194. Regional Travel #4.1 - Latvian cuisine
I was in Riga for a three-day weekend - long enough for seven meals, if I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day. I actually enjoyed only four meals, because Latvia apparently does not do breakfast. I could not find a single restaurant open prior to 10 am on the weekend (American fast food chains notwithstanding). I managed to locate a breakfast restaurant near my apartment, but it did not open until late in the morning. I suppose people tend to stay up later at night and arise later the following morning, as compared with the United States. Either way, breakfast and brunch culture has definitely not reached Latvia yet. Otherwise, there were plenty of interesting restaurants, pubs, and coffeehouses in Riga. Many offered Latvian food, a few showed Russian influences, there were tons with European / continental cuisine, and some boring chain restaurants.
The two lunches I ate on Saturday and Sunday were tasty, but nothing particularly noteworthy. The first lunch was at a sushi and burger restaurant, where I had a burger and fries. The next day's lunch was at an Italian restaurant named "Mamma Pasta". I was surprised at how upscale it was - definitely fancier than the somewhat generic name might lead you to believe. I enjoyed a Caesar salad, lasagna, and a glass of Primitivo here.
I went to nice restaurants both nights for dinner, to ensure that I could experience traditional Latvian cuisine. The first night at "Province", I enjoyed a meal of creamy pea soup with smoked bacon served in a bread loaf, homemade fish cutlets with mustard sauce and mashed potatoes, and a semi-sweet 2015 vintage Latvian white wine. For dessert, I stopped by a sweet shop / coffeehouse named "Black Magic" and picked up an assortment of gourmet handcrafted chocolates. For my final meal in Riga the next day, I went to a restaurant named "Salve" - incidentally, the same name as a restaurant I went to Helsinki in August, although there's no connection between the two. I enjoyed a meal of homemade beef and pork sausage, stewed cabbage and baked potatoes, a glass of Pinot Grigio, and a dessert of Latvian rye bread pudding.
The most interesting discovery for me at Salve restaurant was the Latvian herbal liqueur known as Riga Black Balsam. At 45% ABV, this can be enjoyed on the rocks or mixed in a variety of cocktails, but of course I ordered it straight up. The recipe includes 24 ingredients, which creates flavors of linden blossom, birch bud, valerian root, raspberry, bilberry, ginger, nutmeg, and black peppercorn. I could not actually identify all these individual flavors, but they are among the tasting notes included on the menu. It is opaque, syrupy, slightly bitter, somewhat medicinal, but aged in oak barrels and easy to sip. This drink has been popular in Latvia since at least the eighteenth century, and legend has it that Empress Catherine the Great of Russia used Riga Black Balsam to recover from an illness while on a visit to Latvia. I will definitely keep an eye out for this tasty drink in the future.
The two lunches I ate on Saturday and Sunday were tasty, but nothing particularly noteworthy. The first lunch was at a sushi and burger restaurant, where I had a burger and fries. The next day's lunch was at an Italian restaurant named "Mamma Pasta". I was surprised at how upscale it was - definitely fancier than the somewhat generic name might lead you to believe. I enjoyed a Caesar salad, lasagna, and a glass of Primitivo here.
I went to nice restaurants both nights for dinner, to ensure that I could experience traditional Latvian cuisine. The first night at "Province", I enjoyed a meal of creamy pea soup with smoked bacon served in a bread loaf, homemade fish cutlets with mustard sauce and mashed potatoes, and a semi-sweet 2015 vintage Latvian white wine. For dessert, I stopped by a sweet shop / coffeehouse named "Black Magic" and picked up an assortment of gourmet handcrafted chocolates. For my final meal in Riga the next day, I went to a restaurant named "Salve" - incidentally, the same name as a restaurant I went to Helsinki in August, although there's no connection between the two. I enjoyed a meal of homemade beef and pork sausage, stewed cabbage and baked potatoes, a glass of Pinot Grigio, and a dessert of Latvian rye bread pudding.
The most interesting discovery for me at Salve restaurant was the Latvian herbal liqueur known as Riga Black Balsam. At 45% ABV, this can be enjoyed on the rocks or mixed in a variety of cocktails, but of course I ordered it straight up. The recipe includes 24 ingredients, which creates flavors of linden blossom, birch bud, valerian root, raspberry, bilberry, ginger, nutmeg, and black peppercorn. I could not actually identify all these individual flavors, but they are among the tasting notes included on the menu. It is opaque, syrupy, slightly bitter, somewhat medicinal, but aged in oak barrels and easy to sip. This drink has been popular in Latvia since at least the eighteenth century, and legend has it that Empress Catherine the Great of Russia used Riga Black Balsam to recover from an illness while on a visit to Latvia. I will definitely keep an eye out for this tasty drink in the future.
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