In 20 minutes and without a recipe – “The Truly Latvian Easter Paska Competition”
The ‘Truly Latvian Easter Paska Competition,’ led by Māra Gulēna and Elizabete Ludvika, was held at the Toronto Latvian Seniors Association (TLPA) gathering on April 17, 2025.
Let’s do it the way we do it in this century, in this era (Inese Grava-Gubiņa)
Fragments from an interview with Inese Grava-Gubiņa, July 13, 2025.
“Lett’s Bake” sourdough
The Latvians Abroad museum met Mareks Nēgels in 2015 at the Toronto Latvian centre – he was baking “Lett’s Bake” sourdough.
A master baker from Latvia (Kārlis Atars)
Documents of master baker Kārlis Atars from the collection of the museum “Latvians Abroad”.
Before the Second World War, Kārlis owned a bakery on Avotu Street in Riga. After the war, while living in a displaced persons camp in Schleswig, Germany, he worked at a bakery run by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), baking bread for refugees. After immigrating to Canada and settling in the city of London, Kārlis opened his own bakery, “Riga Rye”, which operated until 1980, when he retired and moved to Toronto.
Zupa Zupa (Elizabete Ludvika)
Zupa Zupa founder Elizabete talks about how the idea to sell soups came about. Find out which soups are her favorites and which ones are the most popular!
TLP soups!
“Thirty times a year, for TLP’s (Toronto Latvian Pensioners) weekly gatherings, Toronto chef Ingo Kārkliņš prepares delicious soups. We get to enjoy both traditional Latvian soups—meatball soup, sauerkraut soup, and cold soup—as well as soups from other parts of the world, such as Italian minestrone and Mexican sopa de lima. As is typical with Latvians, even exotic soups are sometimes garnished with dill. And certain soups simply are not eaten without sour cream!”
Pīrāgi making outside Latvia: photographs from the collection of the museum “Latvians Abroad”
This album features photographs of pirāgi making in various corners of the world and across different periods of time.
The decorating process takes seven hours (Anita Kupcis-Clifford)
Anita writes: “After seeing some videos of cookies being decorated I was intrigued. That was seven years ago and since then I have decorated many cookies. My sense of design for my cookies might be attributed to my years of embroidery, specifically Latvian designs.
My piparkukas are different from my mom’s, hers were rolled very thinly and glazed with egg yolk. I recall when my mother would come for visits with a suitcase full of piparkukas, pirags and pounds of butter. I started making both when my mother was no longer able to do it.”
What I truly miss here when I think of Latvia
I am not a child of exile, but it so happened that I have been living in Canada for seven years now. Latvia has always been and remains dear and close to my heart. I am proud to have been born in Latvia. This square was created with the idea of showing what I truly miss here when thinking about Latvia. It’s the fragrant forests and fields, the meadows. Mushroom picking, berry picking. Remembering my childhood through Margarita Stāraste’s illustrations and fairy-tale books, this porcini mushroom square was made.
Description submitted by Ingrīda Eglīte for the Museum “Latvians Abroad” project “Story Quilt” (2018)
Searching for Latvian mushrooms
Mushrooms & sauerkraut OCTOBER 2025 Searching for Latvian mushrooms Toronto, Canada When I was a little girl, my greatest joy in summer was going mushroom picking with my father in Latvia’s beautiful forests. Wandering around the world, I’ve seen many beautiful forests. I’ve walked through them, searching for the mushrooms of Latvia. I didn’t find them…” Aina Zūlis. Quote from the “Story Quilt” project by “Latvians Abroad” museum 2018 Oktober news Latvijas sēņu meklējumos Kā var kāpostus rīvēt, ja neiedzer aliņu? (Pēteris Freimanis) Mazā Māra mežā gāja… Ēriks un Aina stāsta par sēņošanu Skābēšana trijās paaudzēs Kanādā (Aija Zichmane) Liene marinē gurķus Madara Riley – “Mushroom Maddie” Sertificētā sēņotāja Mičigānā (Larisa Mednis) Jūs, ko, mani uz sēņu skolu sūtīsiet? (Austra Muižniece) Liene gatavo kotletes Skābo kāpostu meistarklase Melburnā Londonas latviešu skolas sēņošanas izbraukums Itāļiem ir nepareizi gurķi! (Austra Muižniece) Rudmiešu pilni grozi! (Iveta Leitase) Omīte iemācīja, kā skābēt kāpostus (Kalvis Mikelšteins) Divas, trīs dienas un jau skābi kāposti bija (Nestors Refbergs) Latviskā sirds un dārgās dilles (Iveta Leitase) Bergenas latvieši skābē kāpostus kopīgām svinībām Karbonāžu maratons vienā laidā (Austra Muižniece) Grāmatas “Letts Eat!” tapšana (Vija Doks) Recepte draudzībai un latviešu pavārgrāmatas diasporā (Signe Rirdance) Pavārgrāmatas izdotas ārpus Latvijas Manas vecmāmiņas recepšu grāmata (Marianna Auliciema) Kā es gatavoju rasolu (Dastins Betčers) No posts found