Ask, and I will find: Latvian food

Rosanne said...

So my mother wants to know about Latvian food. Is there any in Vancouver?

May 22, 2009 7:05 PM

"Truly Latvian cooking" has been described by aboutriga.net and numerous other sites as --

• consisting of very cheap, self-grown ingredients (such as dried peas and cheap cuts of meat, such as pork hocks or bacon)
• having few or no spices (as imported spices were expensive and normally only available in Latvia's major cities)
• being high in calories (to ensure enough energy for the Latvian people's daily, backbreaking labour!)

"Hearty" and "typically quite basic, without the fancy sauces and ingredients found in other places in Europe ... [Latvia's dishes have] much in common with its neighbouring countries -- Lithuania, Poland, Russia and the Ukraine -- and ingredients such as potatoes, cabbage, eggs, pork, wheat and barley feature prominently."

Heavily influenced by German, Swedish, and Russian cuisine, "a typical, truly Latvian dish would be something like boiled black peas with small snippets of bacon".



Today, a "Latvian dinner at Lido" would look something like the meal featured above; from left to right, there's "Russian-style kvas, a gherkin, a cotlette, pot-cooked cabbage, sour milk (kefir) and cold beetroot soup."

A dessert might include "Rupjmaizes kartojums" (see below) -- "a parfait of rye bread layered with whipped cream."


Some national Latvian dishes include --

• Janis' cheese (Janu Siers -- see below)
• Latvian bacon buns (Piragi -- see the first image on this post)
  
• Latvian sour cream soup (Skaba putra -- see right)
• Latvian beet soup (see below)
  
• Latvian potato salad (Rasols -- see right)
• Latvian kringel (Coffee cake)
• Latvian-style cheese danishes (Biezpien maizites)
• Latvian manna (Buberts)
• Latvian fruit sauce or fruit jelly (Kiselis)

My search of all the European and Eastern European restaurants in the Lower Mainland has revealed that there are no Latvian restaurants or restaurants of any kind that serve Latvian food in Vancouver.

My findings have been confirmed by all my "Latvian food contacts" -- great people who participated in my search for Latvian food. These included members of the Lutheran church where Vancouver's Latvian community congregates, a member of an Estonian church, participants in this year's Eurofest (where Latvia was represented), friends from the Russian community, and the online Latvian community, Latvians Online.

As Andris Straumanis, editor of Latvians Online explained,

"Few Latvians live in British Columbia, so you will not find any Latvian-specific shops or restaurants. Your reader might have better luck finding a Russian or East European shop (which probably would be run by Russians or Ukrainians) that might stock some Latvian imports, such as sprats, chocolate or bread."

With Andris's help, I discovered one Latvian food that you can find in select stores throughout the Lower Mainland: authentic Latvian Riga Sprats.

According to the BBC, "'Riga Sprats' have been produced in Latvia since the 19th century, [and] have become one of the country's most famous brands.... The Baltic sprat is a small, herring-like fish, found mainly in the Baltic Sea.... While other countries along the Baltic coast also catch and smoke the fish, it is Latvian sprats that have become a byword for delicacy and sophistication -- the gourmet's choice.... and it is the Russians who are still their most enthusiastic consumers. At big celebrations, when the food's laid out, a party is not a party in Russia without a can of Riga Sprats."

At Latvians Online, they "really, really like sprats" -- enough to create a Sprats Index: "a guide [on] where to find sprats and -- more importantly -- how much you should expect to pay for a 160-gram tin."


According to the index, Pavel's Food Store (3740 Chatham St.) in Steveston, Richmond is one place where you should be able to find it.

Another place I've found that sells them closer to home is Euro Food Plus (1688 Robson St.), which, according to one Yelp reviewer, has "at least 10 different kinds of canned sprats." A phone call to the store and a talk with my new Russian friends has confirmed that Euro Food Plus is the place to go for sprats in Vancouver. The store also used to sell Latvian bread as well, but not anymore. :(

If you're thinking of trying sprats but aren't sure of how to serve them, the following suggestion is apparently "bloomin' marvellous":

• Lightly toast two slices of rye bread
• “Butter” with a good mayonnaise
• Add a layer of sprats to both slices of bread
• Add some slices of celery or cucumber for texture
• Add some chopped parsley, coriander/chili, or dill
• Squeeze some lemon/lime and shake a few grounds of pepper on to finish

Try it, and let us know how it is!

If you know of a place that sells Latvian food that I haven't found, or of another location that sells sprat that's not already listed on the Sprat Index, tell us -- you'll make not one, but several people very happy. :)