Living outside Latvia often raises the question – how do we cook Latvian food abroad? Today, the internet helps with hundreds of recipes and tips. But in the past? Then, knowledge was carried in memory, written down in recipe notebooks, or learned from other Latvians in exile.

In many families, inherited cookbooks and handwritten notebooks are treasured as reflections of childhood flavors and memories. Collections of handwritten recipes reveal a mix of cultures and eras – traditional latvian frikadeļu soup next to “Asian chicken”, recipes copied from friends, as well as adaptations using local ingredients.

Latvians abroad have always searched for the right ingredients that conjure up the special “taste of home.” Both then and now, “ethnic” shops come to the rescue. Among Polish, Russian, and other Eastern European stores, one can often find sauerkraut, cottage cheese desserts, rye bread, or even dill-flavored chips!