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Latvia (Latvija), officially: Latvijas Republika, (Republic of Latvia); is a country located on the Baltic sea in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. Its capital and largest city is Riga and the official language is Latvian. The Latvians are a Baltic people culturally related to the Estonians and Lithuanians, with the Latvian language having many similarities with Lithuanian. The territory of Latvia has been populated since 9000 BC, with the proto-Baltic ancestors of the Latvian people settling on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea around the beginning of the third millennium BCE. Little is known of Latvia's early history and Latvia only truly emerges onto the world stage with the country's conflicts against christianization. During the 1180s German crusaders were sent into Latvia to convert the pagan population and by 1211, Christianity had effective control with the foundation stone for the Dome Cathedral in Riga laid. During this time a confederation of feudal nations called Livonia developed under German rule. Livonia included today's Latvia and Southern Estonia. In 1282, Riga and later the cities of Cēsis, Limbaži, Koknese and Valmiera were included in the Hanseatic League. From this time, Riga became an important point in west-east trading. Riga, being the centre of the eastern Baltic region, formed close cultural contacts with Western Europe. a confederation of feudal nations called Livonia developed under German rule. Livonia included today's Latvia and Southern Estonia. In 1282, Riga and later the cities of Cēsis, Limbaži, Koknese and Valmiera were included in the Hanseatic League. From this time, Riga became an important point in west-east trading. Riga, being the centre of the eastern Baltic region, formed close cultural contacts with Western Europe. The 1500s were a time of great changes for the inhabitants of Latvia, notable for the reformation and the collapse of the Livonian state. After the Livonian War (1558–1583) today's Latvian territory came under Polish-Lithuanian rule. The seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries saw a struggle between Poland, Sweden and Russia for supremacy in the eastern Baltic. Most of Polish Livonia, including Vidzeme, came under Swedish rule with the Truce of Altmark in 1629. Under the Swedish rule, serfdom was eased and a network of schools was established for the peasantry. By 1795, however, all of what is now Latvia was brought into the Russian Empire and this led to the reversal of Swedish reforms. But popular discontent exploded in the 1905 Revolution, which took on a nationalist character in the Baltic provinces. World War I devastated the country. Demands for self-determination were at first confined to autonomy, but full independence was proclaimed in Riga on November 18, 1918, by the People's Council of Latvia, Kārlis Ulmanis becoming the head of the provisional government. The War of Independence that followed was a very chaotic period in Latvia's history. But, by May 1, 1920 a freely elected Constituent Assembly was convened and adopted a liberal constitution. Innovation and rising productivity led to rapid growth of economy, but it soon suffered the effects of the Great Depression. Latvia showed signs of economic recovery and the electorate had steadily moved toward the centre during the parliamentary period. Ulmanis staged a bloodless coup on May 15, 1934, establishing a nationalist dictatorship that lasted until 1940. Most of the Baltic Germans left Latvia by agreement between Ulmanis' government and Nazi Germany after the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. On October 5, 1939, Latvia was forced to accept a "mutual assistance" pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station 25,000 troops on Latvian territory. On June 16, 1940, Vyacheslav Molotov presented the Latvian representative in Moscow with an ultimatum accusing Latvia of violations of that pact, and on June 17 great numbers of Soviet forces occupied the country. Еlections for the "People's Saeima" were held, and a puppet government headed by Augusts Kirhenšteins led Latvia into the USSR. The annexation was formalised on August 5, 1940 but this led to German occupation. The Soviets reoccupied the country in 1944–1945, and further mass deportations followed as the country was forcibly collectivised and Sovietised. In 1989 the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution on the "Occupation of the Baltic states", in which it declared that the occupation was "not in accordance with law," and not the "will of the Soviet people". A national movement coalescing in the Popular Front of Latvia took advantage of glasnost under Mikhail Gorbachev, opposed by the Interfront. On May 4, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR adopted the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia, subject to a transition period that came to an end with Latvian independence on August 21, 1991, after the failure of the August Putsch. The Saeima, Latvia's parliament, was again elected in 1993, and Russia completed its military withdrawal in 1994. Latvia has been a member of the United Nations since 17 September 1991, of the European Union since 1 May 2004 and of NATO since 29 March 2004. The cuisine of Latvia, like its nieghbouring Baltic states is based around fresh produce and what can be grown in cool and moist northern climes: barley, potatoes, beets, rye, greens, berries and mushrooms being notable. Latvian cuisine also shares much in common with Eastern European cuisines. Pork is a common meat and fish from the Baltic sea are frequently used. |
The alphabetical list of recipes from Latvia follows (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 8 recipes in total:
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British cookery is often treated as 'poor relation' in terms of European cuisine. And whilst this may well have been true in the past, there has always been one area of cookery where Britain has always excelled... the production of desserts. Here you will find recipes for two classic British desserts.
Chilli recipes to blow your brains out... Here are three recipes from India and Africa, incorporating the world's hottest chillies. Each could claim itself to be... The world's hottest chilli dish...
Liberia is a West African country formed by freed slaves. It is one of only two African countries never to have come under European rule. Liberia is also one of the few African countries with a tradition of baking. Sitting alongside these are ingredients sourced directly from the rainforest.
Pizzas have become a staple of modern cooking and a staple of fast food. The known history of pizzas stretch back over 2000 years, from topped flatbreads depicted in Pompeii to the first 'true' Neapolitan pizzas of the 1890s to the sweet pizzas of the 1980s. Here the recipes for a classic savoury pizza crust and a modern sweet pizza crust are presented. Once you can create a pizza crust to perfection then the remainder of the pizza is easy!
A crockpot (also known as a slow cooker) can be an excellent means of cooking proper meals slowly for a long time. It allows you to make the most of poor cuts of meat and lets you cook your food over night or slowly throughout the day whilst you are at work. There are lots of recipes for crockpot meals on the internet, but you can adjuist pretty much any recipe for a stew or braising dish to the crockpot. This article shows you how to do this using a classic Turkish lamb and onion stew as an example.
Those obsessive about wild foods will source a whole meal from the wild. But this is not the way that it's best to start with or even to keep going with wild foods. It's far better to gather a few fruit, wild greens or mushrooms and to add these to your everyday cookery. This way you get an introduction to the range of wild foods available and you begin to extend your cookery by adding wild ingredients.
Review of 'Roman Cookery' by Dr Mark Gant. How valuable a resource is this? Will it actually teach you to cook the Roman way? Read this review and find out for your self.
Humans have been making cheeses as long as they have been farming and cheeses represent a versatile and useful storage food available in a staggering array of variants. Learn a little about cheese and discover two classic cheese-based recipes.
Ghana is one of the most fertile and productive of West African countries. It is also the inheritor nation of the Ga and Ashanti poeples, ancient rulers of West Africa. The cuisines of Ghana are diverse and characterized by he use of chillies, native spices and boiled eggs in the cooking. Here you will find two typical Ghanaian recipes.
The recipe here for moy-moy with pepper soup gives a vegetarian version of the classic West African 'pepper soup' (chilli-based stew). The moy-moy (or steamed black-eyed bean cakes) represent a Nigerian classic that's typically steamed in banana or plantain leaves. I've adapted the recipe to make them more muffin-like (which is better in terms of providing a substantial vegetarian meal).
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