Lithuania + Vilnius MERGED TOPICS

[Adam Balic]

One interesting meal I had was at "Lokus". Upstairs is an up market steak house, below is ground is a semi-Medieval themed Bistro. To get downstairs you have to squeeze down a several levels of a very twisty, tight staircase. I am 6 ft, any taller or fatter and it would have been Winney the Pooh time.

A nice barrel vaulted basement room, with waitresses in tasteful medieval garb and a couple of chaps wearin tights playing "Stairway to Heaven" on Lute and recorder. Surreal, but somehow cool against all odds.

The menu was very game orientated with quite long descriptions on how people ate in the medieval period. Some dishes were hands only.

Obviously I had to have the beaver.

But, the starter was Bolete (Porcini), which contianed huge amounts of the mushroom, with sour cream.

The beaver stew was spices and sharpend with vinegar and sweetened with dried plums. This combination struck me as resembling some Jewish dishes, but I have also seen similar 14th century Christian dishes and also a class of Medieval Muslim dishes cooked in the same manner, so who knows. I think the beaver cut was the tail, as the chunks of meat had a certain gelatinous quality. Tasted similar to lamb and rabbit if you can imagine this. Mildly gamey. Drank this with some of the local dark beer which is excellent.

Dessert was Saltanosiai ("blue noses"). Bilberry dumplings with sour cream. Excellent flavours, but the dumplings were a little bit sturdy for me. I drank this with some of the lcoal mead which is fortified and very popular.

This all cost ~ £12. Bargin.

Another interesting thing was this: Huge amounts of alcohol at cheap prices. The are in a lot of trouble when the Brits work this out.

[Adam Balic]

damn it Adam, you should have told me you go there - after all i consider myself the expert in all things Vilnius and Lithuanian

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Excellent, so do you know what type of flower/plant/tree "gukuai" refers to (honey type) and what type of mushroom is called "Grybai"?

Blast, just found ou that "Grybai" means "Mushroom". Bugger.

Edited October 12, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[Adam Balic]

A quick meal taken at a tavern. This is Perch-Pike/Zander with an apple and leek sauce (a fortified hollandaise I think). This was the most common fish on Vilnius menus. I have always wnated to eat this fish as frieds tell me that it is one of the most tasty fresh water fish in Europe. They are correct. This particular fish had been rolled/marinated in dill and fried, very sweet and not a bit muddy. Dill was extremely common in Vilnius, you could smell it walking down the street in the evening.

[Adam Balic]

Another cultural activity that had been organised for us was a trip to "Grutas Park", otherwise known as "Stalin World". This is located at the village or Gruto, several hours from Vilnius. After indendence the Baltic states had many Soviet propaganda statues, as most towns/villages had a Lenin some other Soviet hero statue. For the most part these were removed for storage, but in Lithuania a Mushroom, berry an snail tycoon obtained these and set them up in a forest. I though this would be completely naff, but I found experience pretty shocking.

This is Lenin from one of the seaside towns which was a resort for high ranking soviet officials. Therefore he is relaxed and jolly. Most other statues were more stern.

Lunch was provided at the part this consited of koldunai (pork dumplings) in a chicken and dill broth.

And Dilled Zander with a grilled Bolete and a bolete sauce. Only appropriate when you consider that the park is owned by the local Mushroom King

Edited October 12, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[Pan]

I'm loving all these photos! Much of the food is vaguely -- or more than vaguely -- familiar. My mother's mother's parents were from Wilno Gubernya, or Vilna (Vilnius) District in imperial Russia. Of course, the vibrant Jewish community was wiped out by the Nazis and collaborators, but Jewish food in any part of the world is in many instances kosher versions of local non-Jewish cuisine.

Anyway, as a side note, Karaim in Hebrew translates into English as Karaites, unless there's another meaning. I don't think that Karaism has much to do with the Khazars or Turks, but rather is an ancient schism in Judaism. However, this page on the Karaite Korner explains that:

[...]Alongside the Karaite Jews there is a second group who use the name "Karaite" or in their own language "Karaylar" (Zajaczkowski p.11).  These Karaylar-Karaites are an ethnic group originating in Eastern Europe although their exact origins are a topic of much debate.  It seems they are in part descendants of Karaite Jews, who left Karaite Judaism in the late 19th or early 20th Century. According to the Karaylar-Karaites themselves, they are descended from Tataric-Turkic tribes and they readily back this up with linguistic and anthropological evidence.  Karaylar-Karaites are often confused with Karaite Jews and whenever this happens they are quick to point out that they are not Jews at all.[...]

If the Karaylar-Karaites left Karaite-Judaism, why did they keep the name "Karaite" or in their language "Karaylar"?  The main reason is that the Karaylar-Karaites spoke an ancient Tataric language called "Karaim" and the name "Karaylar" identified them as speakers of this language and bearers of the associated cultural heritage.[...]

So it is these people to whom you are referring. Thanks for inducing me to learn something really interesting I had no knowledge of.

[Adam Balic]

Another purchase. These are Sakotis (tree cake). These belong to a medieval tradition of producing a cake infront of an open fire on a spit. They were common in England, France and Germany to my knowledge, so it was a treat to see them here as they are now quite rare.

.

As you can see they are quite popular.

This version is similar to the French Gâteau à la broche, basically a enriched meringue. The German version is more complicated (and tasty) and is part of the requirement for the master of pastry qualification (I believe). As there German version in layered, you get rings in the cut cake, hence Baumkuchen "Tree Bread" in German.

A section of Baumkuchen, made in Edinburgh.

This is very similar to the Dutck Spekkoek, which is no longer made on the spit, but rather layered in a tin and from here this cake went to SE-Asia were it is called Kuih Lapis "Layer Cake".

More about tree bread/cake

Anyway I was happy so see another veriosn on this cake.

Edited October 12, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[Adam Balic]

I'm loving all these photos! Much of the food is vaguely -- or more than vaguely -- familiar. My mother's mother's parents were from Wilno Gubernya, or Vilna (Vilnius) District in imperial Russia. Of course, the vibrant Jewish community was wiped out by the Nazis and collaborators, but Jewish food in any part of the world is in many instances kosher versions of local non-Jewish cuisine.

Anyway, as a side note, Karaim in Hebrew translates into English as Karaites, unless there's another meaning. I don't think that Karaism has much to do with the Khazars or Turks, but rather is an ancient schism in Judaism. However, this page on the Karaite Korner explains that:

[...]Alongside the Karaite Jews there is a second group who use the name "Karaite" or in their own language "Karaylar" (Zajaczkowski p.11).  These Karaylar-Karaites are an ethnic group originating in Eastern Europe although their exact origins are a topic of much debate.  It seems they are in part descendants of Karaite Jews, who left Karaite Judaism in the late 19th or early 20th Century. According to the Karaylar-Karaites themselves, they are descended from Tataric-Turkic tribes and they readily back this up with linguistic and anthropological evidence.  Karaylar-Karaites are often confused with Karaite Jews and whenever this happens they are quick to point out that they are not Jews at all.[...]

If the Karaylar-Karaites left Karaite-Judaism, why did they keep the name "Karaite" or in their language "Karaylar"?  The main reason is that the Karaylar-Karaites spoke an ancient Tataric language called "Karaim" and the name "Karaylar" identified them as speakers of this language and bearers of the associated cultural heritage.[...]

So it is these people to whom you are referring. Thanks for inducing me to learn something really interesting I had no knowledge of.

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Thanks for that. So much for guide books I guess.

[Adam Balic]

A grave error of judgement. Due to an unwise decision to try several locally popular products at once (curds, rye bread, preserved fish and lietiniai (pancakes), I managed combine banana pancakes and preserved herring on the same plate. Note to self - Do not do this again.

[Adam Balic]

Another under ground "Beer restaurant" called Zemaiciai Smukle. This place specializes in West Lithuanian foods, which appears to be pretty hearty stuff.

I decided on beer snacks and pigs ear. Seemed like a good idea and sounded like pretty authentically pub food.

Beer snacks: fried rye bread, bread sticks, curd cheese and presereved herring. Served with a few cloves of raw garlic. Nice with the beer.

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Pigs ear with mushrrom sauce and beans. The only dish that I really didn't like on the trip (and I am fussy), just a little bit too nasty and tasting of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom, which is a disapointment after seeing huge amounts of wild mushrooms at the markets. Still I think that I only have my self to blame.

[Milagai]

Praising you with faint damns....

You should really do a EGCI on how to take

GREAT food pictures....

Milagai

[touaregsand]

Holy Sh**

I'm totally blown away. The presentation is so, I don't know how to phrase it without sounding corny. It's all very pretty and done with care. Amazing stuff.

[Adam Balic]

Thanks for the comments. Actually, it was pretty much point and click, if the lighting is good and the subjects are good it makes the photograph. Look at how bad that pigs ear looks if you are not convinced.

Edited October 12, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[Adam Balic]

I might add a few more things, but that is pretty much my four days of food in Vilnius. Obviously, in such a short time and without local help it is silly to expect to have a realistic insight to what the food culture about but, I will make a few personaly observations.

I expected the food to be restricted, heavy and bland. Well I guess this shows what an idiot I am. Sure there was an element of stodge* about some of the food, but I am not too bothered by this as I was really blown away by the over all quality and the diversity food. At this level, the UK doesn't even come close. An unfair comparison maybe, buy screw it, I have to live the crap here so I get to complain sometimes.

Finally, I am always nervous with dealing with people in these situations (early morning walks through unknown cities to get to markets, communicating with out a shared language) and I was quite surprised and delighted by how friendly and generous the people at the market were. There are few images of peolpe in these shots as most indicated that they were too shy to have their photographs taken, but really these images of good food are really all down to them.

[Hodad]

Did you ever see any bison on the menu?

[CharityCase]

That was incredible adam. Thank you so much for all of the photos and descriptions of your trip.

[helenas]

i recognize the tree cake - this a wedding cake and we had one on ours.

Edited October 12, 2005 by helenas (log)

[touaregsand]

There amount and diversity of food in Maxima was really something. It really brings home how degraded the food culture is in the UK, if a country that is finding its feet after Soviet domination can achieve this. I know that it is odd to start a discussion on a countries food in a supermarket, but I was very impressed with this store.

I wonder if anyone knows of a store in the States that comes even close to what Adam has shown us?

[ludja]

Thank you very much Adam!

It was fun to see the shelves filled with Baumkuchen and also extremely interesting to see the snaps of the menus. (I must remember that traveling truc). It looks like you really did well in the few days you were there in experiencing a cross section of the local food. It was also fascintating to see the particular version of Cenral/Eastern European cuisine there.

I wish we could have a copy of this thread also over in "Elsewhere in Europe". It would be easier to find ithe thread again over there and it would be a very nice addition to the thin, but growing content there.

[pete ganz]

Sure there was an element of stodge*

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Yet not as carb-laden as one might think. Great travelogue, as always.

[Pan]

[...]A section of Baumkuchen, made in Edinburgh.

This is very similar to the Dutck Spekkoek, which is no longer made on the spit, but rather layered in a tin and from here this cake went to SE-Asia were it is called Kuih Lapis "Layer Cake".[...]

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Fascinating. I had no idea what the origins of kuih lapis were.

[Hector]

Another purchase. These are Sakotis (tree cake). These belong to a medieval tradition of producing a cake infront of an open fire on a spit. They were common in England, France and Germany to my knowledge, so it was a treat to see them here as they are now quite rare.

.

As you can see they are quite popular.

This version is similar to the French Gâteau à la broche, basically a enriched meringue. The German version is more complicated (and tasty) and is part of the requirement for the master of pastry qualification (I believe). As there German version in layered, you get rings in the cut cake, hence Baumkuchen "Tree Bread" in German.

←

This cake is almost exactly the same as "Spettekaka" or "spit cake" from the region of Scania in Southern Sweden where I reside now. It's a cake baked on a spit with thousands of eggs and tons of sugar, very popular at festivities. It is ussually made in the countryside, the cooking process is very hard, very traditional and very much to do. I was cooking it one time with a French culinary interested guest at a famous bakery, and it took a whole day to finish the whole big bowl of beaten eggs. Lots of effort, Lots of sticky cake! To see this cake in Lithuania was a pleasant surprise...

Great thread, I've never expected the baltics to offer this much good! Guess I was proved wrong again

Edited October 14, 2005 by Hector (log)

[Adam Balic]

Did you ever see any bison on the menu?

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No Bison on the menus that I saw. There are only about 1000 wild European Bison (Bison bonasus) or "Wisent" left in the wild, not sure how many are being bred in captivity or if there is commercial production of the meat? If I had seen it on the menu I most likely would not have picked it as my first thought would be that it was imported American Bison (Bison bison), but I could be wrong.

[Adam Balic]

Another purchase. These are Sakotis (tree cake). These belong to a medieval tradition of producing a cake infront of an open fire on a spit. They were common in England, France and Germany to my knowledge, so it was a treat to see them here as they are now quite rare.

.

As you can see they are quite popular.

This version is similar to the French Gâteau à la broche, basically a enriched meringue. The German version is more complicated (and tasty) and is part of the requirement for the master of pastry qualification (I believe). As there German version in layered, you get rings in the cut cake, hence Baumkuchen "Tree Bread" in German.

←

This cake is almost exactly the same as "Spettekaka" or "spit cake" from the region of Scania in Southern Sweden where I reside now. It's a cake baked on a spit with thousands of eggs and tons of sugar, very popular at festivities. It is ussually made in the countryside, the cooking process is very hard, very traditional and very much to do. I was cooking it one time with a French culinary interested guest at a famous bakery, and it took a whole day to finish the whole big bowl of beaten eggs. Lots of effort, Lots of sticky cake! To see this cake in Lithuania was a pleasant surprise...

Great thread, I've never expected the baltics to offer this much good! Guess I was proved wrong again

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This whole class of cakes tends to be refered to as "spit cakes" (although the local names a mostly a variation on 'tree cake'). I didn't know a Swedish version existed, how interesting thanks. If your French friend goes to the Midi-Pyrenees they might be able to see the French version that I mentioned above. When I next go back to Australia I am definately going to try this.

Edited October 14, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[Adam Balic]

Thank you very much Adam! 

It was fun to see the shelves filled with Baumkuchen and also extremely interesting to see the snaps of the menus.  (I must remember that traveling truc).  It looks like you really did well in the few days you were there in experiencing a cross section of the local food.  It was also fascintating to see the particular version of Cenral/Eastern European cuisine there.

I wish we could have a copy of this thread also over in "Elsewhere in Europe".  It would be easier to find ithe thread again over there and it would be a very nice addition to the thin, but growing content there.

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I think that the feeling is that the threads get 'lost', hence my Greek thread was moved here (I think), although the my French, Spanish and Italian travel blogs are still on those locations. I dunno, maybe something for staffers to think about.

[Swisskaese]

Really interesting Adam.

After being told since birth that my mother's family was from Latvia, I found out five years ago that my grandparents didn't listen to their own parents and that my great-grandparents were from Lithuania. I have to thank Ellis Island for this. So far, I haven't been able to locate their town/village on any map.

Anyway, it is nice to see what Vilna has to offer foodwise. The only foods my grandmother makes that may or may not be from there are stuffed cabbage, kugel and borsht. She also makes a cookie that is stuffed with cherries. The dough is made from flour and cream cheese.

Edited October 14, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)