Latgale museum "Ondrupinis lauku sāta" publishes small book on its history and recipes

The "Ondrupinis lauku sāta" museum, a structural unit of the Krāslava municipality museum in Latgale, eastern Latvia, presented a new publication on 25 October. It gathers information about the museum itself, how the idea developed, and ten recipes that the museum offers visitors to taste. The book appears as the museum marks 25 years and preserves its history in print with photographs.

Museum head Skaidrīte Pauliņa said she dislikes the word "brochure", so the publication is better called a small book, titled "Kai pi babys" (in Latgalian, "Like at grandmother's").

What the museum offers

The museum opened in 2000. It works as a classic Latgalian grandmother's homestead where visitors can learn about traditions, pick up a useful skill and feel hospitality through the flavours of Latgalian culinary heritage. The museum regards its work as a contribution to promoting Latgalian cultural heritage and keeping traditions alive.

Evija Maļkeviča-Grundele, head of the museum's homestead, said she compiled the material when the museum turned 25. She wanted the information to remain available in printed form. For now 100 copies have been printed, but the material will soon be available on the museum's website. Maļkeviča-Grundele compiled the content, Ilze Pauliņa-Saltā designed it, and the publisher is the museum itself.

At the presentation, visitors were invited to prepare one of the recipes from the book at the homestead. Maļkeviča-Grundele stressed that the museum is open to communication and that people with questions about the recipes may contact it.

Recipe: Ondrupinis kakorka, or Latgalian pizza

In the past bread was baked about once a week. Kakorka was a dish made at the end of summer, when flour stocks from the previous season were nearly used up but the new rye had not yet been threshed. The most yellow rye was chosen, threshed, milled and used for kakorka. Today the dish resembles pizza, so the museum calls it the Latgalian power pizza.

The base needs live sourdough (available at the museum), rye and wheat flour in a 2:1 ratio, wheat bran, salt, sugar and water. The dough rises for about 12 hours, is spread 2–3 centimetres thick, topped with bacon or smoked meat, and baked in a hot oven for 15–20 minutes. It is best eaten warm.