If you didn't know yet, originally I am from Latvia, a small country in the Baltic States but for almost 4 years I am living in Germany, Berlin. Here I have met the most different and interesting people from all over the world. We love to share our stories and learn new things and facts. One of the most frequently received questions to my side is about Latvian traditional food. What we eat and drink? What we love and always have in the kitchen? What do you need to try if visiting Latvia? To those and other questions I am answering in this delicious Latvian food guide.
ABOUT LATVIAN FOOD
Latvians are huge food lovers and one of the best home cooks. Why home cooks? Because we don't have that fancy cuisine with canape and cocktails. Even more – often we will choose grill evening in the garden over dining in a restaurant. We eat simple but very delicious foods. We love big portions and homemade dishes. We enjoy eating and are proud of our own products.
Latvian cuisine is strongly based on crops that grow in Latvia's temperate climate, like wheat, oats, potatoes, beets, and cabbage. We eat a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes, beans and peas, carrots and courgette. In our dishes, you will also always find meat (mostly pork) or fish.
Because of the temperate climate and cold winters (sometimes even till –30 degrees), Latvian food is high in butter and fat, portions are pretty big, and satiety. We don't use a lot of different spices. Salt, pepper, and some herbs like dill and parsley are all we need.
Following the information below, you will also find that many popular Latvian dishes are actually adopted from Soviet cuisine. For more than 50 years Latvia was a part of the Soviet Union and this fact has pretty strongly influenced Latvian cuisine. Nevertheless, we love these foods because they are made from the same products we have been using already many hundred years.
More: When and why is the best time to visit Latvia?
TOP INGREDIENTS, DISHES AND DRINKS TO TRY IN LATVIA
Bread
Let's begin with the most popular food in Latvia – rye bread. Our love for rye bread lasts already for many centuries and I believe it will never end. A slice of good bread is an essential companion to most meals in Latvia. So don't wonder if you will always see bread on the table. We love bread and we have improved our baking skills through many hundreds of years.
Nevertheless, white bread isn't on our top list very high. Our specialty is rye dark bread and sweet sourdough bread. We like also to experiment and add to bread dried fruits and nuts, seeds, and spices. I have even found spinach bread, pumpkin bread, and lavender bread. Want to find out more and buy real Latvian bread as a souvenir for your family and friends? Then I recommend you to visit my favorite bakery ''Lāči''. It is only about a 30-minute drive from Riga center and has one of the best and delicious assortment. For more info check their webpage.
Top bread dishes to try in Latvia:
- Butterbrot / Butter bread (Sviestmaize) - one of our favorite dishes for breakfast. All you need is a piece of good bread, butter, and cheese or ham. Don't be also surprised by seeing rye bread with butter and a large piece of speck or ham and chopped garlic. We make butter bread that gives us power and a feeling of satiety.
- Rye Bread with Honey (Rupjmaize ar medu) - just as simple as it sounds – a good slice of rye bread, soft butter, and sweet, golden honey. This is something that recalls my and many other Latvian people's childhoods.
- Garlic Bread (Ķiploku grauzdiņi) - as bread is so important to Latvia, it is also known to eat baked rye bread served as a snack. Bread is sliced into small pieces and fried in a pan, then salted and rubbed with fresh garlic. Often covered or served with melted cheese or mayonnaise sauce. A very popular snack in bars and pubs with a good glass of beer.
Potatoes
Potatoes in Latvia is also known as ''the second bread'' because it's one of the main ingredients for most dishes. Potatoes are also always having a place on our lunch plate. We prefer potatoes grown in Latvia, not imported from other countries and very oft we are buying them in market, not shop. In markets, especially weekend markets, you have a wider choice and a lower price.
Comparing Latvian potatoes with other countries, I can proudly say that we have the most delicious potatoes! No wonder, that this vegetable is the main ingredient in most Latvian dishes. Our potatoes are in a beautiful yellow color and have a very nice taste! We are boiling and baking them, mashing and grating, eating and loving.
Top potatoe dishes to try in Latvia:
- Potatoe Salad (Rasols) - mixed vegetable and meat salad. It is the king of all Latvian salads. Traditionally includes potatoes, carrots, eggs, green peas, cooked meat or sausage, and mayonnaise.
- Potatoes with Chanterelle Sauce (Kartupeļi ar gaileņu mērci) - food, that characterizes Latvia in late summer and autumn cause it's the time of potatoes harvesting and mushroom picking. It's one of the must-try late summer/autumn dishes.
- Potatoes with Cottage Cheese, Herring, and Greens (Kartupeļi ar biezpienu, siļķi un zaļumiem) - very simple yet delicious and healthy Latvian traditional food.
- Grated Potatoe Pancakes (Kartupeļu pankūkas) - one of the simplest and tastiest potatoes dishes. Usually served with expensive, luxury sides, like salmon and caviar.
Meat
Latvians are real meat lovers and all Latvian women know, that men need to have well-made meat on their lunch plate! It's a great source of protein, iron, and vitamins. It gives a person strength, energy, and pleasure for the taste buds. Not for nothing we say, that love goes through the stomach!
Pork is the most loved and eaten protein in Latvia because historically this meat was one of the cheapest and easiest obtain animal meats. Besides pork, you can also find in Latvia some more exotic and interesting products made from deer, elk, rabbit, and other forest animals. Yes, Latvians have been a nation of hunters since ancient times.
Top meat dishes to try in Latvia:
- Cold Meat in Jelly / Aspic (Aukstā gaļa) - a dish that can be served at any meal, because it's very light and tasty. You can eat it as a main lunch ingredient or as a snack for breakfast. Usually served with horseradish or mustard.
- Minced Meat Patties (Kotletes) - one of the most favorite foods in every Latvian family. There are various recipes and ingredient mixes but one thing never changes - the final result. Every minced meat patty is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
- Grey Peas with Speck (Pelēkie zirņi ar speķi) - traditionally served at Christmas and consists only from 3 ingredients – boiled grey peas, fried onions, and small cubes of speck. One of the oldest traditional Latvian foods.
- Blood Sausage (Asinsdesa) - I think this is one of the most interesting foods we, Latvians, are having. I guess that not every tourist will like this food but it's still worth trying! Usually made from pork and pork blood. Can be served as a main or side dish. Blood sausage is fried in a pan and has a semi-soft mixture.
- Shashlik (Šašliks) - originally comes from Armenia or Azerbaijan but now are much loved across Baltics as well. No summer barbecue is imaginable without a shashlik. The meat is marinated in a vinegar or mayonnaise sauce with lots of onions, lemons, black pepper, and herbs, then skewered and grilled over hot coals. Nothing tastes better than this!
Fish
As Latvia is located on the Baltic Sea, it's not a surprise that also fish takes a big part of Latvian cuisine. We also have many lakes and rivers from which we are harvesting fishes not only in summer but also in winter. Latvians love going ice-fishing! And that all together has given us a fairly wide selection of fish products. Our most traditional fishes are cod, pike, eel, carp, and salmon.
Top fish dishes to try in Latvia:
- Herring in a Coat (Siļķe Kažokā) - one of Latvia's most favorite cold salads, made in layers of boiled potatoes and other vegetables, eggs, onions, herring, and plenty of sour cream and mayonnaise. Very popular dish not only in Latvia but also in other Baltic and Scandinavian countries.
- Smoked Fish (Kūpināta zivs) - the best-smoked fishes you can find along the Baltic Sea coast in small villages, where fishes have been hot or cold smoking for many centuries. Smoked in specially made wood-burning stoves, the fish get a unique flavor and aroma.
- Sprats in Oil (Šprotes eļļā) - if you didn't know yet, sprats are herring-like, marine fish that have been smoked over wood and typically canned in oil. They are good appetizers and also an addition to salads. Very beloved in Baltics and Russia. Exported also to many other European countries, like Germany.
- Fish Soup (Zivju zupa) - warm soup made from vegetables and fresh fish is one of the best things ever. Usually made from some river fishes, potatoes, carrots, herbs, and spring greens. Perfect in its simplicity!
- Mackerel with Cheese (Skumbrija ar sieru) - this is one of my personal favorites because it meets exactly my taste. Freshly smoked mackerel with a good layer of mayonnaise sauce and cheese. This dish is delicious both warm and cold.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are also a very important part of Latvian cuisine and mushroom picking - our unofficial national sport. Yes, that's how much we love mushroom hunting. Latvia is a very wooded land and since ancient times mushroom picking has been a part of our culture. And believe, nothing tastes better than a mushroom sauce from yourself picked mushrooms!
If you also want to try your hand at mushroom hunting, then please don't do it alone and take with you someone who knows the mushrooms because only one-fourth part of all mushrooms is edible. Be careful! But if you are not enough sure about what you are picking up, better go to some restaurant and enjoy the evening with the best mushroom dishes!
Top mushroom dishes to try in Latvia:
- Wild Mushroom and Potatoe Soup (Sēņu un kartupeļu zupa) - very easy, delicious, and satiety food. There are many different mushroom soup recipes but so far, I haven't had a bad or tasteless one.
- Mushroom Sauce (Sēņu mērce) - very loved and highly recommended food in Latvia. The most famous is chanterelle sauce but it actually doesn't matter which mushrooms you are using, as long as all mushrooms are freshly picked up in Latvian woods.
- Marinated/Canned Mushrooms (Marinētas sēnes) - believe me, or not, but Latvians do like to conserve various vegetables, like cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, beets, and mushrooms aren't an exception. In Latvia cold and long winters are very common, that's why in autumn people harvest all that they can, then marinate, can it, and carry it to the basement. Later we eat our marinated mushrooms as a snack or add them to salads.
Cheese
Since ancient times, Latvians have learned to use everything that nature and animals give. We are good hunters and fishers, we like to grow and harvest different vegetables, in woods we can find not only mushrooms but also small, wild berries and one more thing to add – we also make great dairy products. While in Latvia, take a look at our ice cream, yogurt, and cream (sweet and sour) selection.
Nevertheless, cheese has a special place in our hearts and fridges! I know, I know, people are saying that French, Swiss and Italian cheeses are the best, but please do not underestimate us. We have preserved till nowadays centuries-old recipes and are very happy to introduce everyone to Latvian traditional cheese.
Top cheese products to try in Latvia:
- Cottage Cheese (Biezpiens) - a very widely used milk product that can be sweet or savory. Cottage cheese is a very healthy product that we like to eat with some jam and sour cream or let our fantasy go off and use it in a multitude of recipes.
- ''Jāņi'' Cheese (Jāņu siers) - also known as the symbol of Latvian national identity. This cheese is made according to one of the oldest Latvian folk recipes and is usually made only in June for a Latvian traditional Midsummer celebration. ''Jāņi'' cheese is yellow as sun and it represents Latvian culture, cuisine, and traditions.
- Melted Cheese (Kausētais siers) - Latvian melted cheese has nothing in common with Philadelphia if that was in your mind. Our melted cheese is thicker and gooier and often made with different flavors. We eat it with bread or add it to soups for a fuller taste.
- Smoked Cheese (Kūpināts siers) - yes, cheese can also be smoked. Smoked cheese has a very aromatic smell and a strong taste. It is quite spicy and salty and usually served as a snack with beer.
Desserts
Latvians make desserts too and just like the whole cuisine, desserts are also quite high in fat. We love adding whipped cream wherever it's possible and decorate our desserts with fresh berries - strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, etc. It gives not only good taste but also good looking. And of course, how it's possible to live without bread? We have some unique desserts that you will not find in other countries!
Top desserts to try in Latvia:
- Rye Bread Soup (Rupjmaizes zupa) - made from rye bread, garnished with various dried fruits and berries and topped with whipped cream. Rye bread soup is unique to Latvian cuisine and I have not seen this dessert in any other country. That's why this dessert is a must-try!
- Rye Bread Arrangement (Rupjmaizes Kārtojums) - one more unique and traditional dessert from Latvian cuisine. It is a layered dessert of crushed rye bread, whipped cream, and jam. Garnished with fresh berries. If you aren't a soup fan, then this dessert needs to be on your must-try list!
- Ice Cream with Summer Berries (Saldējums ar vasaras ogām) - we have several great ice cream companies which produce ice creams with the most simple and interesting flavors (from simple vanilla to Riga Black Balsam & Brownie flavor). Nevertheless, nothing tastes better than Latvian ice cream with fresh garden berries.
Drinks
Due to the location and climate in Latvia, you will not find many locally made wines and champagne but you are very welcome to try our beers and strong drinks! Whether it's a food or drink, Latvians prefer a strong and rich taste and actually, we don't need a lot, but definitely the best! We like foods and drinks which we have preserved through centuries and are proud of our unique drink recipes.
Top drinks to try in Latvia:
- Beer (Alus) - yes, we are beer drinkers. All across Latvia, you can find bigger and smaller breweries with every kind of beer. We have such a large selection of local beer, so we are not very passionate about imported drinks. 'Live beer' (unfiltered and unpasteurized beer) is our favorite drink and that's what I also recommend to you!
- Kvass (Kvass) – a unique drink that is pretty popular in the Baltic states. Kvass is made from rye bread and has a sweet taste. It is considered to be a non-alcoholical drink but in reality, it can contain up to 1.0%.
- ''Riga Black Balsam'' (Rīgas Melnais Balzams) - one of Latvian national drinks, a herbal liqueur whose recipe comes from the 18th century. It is a really unique and strong drink (it has an alcohol concentration of 45.0%). Nevertheless, I am not loving the ''Riga Black Balsam'' because of its bitter taste... I love and recommend ''Riga Black Balsam Currant''. It contains only 30.0% alcohol and is not bitter. The taste is perfectly balanced and sweet!
Balsam with currant is one of my favorite drinks! Do you want to try it without traveling to Latvia? Then follow this Amazon link.*
But if you want to try more tastes then take a look to this Riga Black Balsam Set!*
THANK YOU FOR COMING BY AND DON’T FORGET TO SHARE THIS POST WITH YOUR FRIENDS WHO WOULD LOVE TO TRY THE BEST LATVIAN FOODS AND DRINKS!
* ”My Small Travel Guide by Sandra Ans” is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com