Snapshots. Latvija 2015

A field of wheat in Zemgale, Latvia

Bakery Rigensis in Vecrīga. This place was hard to leave; fresh pastries and huge pots of tea, just the thing you need after hours of sightseeing

Typical Latvian school/bistro lunch. Potatoes with chicken a la French (chicken breast with mayo, tomato and cheese), white sauce, cucumber and radish salad and kefirs. All this would set you back around 3 euro.

A glass of kvass (bread based drink). More than 25 years ago tank trailers full with this refreshing drink would be parked up near the apartment blocks in every suburb and people would line up with their 3 litre jars to get them filled. It may be the lack of any other soft drinks around in those days, but, personally, kvass tasted much better, richer and smoother when I was five. You still can get your containers filled at markets or an odd tank trailer.

Sauerkraut juice. I came across this in Cash and Carry type place and found it rather funny. Turns out there is also a Latvian made version of this “drink” that can be found in most supermarkets. It is a common knowledge in Latvia that sauerkraut juice helps to cure hangover. Bottoms up!

Latvians will understand… (“Latvian genes will make you look for mushrooms”; it rhymes nicely in Latvian)

Chanterelle sauce, made with bits of bacon, chopped onion and cream, served with soft boiled potatoes, or just eaten straight from the pan (guilty on that one). Not many meals can be as simple and satisfying as this dish

Gauja near Turaida

Grobiņa, on the way to Liepāja

Anthill

Wild strawberries (meža zemenes)

Bilberries (mellenes), not to be mixed with blueberries :)

More bilberries. Simplest desert in the world is bowl of bilberries, couple spoons of sugar, topped with milk.

Wild strawberries

My grandparents backyard veggie patch. They grow lettuce, strawberries, peas, beans, cucumbers, carrots, beats, onions, garlic, tomatoes, marrow and many other things.

Tomatoes in a greenhouse

Gooseberries (ērkšķogas)

More gooseberries, very common in gardens

Blackcurrants (upenes)

Dill and calendula

Lettuce, onions and carrots

White clover (baltais āboliņš). Latvian veggie patch would usually include flowers and herbs, just for their beauty

Sweet cherries (saldie ķirši), this variety is known as čerešņa, meaty, sweet and juicy

Rasberries (avenes). Words cannot express how much I miss them

Poppy field in Dobele

Daisies (margrietiņas)

Yarrow (pelašķis), one of the most common herbal remedies. It is believed that yarrow cures any illness due to its blood cleansing properties. Yarrow tea is recommended to relieve colds and cough or to settle upset stomach.

Hazelnuts (lazdu rieksti)

Grobiņa, on the way to Liepāja

Young oak tree (ozols)

Nārbuļi, very common ground cover in forests

Country house and its trusted guardian

Every country house and many houses in the city would have a basement to store all the homegrown goodies. This basement is in the process of restoration as it is more than 100 years old.

Stork (stārķis) in a meadow

Wheat (kvieši)

Barley (mieži)

Central market pavilions used to be zeppelin hangars in 1930. They are part of UNESCO heritage listed Vecrīga and attract a lot of visitors

Catfish (sams)

Smoked fish in fish pavilion

Dried fish

Fresh salmon and trout

Quark, cheese and butter (biespiens, siers un sviests) in the dairy pavilion

Biezpiens

Half of a smoked chicken. When I was growing up, smoked chicken was reserved for special occasions; it still has an aura of greatness in my eyes. And Latvians love all things smoked

Latvian pickled cucumber (mazsālīti gurķi) with dill and garlic

Best ice cream shakes in the world; just plum juice and vanilla ice cream

Latvian pastries, my favourites always have been poppy seed buns with chocolate (recipe will be up here soon!)

A special piece of my family history. My great great grandfather, Kristaps Freimanis, owned a pasta and coffee factory in Riga. This is the original packaging that was used for his egg pasta.