|  |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 mmore 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 – kkugelis, 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 fforms, 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 pper 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 | |

| |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). | |

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| |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. | |

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| |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 | |

| |there will be happiness in the family throughout the coming | |

| |year.  | |

| |Eating is begun with the passing aaround of the Christmas wafer| |

| |and with wishes for each member, then all the foods have to be| |

| |tasted. | |

| |Christmas morning begins with the clearing away of the | |

| |Christmas Eve table. Christmas foods are mainly of meat, | |

| |generally pork, cooked pigÕs head, sausages, baked piglet and | |

| |ham. There is also an assortment of sweet breads and cakes. | |

| |Christmas is the ancient feast of the return of the sun, aand | |

| |it was celebrated in pre-Christian times in many European | |

| |nations. | |

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| |Shrove Tuesday | |

| |Uþgavënës | |

| |Shrove Tuesday is a happy and noisy celebration of the | |

| |transition ffrom winter to spring. The festivities begin on | |

| |Sunday and last for three days. This also puts an end to the | |

| |period of meat eating, which began after Christmas. On Shrove | |

| |Tuesday, it is traditional to eat very rich, fat foods at | |

| |least twelve times, so that you would be fat and healthy. The | |

| |foods of the day include different pancakes, fat pork meat and| |

| |porridges. | |

| |The table is laden with an abundance of foods and awaits not | |

| |only family members but also masqueraders, who go from house | |

| |to house. After eating, the masqueraders wish the homeowners | |

| |good luck, health and ggood harvest in the coming year. | |

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| |Easter | |

| |Velykos | |

| |Easter is the first spring holiday, the rebirth of nature. The| |

| |dyed egg is the primary symbol of Easter, signifying life, | |

| |goodness and bountiful harvest. The egg dyeing tradition is | |

| |older than Christianity. Easter egg decorating is a family | |

| |affair, done on the Saturday before Easter. | |

| |The Easter table is covered with a white, llinen table cloth | |

| |and the first thing to be placed on the table are dyed eggs in| |

| |a basket or clay bowl, decorated with rue, cranberry stalks or| |

| |sprouted wheat greens.  | |

| |The traditional Easter table decoration is an egg holder, a | |

| |tree branch, with nine or twelve branches. The egg holder is | |

| |decorated with greens, colored paper and sprouted birch and | |

| |pussy willow branches with dough birds. | |

| |Traditional Easter foods are made of pork, veal, fowl and | |

| |milk: baked piglet, pig’s head, veal ham, sausage, cheese and | |

| |in the center of the table a butter or sugar lamb set in | |

| |sprouted oat greens. There is also an abundance of Easter | |

| |baked goods, both sweet and savory. Traditional drinks are | |

| |beer, kvass, maple and birch sap.  | |

| |The Easter meal is begun with eggs. It is tradition to strike | |

| |two eggs together, one person holds his egg while the other | |

| |hits it with his egg. The strongest egg is left uneaten.  | |

| |Visiting relatives and friends begins in the afternoon, when | |

| |it is especially common for children to visit their godparents| |

| |and neighbors, where they are given Easter eggs as gifts. The | |

| |traditions of striking and rolling eggs is still popular | |

| |throughout the country. | |

| |Family holidays incorporate the main events in life, births, | |

| |weddings and funerals. These are occasions for communal eating| |

| |and drinking. Regular, every day foods are eaten during | |

| |christenings and funerals, but weddings are the exception. | |

| |Food preparations for wedding feasts start very early with a | |

| |variety of foods and drinks. A beer maker is hired as well as | |

| |a cook with a culinary reputation. | |

| |Wedding guests arrive bearing baked goods, cakes and drink. | |

| |This ancient tradition is still in practice.  | |

| |Upon their return from church, the newlyweds are received with| |

| |the traditional bread, salt and drink.  | |

| |As the wedding guests leave, they are given a piece of the | |

| |traditional wedding cake to take home.  | |

| |Lithuanians have always been known for their hospitality. It | |

| |is said that „if you do not love other ppeople, you will not be| |

| |loved“. When expecting guests, Lithuanians go all out to | |

| |prepare all kinds of food and drink, for they want the guests | |

| |to comment „there was an abundance of everything, the only | |

| |food missing was bird’s milk“. However, the visitor does not | |

| |begin to savor the food until he is urged to do so by the | |

| |hosts.  | |

| |Lithuanians are happy and sober, they drink slowly because | |

| |they want to extend the socializing, they often share the same| |

| |drinking glass. The drinking glass goes around the table, to | |

| |the right, together with the bottle and greetings – be | |

| |healthy, thank you, to your health and many other wishes that | |

| |are shouted with each drink. | |

| |Such feasting is very friendly and cozy. One experiences the | |

| |pleasure of sitting, talking and relaxing with relatives or | |

| |neighbors. | |

| |Drinks which have been popular through the ages include mead, | |

| |beer and krupnikas, a herbal alcoholic drink.  | |

| |Every get together is accompanied by songs about beer, mead, | |

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|hops and barley grain. While singing the guests praise the | |

| |hosts and thank them for their hospitality. When the guests | |

| |prepare to leave, the hostess prepares a gift of food to take | |

| |home. This gift of food is called „rabbit’s cake“/ | |

| |A much loved or honored guest is accompanied to the door or | |

| |gate, where one last drink is shared with the hosts to wish | |

| |the guest aa good, dustless trip home.  | |

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