What is the smell of kitchens alongside the Baltic Sea? What colours are found, what sounds are heard in the kitchens and what is the taste of foods alongside the Baltic Sea?
Ten countries representatives around the Baltic Sea have agreed common value and the slogan of the Baltic Sea Culinary Routes.
Common criteria of catering establishment have agreed.
Closeness, a tangible nature, the contrast between the seasons; the tentative buds of early spring, the diverse offering of ingredients in summer, the tasteful produce of fall, and the wild game of winter, this wide variety are an inspiration to all chefs in Baltic cuisine.
The North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the huge tracts of land, combine to create an immense offering of products and ingredients that we all appreciate and enjoy using in our creative culinary creations.
As a Michelin-starred restaurant, it is of great advantage to benefit from the various offers and agricultural products of the Batlic Sea region. This is mainly reflected in the wide range of local game, cattle, poultry, fish as well as vegetables, oils and dairy products. It goes without saying that the region and its seasonal products are a source of inspiration for our very natural cuisine.
Trends come and go, but the Baltic Sea region will forever be unique for its coastline, the four seasons, the unspoiled nature and top quality fresh produce. The centuries-long traditions behind cultivating exceptional products, hunting and fishing have created a presumption that anyone could be a great cook. Back to roots!
Photo: Lauri Laan
The Baltic sea area is a great relatively unspoilt area with good soil, mild climate and wild sea. That creates ingrediens with a typical character, genuine and excellent taste. Food which symbolize “Roofness and a touch of nature“ on a plate - that’s a typical signature dish for me.
When a meal reflects the region through the ingredient list, we are really talking about „a taste of".
The Baltic sea region countries share similar biotopes, therefore food ingredients that come from the nature - the sea, rivers, forests, meadows, gardens – are basically the same in all countries. I think that products like herring, cod, flounder, salmon that come from the sea, berries and nuts that are found in forests, are all represented in many varieties in cuisines of all our Baltic sea region countries. Differences can be seen in food preparation methods and recipes that have developed historically according to cultural traditions and foodways of each country. At the same time, unique country specific foods exist, like Swedish fermented herring or Latvian lamprey that may surprise even neighbouring countries within the region. Speaking about the features distinguishing the Baltic sea region food from other regions, especially southern, in our case food preparation methods are more complicated and we use more sugar and honey. We use to sweeten even soups, fish and meat. This is explained by the fact that in our cold climate we have to preserve the food to last for long time, therefore a variety of fermentation traditions have developed.
The mixture of South, North, East and West along the Baltic Sea and the different gastronomic traditions offers a rich culinary adventure to anyone. We share pure nature, unpolluted waterways and the short Nordic summer, which guarantees potatoes, vegetables, mushrooms, strawberries, fish and game full of rich flavours. Same but still different.
Geographic location of the countries of the Baltic Sea region determines their cuisine. Not so many sunny days, long and chilly winters are perfect conditions for preparing marinated, pickled and salted products. Fish and meats enriched with seasonal fruits and vegetables are the major specialities. Year-round availability of products of different kinds brings new wave of culinary fascinations in the Baltic states. Nowadays many chefs go back to the roots of traditional cooking and revive forgotten recipes. And so they create traditional dishes in an innovative way.
Natural conditions are fulfilled: the soil, the sun, the wind and the rain gives Lithuanian grown produce those unique properties. Purity, simplicity and freshness dominate our organic kitchen, all our dishes are created from seasonal products.
We aim to use ingredients which are produced no further than 100 km and hand-picked at the perfect time when the flavours are at their best.
We use everything we can get in and out of wild nature: the berry fruits (cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, rowan berries, blackberries), mushrooms (porcini, honey mushrooms, Babouse), various herbs (nettles, sorrel, dandelion, cleft sprouts, raspberry / strawberry leafs) and the like.
We play with very old recipes of our ancestors and give them modern twist.
We work with local farmers, hunters and food lovers.
Nordic Baltic cuisine - seasonal, creative and modern!
