The lithuanian

The territory of the Republic of Lithuania is compactly located on the shores of the Baltic Sea in the region of Eastern Europe. The first mention of Lithuania dates back to 100

9. The formation of the Lithuanian state began with the unification of several large and distinctive Baltic nationalities. The tribe of Samogitia and the tribe of Aukstaitia, once independent and separate peoples with their own cultural traditions, decided to conclude a military alliance in order to jointly confront the army of the German crusaders.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the lands of the former Principality of Lithuania were included in the Polish state of Speech by Paspolita, and already in the 18th century the Russian Empire occupied the original Lithuanian lands for a long time. The Republic of Lithuania received long-awaited independence only after the collapse of the USSR in 1990. Lithuania's neighbors Latvia, Russia, Poland and Belarus greatly influenced the development of Lithuanian cuisine traditions and recipes. The Lithuanian people gradually adopted the features of Polish, Russian, Latvian and Belarusian cuisine.

At the turn of the XIV-XVIII century, an independent culinary direction prevailed in the houses of the Lithuanian nobility. Lithuanian gentry cuisine or Old Lithuanian culinary branch. Interestingly, after the events of the beginning of the 19th century, Lithuanian cuisine recipes ceased to belong to Old Lithuanian traditions. This is how a new direction in Lithuanian cooking was born, which is still widely used in Lithuania.

Novolitovo cuisine arose in the poor strata of society. Simple people did not look for delights and delicacies for their table. The recipes of the new Lithuanian cuisine used those products that were available. It is Novolitovo cuisine that has all the main features of the cuisine of other Baltic nationalities. Let's figure out the traditional dishes of Old Lithuanian and Novolite cuisine together.

So Old Lithuanian cuisine was characterized by its own technical aspects of cooking and ingredients. It is known that in a number of Old Lithuanian dishes they entered their names into the world culinary tradition. For example, Lithuanian sorcerers (dumplings) or Lithuanian borscht, as well as a Lithuanian delicacy - goose canvases. The Lithuanian state has always had close trade, economic and political ties with the eastern peoples.

The Golden Horde and the Ottoman Empire brought new ingredients and flavors to Lithuanian cuisine. The eastern dolma became the basis for Lithuanian cabbage cabbage rolls with the addition of stuffing from meat (pork), mushrooms in sour cream sauce. Previously, such cabbage rolls were made from grape leaves, and the filling included: dried apricots, lamb and pomegranate juice.

Another oriental dish musak has become the progenitor for Lithuanian fish dishes, for example pike with sour cabbage or horseradish. A special place in Old Lithuanian cuisine was occupied by honey-based dishes. More than one important festive feast of the Lithuanian nobility could not do without honey braga and gingerbread with honey.

Novolitovo cuisine is characterized by its own features and traditions, but the new cuisine has adopted something from the old one. The recipes of Lithuanian cuisine for the manufacture of smoked meats and fish have not lost their relevance. He did not lose his dominant positions in Novolitovsk cuisine and honey, they still cooked braga from it and made sweets. However, there are more differences in Novolite cuisine.

Firstly, it is worth saying about the food composition of the dishes. The basis was simple and uncomplicated products. They began to eat more meat semi-finished products - sausages, lard, corned beef. Secondly, potatoes became an independent and very popular dish. Boiled potatoes with butter and herbs were served on the table, and the snacks were meat sausages or lard. Lithuanians consumed dairy products in large quantities.

The new Lithuanian cuisine is characterized by the complete absence or consumption of a small amount of soups or broths. Spices are not often used in Lithuanian cuisine recipes. In very small quantities, Lithuanian chefs add cumin, parsley, dill, onions and marjoram to their dishes. Moreover, marjoram and cumin are already a national Lithuanian spicy pride.