Local Dishes

1. cepelinai

   Potato dumplings stuffed with minced meat

   Usage

   Dumplings of grated raw and boiled potato wrapped around minced meat, curd (varškė) or dried mushrooms, then boiled. The name comes from the Zeppelin airship they resemble; it is also called didžkukuliai and menus print both. A portion is two large dumplings, so ask for one with Vieną cepeliną, prašau

   Grammar Note

   Masculine plural; the singular is cepelinas. The verb norėti takes the genitive (Norėčiau cepelinų), while a numeral takes the accusative (Vieną cepeliną)

2. šaltibarščiai

   Cold beetroot soup

   Usage

   Boiled or pickled beetroot let down with kefir, soured milk or whey, with cucumber, hard-boiled egg, dill and onion. A separate plate of hot boiled potatoes comes with it — you eat them alongside rather than in the soup. Many places serve it only in summer

   Grammar Note

   A masculine plural-only noun from šaltas (cold) + barščiai (borscht). Genitive šaltibarščių, accusative šaltibarščius

3. kugelis

   Baked grated-potato pudding

   Usage

   Grated raw potato with onion and pork, baked from tens of minutes to several hours. It is also called bulvių plokštainis, but menus usually print kugelis (from German Kugel). The sauce, traditionally with spirgučiai (crisp pork scratchings), is considered essential

   Grammar Note

   Masculine; accusative kugelį, genitive kugelio. Order it as Vieną kugelį, prašau

4. bulviniai blynai

   Potato pancakes

   Usage

   Grated potato fried in fat, served with grietinė (sour cream), apple sauce or jam. The version stuffed with minced meat is a different dish, žemaičių blynai

   Grammar Note

   Masculine plural; singular bulvinis blynas. Accusative bulvinius blynus, genitive bulvinių blynų — the adjective agrees with the noun in gender, number and case

5. žemaičių blynai

   Meat-filled pancakes of boiled potato dough

   Usage

   Pancakes made from cooked, mashed potato dough and stuffed, most often with meat, then fried in fat. The dough is what distinguishes them from bulviniai blynai, which use raw grated potato. Served with sour cream, butter or bacon bits

   Grammar Note

   žemaičių is the genitive plural of žemaitis (a Samogitian) and does not change; the phrase as a whole is masculine plural, accusative žemaičių blynus

6. vėdarai

   Pork casings stuffed with potato or groats

   Usage

   Cleaned pig intestines filled with grated potato or groats (kruopos) and roasted. The potato kind is bulviniai, the blood kind kraujiniai. Served as a main course with spirgučiai and/or sour cream

   Grammar Note

   Masculine plural; accusative vėdarus, genitive vėdarų. Note that ė is a distinct letter from e — never spell it vedarai

7. švilpikai

   Baked diamond-shaped potato dumplings

   Usage

   Grated or mashed potato mixed with flour and eggs, cut into diamonds and baked, sometimes fried afterwards. Eaten as a main course or a side with sour cream, mushroom sauce, butter or lard. Careful: the singular švilpikas also means a marmot, so the plural is what you want on a menu

   Grammar Note

   Masculine plural; singular švilpikas, accusative švilpikus. Dialect names include bulbonai and šiuškės

8. koldūnai

   Boiled meat dumplings

   Usage

   Dough of flour, water, salt and eggs wrapped around minced pork, beef or lamb with onion and boiled for a few minutes, served with sour cream or fried onion. Also called mėsėčiai; the similar dumplings with curd or berry fillings are virtiniai

   Grammar Note

   Masculine plural; singular koldūnas, accusative koldūnus, genitive koldūnų. ū is a long vowel and a separate letter from u

9. balandėliai

   Cabbage rolls with minced meat and rice

   Usage

   Cabbage leaves rolled around minced pork, rice and onion and stewed, served with boiled potatoes or bread. The name literally means "little doves" (balandis = dove); there is no pigeon in them

   Grammar Note

   Masculine plural; singular balandėlis, accusative balandėlius, genitive balandėlių

10. šaltiena

    Meat aspic

    Usage

    A starter of meat and bone broth set into jelly with pieces of meat, often layered with boiled egg and vegetables. Served with krienai (horseradish) or mustard, and traditional at Christmas and Easter

    Grammar Note

    Feminine; accusative šaltieną, genitive šaltienos. It shares its root with šaltas (cold)

11. skilandis

    Smoked and dried pork sausage in a bladder casing

    Usage

    Pork and fat cut to 1–3 cm, spiced and packed tightly into a pig's bladder or beef casing, smoked for 2–15 days and dried at 8–18°C for at least a month. Sour, sharp and salty, served in thin slices. "Lietuviškas skilandis" is registered as an EU Protected Geographical Indication; a dialect name is kindziukas

    Grammar Note

    Masculine; accusative skilandį, genitive skilandžio

12. lašiniai

    Salted or smoked pork fatback

    Usage

    Sliced thin as a starter on rye bread (ruginė duona). Diced and fried it becomes spirgučiai, the crackling poured over kugelis and vėdarai

    Grammar Note

    Masculine plural; the singular is barely used. Accusative lašinius, genitive lašinių

13. kastinys

    Samogitian soured cream-and-butter spread

    Usage

    Cream, butter and soured milk worked together and seasoned with salt, black pepper, allspice, caraway, dill, mint, onion and garlic. Eaten with hot boiled potatoes and bread; crumbly when cold, quick to melt when warm. žemaitiškas kastinys was recognised as culinary heritage in 2010

    Grammar Note

    Masculine; accusative kastinį, genitive kastinio

14. kepta duona

    Fried rye bread with garlic

    Usage

    Sticks of dark rye bread fried in sunflower or rapeseed oil, then rubbed with garlic or fried together with chopped garlic. Often topped with cheese or a mayonnaise-based sauce. The standard snack served with alus (beer) or gira

    Grammar Note

    A feminine noun phrase, accusative keptą duoną. kepta is the feminine passive participle of kepti (to bake or fry) and agrees with duona

15. kibinai

    Karaim meat pastries from Trakai

    Usage

    A 10–15 cm pastry of flour, egg, butter and sour cream filled with finely chopped meat and onion, crimped at the edge with two steam holes. A Karaim national dish and the speciality of Trakai; traditionally lamb, though Lithuanian kitchens usually use pork. For one, say Vieną kibiną, prašau

    Grammar Note

    Masculine plural; singular kibinas, accusative kibinus, genitive kibinų

16. šiupinys

    Festive stew of groats, beans, peas and pork

    Usage

    Barley groats (grucė), beans, peas and potato cooked with pork ears, trotters and head. A dish of the Klaipėda region eaten at Užgavėnės (Shrovetide) and Christmas, traditionally served there with coffee or beer

    Grammar Note

    Masculine; accusative šiupinį, genitive šiupinio

17. varškėčiai

    Curd cheese pancakes

    Usage

    Small pancakes of varškė (curd cheese) with flour, egg and sugar, fried in oil until crisp outside and soft inside. Served with sour cream, berry jam, compote, honey or apple sauce, at breakfast or as a dessert

    Grammar Note

    Masculine plural; singular varškėtis, accusative varškėčius. Derived from varškė (curd) — keep both the ė and the č

18. ruginė duona

    Rye bread

    Usage

    The dark, sour loaf at the base of the Lithuanian table, served with soup, lašiniai and kastinys, and the bread kepta duona is made from. Note that duona alone just means bread — say ruginė duona if you want the dark rye

    Grammar Note

    A feminine noun phrase, accusative ruginę duoną, genitive ruginės duonos. ruginė is the adjective from rugys (rye) and agrees with duona

19. varškės sūris

    Fresh pressed curd cheese

    Usage

    A soft white cheese pressed from varškė (curd) and made without rennet. Usually tart and crumbly, though some are naturally sweet; markets also sell caraway-flavoured and smoked versions

    Grammar Note

    varškės is the genitive of varškė (curd), so the phrase is "cheese of curd". As a whole it is masculine: accusative varškės sūrį

20. barščiai

    Hot beetroot soup (borscht)

    Usage

    A hot red soup of cooked beetroot, finished with sour cream. Not the same dish as the cold šaltibarščiai — if the menu is unclear, ask Ar tai šalta? (is it cold?)

    Grammar Note

    Masculine plural; accusative barščius, genitive barščių

21. šakotis

    Tall spit-baked layer cake with spiky branches

    Usage

    Batter drizzled onto a turning spit for 40–45 minutes so it bakes into a hollow tower of spikes, using 30–50 eggs per kilo of flour. A wedding and celebration cake; the rings in a slice show how many times the batter was applied. Also called bankuchenas, from German Baumkuchen

    Grammar Note

    Masculine; accusative šakotį, genitive šakočio, derived from šaka (branch)

22. žagarėliai

    Twisted fried dough ribbons dusted with sugar

    Usage

    Stiff dough of flour, egg, butter and sour cream rolled thin, cut into strips, slit and twisted through itself, deep-fried and dusted with icing sugar. Cognate with Polish faworki and Belarusian chruščy

    Grammar Note

    Masculine plural; singular žagarėlis, accusative žagarėlius

23. šimtalapis

    Layered pastry with poppy seed and raisins

    Usage

    Sheets of buttered dough stacked with sugar, raisins and ground poppy seed, the corners folded in, shaped into a horseshoe, baked about 90 minutes and dusted with icing sugar. A Tatar festive pastry of the Alytus region

    Grammar Note

    Masculine; accusative šimtalapį. The name is šimtas (hundred) + lapas (leaf), "hundred leaves"

24. tinginys

    No-bake condensed milk and biscuit log

    Usage

    Sweetened condensed milk, crushed biscuits and cocoa or chocolate mixed, rolled into a log, chilled and sliced; butter, nuts or dried fruit are optional. It is called "the lazy one" because nothing is baked or boiled. Careful: aimed at a person, tinginys is an insult meaning lazybones

    Grammar Note

    Masculine; accusative tinginį, genitive tinginio

25. obuolių sūris

    Dried apple "cheese" — a fruit confection, not dairy

    Usage

    Despite sūris (cheese) in the name, there is no dairy in it. Chopped apples are cooked with sugar or honey for 6–8 hours, packed into cloth moulds, dried in an oven, pressed between boards and dried for another month or so. Five kilos of apples yield about one kilo; nuts, cinnamon or cloves may be added

    Grammar Note

    obuolių is the genitive plural of obuolys (apple); the phrase is masculine, accusative obuolių sūrį

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