3 Awful Things I Have Eaten in Lithuania

Here is a painful truth: there’s so much people blaming on Lithuanian food.

It seems that Italians are within the most close minded regarding embracing cuisines that are any different from their own and that is sad but most of the time true. Despite some members of my family perfectly fit into the stereotype, for many different reasons I have been never afraid to (conversely, I have been thrilled to) try different things on my plate.

This nicely put introduction was intended to save this post. Seeing kūčiukai being sold in Maxima is for me a synonym for Christmas, I have come recently to like grikių košė (or buckwheat kasha), a must for Lithuanians that for many years accidentally didn’t appeal to me, due to his smell (often renamed by the author as “the smell of sorrow”). Recently I have even rediscover the power of ruginė duona AKA rye bread: one within the pillars on which Lithuanian society is based.

It seems that life changes us. However there are three things that are still hard to digest for me (both physically and mentally) at this point:

1. Kissel (or Kisielius)

The image is misleading and so is Wikipedia. What they don’t say is that 90% of the time you would see the chemical version of this gorgeous “viscous fruit dish”. The Lithuanian obsession with pink color (see Šaltibarščiai) comes packed in a disgusting sweetened drink that barely reminds you being originally thought to be coming from fruit. I have never tasted the real natural one, so my knowledge of this topic stops to the white powder poured in water and shaken (that’s enough).

2. Saldi Sriuba (Literally Sweet Soup)

I didn’t find anything better than the video above (in Lithuanian, but the process and the results are all there). This recipe strongly goes against my culinary principles. It’s a pasta dish soup that is at the same time sweet and involves fruit. I don’t think I can say anything else, except that Yes, people eat it here (without being forced to do so).

3. Pieniška makaronų sriuba (Milky Pasta Soup)

Ok, I admit it: this is the extreme version. If you have kids nearby I hope you have kept them far from the screen while watching the video. While the version I have mostly seen around (in Lithuania) includes real pasta instead of the flour blob you have seen, the results, aesthetically speaking, are not that far. I am resolute: I will simply never eat this until a famine due to global warming will hit the globe (that would not be so far apparently but still).

In their defense, I should have said that the majority of Lithuanian cuisine comes from a broader culture and cannot be directly attributed to Lithuania, however to sweeten the pill I have excluded from the list another dish since I do believe there are people who may enjoy it and there is nothing so terrible here.

I am a strong fan of Lithuanian cuisine and will talk about it later on. Anyway I hope you have enjoyed this post!

This blog is about Vilnius, Lithuania and my professional (and human) journey.  If you have enjoyed the article, follow me on Linkedin!