Latvia

Ask what Latvia eats and the answer starts with this: rye, dairy, and smoked fish define seasonal Baltic cooking, with grey peas and midsummer cheese. Look for Grey peas with bacon (marbled grey peas stewed with smoked bacon and onion; national dish), Rye bread (sweet-sour dark rye loaf at the heart of Latvian identity) and Jāņu siers (caraway-flecked curd cheese wheel for Midsummer Jāņi). Latvia’s national dish, eaten at Christmas, when custom holds that every pea must be finished or the year will bring tears. This atlas has 33 Latvia dishes catalogued below, from everyday cooking to food kept for festivals and special occasions.