Lithuanian diaspora cuisine
Lithuanian diaspora cuisine is sometimes different from the cuisine of Lithuania.
Firstly, Lithuanian dishes and drinks enjoy vastly different popularity in different regions of the world. This is because of the varying availability of the ingredients as well as varying personal memories of the people.
Secondly, there are numerous dishes invented in the Lithuanian diaspora that is regarded to be as Lithuanian in certain cities or countries, despite being unknown elsewhere. They range from Lithuanian turtle soup to Brazilian cassava kugelis to Lubens (potato pancake Reuben).
Lithuanian cuisine is quite rare outside of Lithuania, with Lithuanian restaurants available only in the regions where the Lithuanian diaspora is the largest and catering almost exclusively to Lithuanian clientele.
Most popular traditional Lithuanian dishes in the diaspora
For the more recent emigrants and their descendants (those who immigrated at least after World War 2 but especially after 1990), the „one and only“ Lithuanian national dish is Cepelinai. These „potato dumplings“ with meat (or many other things) inside that remind the namesake Zeppelin dirigible in shape are a relatively new invention, however, and they have been virtually unknown to most of those who emigrated longer ago. Nevertheless, their rise to the status of a culinary symbol of Lithuania has been stunning, and the Lithuanian diaspora even established a „World Zeppelin Day“ (coinciding with the Super Bowl due to the day‘s US origins). Popularized by Facebook, it encourages all the diaspora Lithuanians to eat Cepelinai on that very day. It is important to have such a holiday as preparing cepelinai is a long and rather difficult task (compared to many meals), therefore, it is logical to prepare a large batch of cepelinai for a larger group (as the work needed to prepare just a few cepelinai and many cepelinai does not differ that much). This is also the reason why Cepelinai are rare on restaurant menus outside of the areas with lots of recent Lithuanian diaspora. In order to alleviate the burden of making it for just a few customers, sometimes Cepelinai are offered on the menus only on certain days, expecting cepelinai-lovers to come on those days and thus increase the number of cepelinai needed in the batch.
For the descendants of the earlier emigrants from Lithuania (pre-WW2 but also WW2 era ones), the „most Lithuanian dish“ is kugelis. It is also made out of potatoes.
The item Lithuanians of the diaspora tend to long for the most is the Lithuanian bread which is black and made of rye. This type of bread tends to be unavailable outside of Lithuania and the countries of its region. Imitations (or supposedly similar „dark breads“ of other ethnic groups) are often still different and of lighter color and taste than the „real Lithuanian thing“. While there are some Lithuanian bakeries (that even ship their goods online), often Lithuanians living outside of the key Lithuanian regions ask their friends to bring Lithuanian bread whenever they come. Lithuanian bread is eaten as a replacement for the more common white bread that is known to Lithuanians as „batonas“ rather than „bread“ (duona). That is, Lithuanian bread may be used for sandwiches, to accompany a soup, etc. In Lithuania, there are people for whom Lithuanian bread is the only type of bread they eat, and „batonas“ there is a relatively recent import there.
Šakotis is a popular Lithuanian dessert, manufactured in various places of the diaspora.
Some other Lithuanian dishes tend to have gained popularity in the diaspora simply because they are available in certain „larger“ cuisines (e.g. Polish, Ukrainian, Russian), and thus available at the shops and restaurants of these ethnicities in the areas where Lithuanian shops and restaurants do not exist. These may include virtiniai (similar to Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki), potato pancakes, etc.
Likewise, the popularity of alcoholic drinks heavily depends on the „wave“ of emigration as well.
For the recent emigrants (post-1990, „Third wave“), the truly Lithuanian drink seems to be Lithuanian beer (Švyturys, Kalnapilis, Utenos, Volfas-Engelman). Thus, the restaurants and shops catering to them tend to try to stock Lithuanian beer brands (although that is often only possible in areas where the market is large enough, and far-away Lithuanian „colonies“ thus lack Lithuanian beer).
For the earlier emigrants and their descendants, however, the most Lithuanian „booze“ is krupnikas, some 40% strong drink with honey. Several Lithuanian krupnikas distilleries exist in the USA and numerous Lithuanians make their krupnikas at home.
The tastes of the „earlier Lithuanian immigrants“ have diverged from those of Lithuania itself, while those of the recent emigrants largely mimic the current tastes of Lithuania. In Lithuania itself, krupnikas is few-and-far between (while beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage); kugelis is also rare compared to cepelinai.
It is rare to find rarer Lithuanian foods, or Lithuanian regional foods beyond those mentioned, served outside Lithuania.
Unique Lithuanian diaspora dishes
The dishes developed in the Lithuanian diaspora that we have discovered and tasted so far (if you know more, please write in the comments):
Lithuanian turtle soup (Dayton, Ohio, USA). Every single Dayton Lithuanian has been extremely surprised when we told that people don‘t eat Turtle soup in Lithuania. In Dayton, that is probably the most Lithuanian food there is. It is prepared annually by the Lithuanian angler‘s club in a fiesta and it is part of the menu at the „Amber Rose“ restaurant established by the Dayton Lithuanians. The turtle soup consists of various ground vegetables and turtle meat, it is a bit spicy. The meat is of unique texture but it appears in small parts, which are easy to swallow although less easy to make them smaller using teeth. There is a certain love-or-hate feeling towards the Turtle soup amongst the Dayton Lithuanians, with those who dislike it often citing the smell during the preparation as well as lots of hard work needed in preparing the soup, often taking turns. The lovers may like both the taste and the „brotherhood“ value such activity provides. The history of the meal apparently dates back to the Second World War. At the time, meats in the USA were limited. However, the government did not limit the consumption of turtles. Thus, Dayton Lithuanians invented the Turtle soup. Like many of the foods once created out of necessity, it outlived that necessity, becoming a Dayton Lithuanian tradition, even one that has been believed by Dayton Lithuanians to actually come from Lithuania (where, in reality, no turtles large enough exist). It is said that Lithuanian Turtle soup was first served for paying customers in "Kaunas" cafe of Dayton ~1950 (the cafe no longer exists).
Cassava kugelis (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Originally, Lithuanian kugelis is made out of patatos, however, the long-time Lithuanian priest of Sao Paulo Lithuanian parish Juozas Šeškevičius invented an alternative Brazilianized recipe of kugelis that replaces potatoes with Brazilian cassava, giving it a unique taste. Given the importance of Sao Paulo Lithuanian parish as a center of the Lithuanian culture, this recipe spread in the community. This Brazilianized kugelis may be ordered in Sao Paulo‘s Lithuanian restaurant „Bon do Kupstas“ (as of 2021).
Viryta (Baltimore, Maryland, USA). A form of krupnikas strongly associated with Baltimore Lithuanians, Viryta has its own bottle design with Lithuanian symbols. It is typically given to the guests of the Baltimore Lithuanian Hall (which has a once-a-week-open bar in its basement, as of 2022). Viryta has uniquely-designed sign that includes an improvised Vytis on top of an old coin and declares Viryta to be "The liquid amber of Lithuanian kings 1383-1796".
Boilo (Pennsylvania Coal Region, USA). This version of krupnikas (with added citrus fruits, such as oranges) has been popularized by the Lithuanian miners of the Pennsylvania Coal Region which formed the largest Lithuanian community outside Lithuania ~1880-1900. It is still distilled there and it is seen as an important part of the Pennsylvania Coal Region Lithuanian identity. The etymology of Boilo may be related to "Viryta", which is a similar drink. Namely, "Virtas" in Lithuanian means "Boiled", while "Viryta" may be a dialect version of that word. As such, the generations that began using English as the main language, may have translated that to "Boilo". Unlike Viryta or Krupnikas, Boilo is not commercialized or sold and only made by Lithuanian families, each often having its own recipe.
Lubens (Cleveland, Ohio, USA). A „Lituanized“ American Reuben. Here, the corned beef and the sauerkraut of the Reuben remain, however, the bread is replaced by the potato pancakes. The result is surprisingly good as potato pancakes seem to go well with sauerkraut and corned meat. The name of the dish comes from „Reuben“ and „Lubinas“, the „grandfather of Lithuanian basketball“. This food is associated with Cleveland Lithuanian Club and its restaurant where it is served on some days. By the way, according to one of the theories, Reuben itself has been invented by a Jewish person with Lithuanian origins who lived in Omaha, Nebraska. However, other theories dispute this, attributing Reuben to Jews of non-Litvak origins and cities other than Omaha.
Lithuanian Combo (Chicago, Illinois, USA). It is not a dish on itself but rather a very American form of serving Lithuanian dishes that is available in all of Chicago‘s Lithuanian or Polish-Lithuanian restaurants. It combines several key Lithuanian dishes into a single dish, typically cepelinai, kugelis, and virtiniai, accompanied by a sauerkraut soup. It is a good option for non-Lithuanians to immediately taste the highlights of Lithuanian cuisine while Chicago Lithuanians may quickly quench their thirst for all the Lithuanian foods during a single dinner. Whatever are the reasons for Lithuanian Combo, there is no similar thing in Lithuania itself, where these meals are all available but are ordered and eaten separately (e.g. in Lithuania, it is typical to order a single portion of two cepelinai, while Lithuanian Combo would include one cepelinas but also other foods).
In the areas where Lithuanian emigration took place 100+ years ago and local Lithuanians speak the local language natively, the names of Lithuanian foods changed somewhat. The key such area is the Pennsylvania Coal Region. There, foods seen as Lithuanian include meat "bandukies", which would be called "kotletas" in modern Lithuanian, whereas in modern Lithuanian "bandukė" would be a pastry. What is called "netikras zuikis" in Lithuanian is called "kishi" there, derived from "kiškis". "Zuikis" and "Kiškis" are homonyms, both meaning "rabbit" in Lithuanian, however, the food is called so symbolically as it is not made of rabbit meat.
Article by ©Augustinas Žemaitis.