Food & Beer
What is available in Paluse:
There is a small food market in Paluse itself, similar to the small
food market available in Doolin. For those who need a greater amount of
groceries, Ignalina is approximately 4km away. The major supermarket
chains in Lithuania which we tended to shop at in 2005 were Iki and Saulute.
There are also 4 bars/pubs/cafes in Paluse itself. There is no shortage
of food in the village.
Types & Cost of Food & Drink:
You will eat hearty meals, but not so large that you will burst.
Breakfasts are very similar to the German Traditional Breakfast of
breads, cold cuts, boiled eggs, marmalades, coffee, tea, juice,
tomatoes, pickles and so forth.
Lunches tend to be the biggest meal of the day and among the
various traditional dishes are Perogies (called Kaldunai), Cepelinai
(large potato dumplings stuffed with ground meat and served with
onions,
bacon & sour cream), karbonadas (similar to schnitzel)
and all served
with salad/vegetables. There is usually a potato or
two with the meal.
All generally washed down with beer.
Dinners tend to be lighter, since they are generally eaten
later in the evening. Usually some cold cuts with bread, and a soup. A
popular soup in Lithuania is called Saltibarsciai (Cold Beet Soup)
which is
also served with a potato or two.
Beer
Lithuanians are very proud of their modern (post-Soviet) beer. As you
can see from the picture to the right, Lithuanian beer tends towards
the "lager" realm. Beer is generally cheap (by Western European
Standards) - usually about 2.5-5.0Lt, depending on the size you get and
the "quality". In general, for a metric pint (500ml) you will pay about
3Lt (a little less than 1 Euro).
A list of
some of the beers we would come across
(This is our attempt to tempt you all)
- Svyturys won at
the World Beer Championship (USA) - Gold
Medal (for those
interested, Svyturys means "Lighthouse")
- Kalnapilis, World
Beer Cup, USA 2004 Gold Award (Kalnapilis means "Hill Fort")
- Gubernija
World's Best Wheat Ale 2004 - Gold Award.
In 2005 it has won 3 Gold Medals from the Beverage Tasting Institute,
outperforming Grolsch Bierbrouwerij and Stella Artois
- Horn
- HBH-Juozo Alus
- Utenos
- Tauras
Proposed Excursion to a Brewery
These beers belong to what is called "European Style Beer".
To get a taste and sense of traditional Lithuanian beer, we can travel
to the town of Pasvalys. Pasvalys is about 150km away from Paluse (so
this would be a day excursion). The town is quite small, but is famous
for its beer.
Local
beer lovers usually say about Pasvalys beer:
Another local
specific is quantity of popular soups. Lithuanians seem to enjoy COLD BEET soup the most.
It is aperitif, snack and full lunch all-in-one.
Huge
of potatoes dishes. Most famous - Cepelinai (or Zepplins). To find out
what a "Zepplin" is view the Wikipedia article,
or check out the Anthology
of Lithuanian Ethnoculture's website. The picture just below
is a fairly typical Lithuanian lunch you can find throughout the
country.
Lithuanians still
actively use a lot of dairy - SOUR CREAM
BUTTER, LITHUANIAN CURD CHEESE, SINGLE CREAM.. But fear not, even I, a
lactose-intolerant individual , could eat quite comfortably. There are
many dishes where, if you exclude the sour cream the dish itself is
wonderfully dairy-free.
Ancient Coke - GIRA
("drink" in Lithuanian; better known in the world under the strange
name as kvass)
If you feel the
compulsion to experiment or check out some "traditional" Lithuanian
recipes, please view the Anthology of
Lithuanian Ethnoculture site The site as well will give you
some information on "traditional" arts & crafts, music and other
fun stuff.
And, last but not least, there is
the pleasurable past time of collecting wild
mushrooms. Lithuania is one of the biggest exporters of mushrooms.
