Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Latvian recipes, part of Europe. This page provides links to all the Latvian recipes presented on this site, with 8 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Indian recipes added to this site.

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 cuisine of Latvia, like its neighbouring 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.

Latvia, Latvian: officially the Republic of Latvia, (Latvijas Republika in Latvian; Latvejas Republika in Latgalian and Lețmō Vabāmō in Livonian) is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate.[17] Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian as their native tongue.

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.

After centuries of Teutonic, Swedish, Polish-Lithuanian, and Russian rule, the independent Republic of Latvia was established on 18 November 1918 after breaking away from the German Empire in the aftermath of World War I. The country became increasingly autocratic after the coup in 1934 established the dictatorship of Kārlis Ulmanis. Latvia's de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II, beginning with Latvia's forcible incorporation into the Soviet Union, followed by the invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941 and the re-occupation by the Soviets in 1944, which formed the Latvian SSR for the next 45 years. As a result of extensive immigration during the Soviet occupation, ethnic Russians became the most prominent minority in the country. The peaceful Singing Revolution started in 1987 among the Baltic Soviet republics and ended with the restoration of both de facto and officially independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia has since been a democratic unitary parliamentary republic.

The name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes (along with Curonians, Selonians and Semigallians), which formed the ethnic core of modern Latvians together with the Finnic Livonians.[21] Henry of Latvia coined the latinisations of the country's name, 'Lettigallia' and 'Lethia', both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the country's name in Romance languages from 'Letonia' and in several Germanic languages from 'Lettland'.

Food and Cuisine:

Latvian cuisine typically consists of agricultural products, with meat featuring in most main meal dishes. Fish is commonly consumed due to Latvia's location on the Baltic Sea. Latvian cuisine has been influenced by neighbouring countries. Common ingredients in Latvian recipes are found locally, such as potatoes, wheat, barley, cabbage, onions, eggs, and pork. Latvian food is generally quite fatty and uses few spices

Grey peas with speck are generally considered as staple foods of Latvians. Sorrel soup (skābeņu zupa) is also consumed by Latvians. Rye bread is considered the national staple.