For almost a year, gastronomy experts from Lithuania and Latvia have been analyzing archives and other literary sources in order to collect ancient recipes typical of the Šiauliai region and Daugavpils in Latvia. Over 40 recipes have already been included in the manuscript pages of the planned e-book. This activity is carried out within the framework of the 2021-2027 Interreg VI-A Latvia-Lithuanian Programe project “Culinary tourism development through modern taste of traditional Lithuanian and Latvian cuisine” (LL-00224, akr. “Taste the history”), which is implemented by the Šiauliai Tourism Information Centre together with the Šiauliai Technology Training Centre (ŠTMC), Daugavpils Tourism Information Centre and Daugavpils Technology and Tourism Technical School (DTTT).
In April-June, teachers from the partners ŠTMC and DTTT, together with experts, tried to transfer recipes from the archives to plates. Both schools conducted trials and recipe testing, as the schools are preparing to open education and tasting centers, where these recipes will be available for the public to try and taste. After these trials, it became clear which recipes are suitable for education, which can only be tasted already prepared by the chef, and which should be modernized and added to make the dishes more attractive and closer to our today’s tastes. Partner from Latvia, Daugavpils Technical School of Technologies and Tourism even organized a presentation and tasting of these tested dishes for local journalists, thereby further increasing the project’s visibility.
Both schools are carefully preparing for the opening of new Gastronomy Centers, which are planned in the autumn of this year. And before that, there is still learning and cooking with chefs from Šiauliai and Daugavpils, aiming to involve city businesses in strengthening and popularizing the gastronomic heritage.
* photo: S. Grigaliūnaitė, R. Baranauskas
