| |LITHUANIAN TRADITIONAL FOODS | |
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| |Lithuanian Food and Entertainment Traditions | |
| |Lithuanians like to eat good, tasty and filling foods. The | |
| |tradition of eating well is inherited from our ancestors, who | |
| |would say, he who eats well, works well. | |
| |Lithuanian cooks prepare simple but tasty foods. A good cook | |
| |can create delicious meals using simple ingredients. It is | |
| |said that each cook stirs the cookpot in her manner. | |
| |The traditional food preparer was and is mother, her knowledge| |
| |and capabilities are handed down to the next female | |
| |generation. Before food was prepared using only seasonal | |
| |products, however during the last twenty-five years, fresh | |
| |fruit, vegetables and herbs have been available all year | |
| |round, imported or grown locally. The same applies to meat, | |
| |now more fresh meat is used than salted or smoked. | |
| |Lithuanian traditional cuisine took shape over many centuries | |
| |and was much influenced by cultural contacts with neighboring | |
| |nations. A good example is potato cake – kugelis, which | |
| |Lithuanians adapted from the German kitchen. This has now | |
| |become a favorite dish throughout Lithuania. | |
| |Lithuania is divided into five ethnic regions. This regional | |
| |division is evident in foods that are particular to each | |
| |region. The Highlanders, Aukätai‹iai, live in the rich loam, | |
| |northeast region, and are known for their various pancakes and| |
| |cottage cheese dishes. The Samogitians, eemai‹iai, inhabit the| |
| |northwest region and have their special sour butter, porridges| |
| |and many gruels. Dzukai are the people of the southeast | |
| |region, where the soil is sandy and forested. They are main | |
| |growers and users of buckwheat in all its forms, as well as | |
| |mushrooms and potatoes. Suvalkie‹iai, people of the | |
| |southwestern region favor smoked meats, sausages and | |
| |zeppelins. Fish plays an important role in the diet of the | |
| |seacoast Lithuanians and also of those living near lakes and | |
| |rivers. These differences are less evident today than they | |
| |were in olden times. However, the tradition of regional foods | |
| |continues. | |
| |Lithuanians usually eat three times per day, but during | |
| |periods of hard and intense work, especially in summer, mid | |
| |morning and late afternoon snacks are added to the daily | |
| |eating routine. The most filling, sumptuous meals are | |
| |breakfast and lunch. Porridges, pancakes and soups for | |
| |breakfast, soups, meat and potatoes for lunch. In the evening,| |
| |dinner is a light meal. However, one does have a square meal, | |
| |for the ancient Lithuanians said that there is no sleep on an | |
| |empty stomach. | |
| |Lithuanians consider eating a holy event and behavior at table| |
| |is like in church, quiet, orderly and reverential. Each family| |
| |member had his permanent place at the table, with father | |
| |sitting at the head of the table, mother sitting opposite | |
| |father, the oldest son to father right, and the remaining | |
| |members next to the son. The traditional seating at table is | |
| |now practiced mainly during feast days, when the entire family| |
| |gathers. | |
| |Today the ancient tradition of placing bread first on the | |
| |table is still observed. Should a visitor arrive when the | |
| |family is at table, the visitor greets the eaters with | |
| |“skanaus“ (bon appetite). If father answers „prasom“(you’re |
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| |welcome), it means do join us. However, if the answer is | |
| |“aciu“ (thank you), the visitor is not invited to join in the | |
| |eating. When the meal is finished, the spoon is turned upside | |
| |down, to show that one has eaten well and the food was | |
| |delicious. | |
| |No one leaves the table until everyone has finished eating and| |
| |has thanked the cook, mother, who in her turn answers „I | |
| |sveikata“ (to your health). | |
| | | |
| |Christmas Eve, Christmas | |
| |Kuèios, Kalëdos | |
| |As the days draw shorter, Lithuanians have finished most | |
| |needed chores and are ready to celebrate Christmas Eve, | |
| |December 24th, and Christmas, December 25th. | |
| |Christmas Eve is a very special time with the gathering of the| |
| |family at the ritual meal „kucia“. This word has been borrowed| |
| |from the Greek „kukkia“. | |
| |Kucia denotes the main food of the ritual supper, made from | |
| |grain and pulses. | |
| |The evening meal begins when the evening star appears in the | |
| |sky. A white, linen tablecloth is placed on a hay-covered | |
| |table. Hay symbolizes the birth of Jesus in the manger and | |
| |also the hay, where the souls of dead family members rest on. | |
| | | |
| |Holy wafers and Christmas bread are placed side by side in the| |
| |center of the table. These are surrounded by other foods, of | |
| |which there can be seven, nine or twelve, all meatless. Twelve| |
| |foods are most commonly prepared, to assure that the coming | |
| |year, twelve months, will be good and plentiful. | |
| |The traditional kucia – porridge, is eaten with poppy seed | |
| |milk, as are the Christmas biscuits. It is a must to eat | |
| |oatmeal pudding with sweetened water. | |
| |The other foods include beet soup with dried mushrooms, fish -| |
| |mostly pike, herring and mushroom dishes, as well as apples | |
| |and nuts. | |
| |Traditional drinks are thin cranberry pudding and dried fruit | |
| |compote. | |
| |When all the foods are in place, candles are placed on the | |
| |table and lit, and the family is seated. A special place is | |
| |set at the table for a family member who died during that | |
| |year. It is also tradition to invite a poor or homeless | |
| |person, or to take food to them. This behavior assures that | |