Lithuanian Home cook
Matas’s story
Huddling around a warm meal after a day spent in the cold. Watching his mother and grandmother cooking in the kitchen as a child, and now cooking those same dishes as an adult. Indulging in his favourite childhood memories through the taste of home-cooked food. For Matas from Lithuania, this is what cooking with Hey! Food is Ready is all about.
The simplicity of traditional Lithuanian dishes and their mild flavours may be easily welcomed by any family - meals that promise warmth and familiar comfort difficult for anyone to refuse. With a growing population of over 200,000 Lithuanians in the UK, Hey! Food is Ready is one of the few platforms that allows small, scattered communities to connect through a nostalgic taste of home. With our platform, customers have the unique opportunity to try out minority cuisines rarely found in local restaurants, experiencing wordly gastronomy with a home-cooked twist.
What is striking about Lithuanian cuisine is its rich multiculturality. Not only is it shaped by the historical influences of the Ottoman Empire and Byzantine Empire, but it is also influenced by geographical ties to other Eastern European countries. A highly popular dish, balandeliai, takes its roots from the popular Middle Eastern food called dolma. Localized in Lithuania, balandeliai is made from stuffed cabbage instead of grape leaves - and is one of Matas’ favourite dishes to cook.
Relying on the main ingredients of potato and bread, Lithuanian cuisine consists of hearty dishes perfectly suited for chilly weather. One of the main traditional meals served in every Lithaunain restuaurant is cepelinai, large potato dumplings stuffed with meat. Modernized to accommodate different preferences, cepelinai is now served with a range of stuffing from cheese, vegetables and even crayfish, served as a gourmet cepelinai version in select restaurants. Creative options are made from the basic potato ingredient - such as their variety of delicious potato pancakes. For a turn away from bread and potatoes, Lithuanian cuisine offers a diverse range of soups, most famously their bright pink beetroot soup called saltibarsciai, a highly popular cold dish in the summer. Basic ingredients are flavoured and garnished with unique spices and seasoning, such as the popular dried baravykas, a native mushroom species, sure to stamp each dish with national cultural identity.