is an even more unusual soup. Essentially, it is a dessert. It is also served cold and is perfectly suited to hot summer weather. However, this soup is rather unusual and distinctive – not everyone likes it. As its name suggests, its main ingredient is bread, specifically the dark rye bread typical of Latvia. In other countries, this kind of bread may be difficult to find, but in Latvia it is available in every shop. Latvian shops also sell dry mixes that make this dessert much easier and faster to prepare, and it can be tasted in many Latvian cafés and restaurants if you want to find out what it should taste like before attempting to make it yourself. However, preparing it is not difficult at all – it will take you approximately 30 minutes.

Rasols

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The traditional Latvian salad is rasols. If you visit someone to celebrate a special occasion, there is a very high probability that this salad will be on the festive table. Celebrations in Latvia are practically unimaginable without it. This salad also has several variations, just like cold soup. However, in the classic version, its main ingredients are pickled cucumbers, canned green peas, boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, bologna sausage, sour cream and mayonnaise.

Many people may find this combination strange, especially those living abroad. Foreign guests can certainly be surprised with several traditional Latvian dishes. Rasols is not difficult to prepare, but it does take time. The potatoes and eggs have to be boiled, and all the ingredients need to be chopped. Salad preparation is often a group activity before a celebration, so that it goes more quickly, because this salad is often prepared in large quantities for special occasions – enough to last through the following day as well.

Potato Pancakes

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Potatoes are one of the main ingredients in Latvian cuisine. There are many dishes that use potatoes, such as potato pancakes. This is a typical Latvian dish enjoyed by both young and old. The best thing is that potato pancakes can be not only a main course but also a dessert. When eaten as a main course, potato pancakes are usually served with sour cream. Sometimes they are also eaten with salmon, although traditionally they are served simply with sour cream. As a dessert, lingonberry or cranberry jam or sauce can be used. It is an excellent combination that is not encountered very often. At first, you need a little practice when frying these pancakes, because the potato makes the batter less liquid and elastic than ordinary pancake batter. First you need to learn how to prepare batter with the right consistency, and then turn your attention to frying. The most time-consuming part of making potato pancakes is grating the potatoes. If you have a food processor, this process will be much faster and easier.

Potatoes with Herring and Cottage Cheese

This is a traditional Latvian main course that is often chosen in summer, when new potatoes are available (as this combination tastes best with new potatoes). There is nothing complicated about preparing it – you only need to find all the right ingredients that you enjoy. The cottage cheese should be mixed with sour cream to create a thick sauce. Herring is the most complicated part, as there are many different types of herring in various marinades. Latvian shops offer a wide selection, so it may take some time to find the one you like best (the marinades and spices differ). It is perfectly normal not to like one type of herring at all, but do not give up, because you will certainly find one you enjoy. This may seem like a rather strange combination, but it tastes very good all together.