Art of Lithuanian Cooking (Cookery) [Hardcover]

Maria Gieysztor De Corgey (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cookery | Publication Date: August 1998

Lithuanian cuisine is famous for its meat dishes and smoked meat products. Stewing and baking predominates, but many cold mixed salads are favorites as well. The most commonly served vegetables are: potatoes, beets, turnips, kohlrabi, beans and cabbage. With over 150 recipes, this cookbook is a collection of traditional hearty Lithuanian favorites like Fresh Cucumber Soup, Lithuanian Meat Pockets, Hunter's Stew, Potato Zeppelins, as well as delicacies like Homemade Honey Liqueur and Easter Gypsy Cake for dessert! Chapters included are Appetizers, Aspics, Soups, Meat Dishes, Fowl, Fish, Vegetables, Noodle Dishes, Beverages and Desserts. All recipes are adapted for the North American kitchen.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 230 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781806100
• ISBN-13: 978-0781806107
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,107,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Russian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good recipe book, July 27, 2000

By 

Jeffrey Aleknavage - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art of Lithuanian Cooking (Cookery) (Hardcover)

It was what I expected, but I was hoping to be surprised. However still a great overall collection of recipies. I would have liked to see more detail. For example the book sais "cook beets separately", well how long do you boil beets? Americans now adays generally just know how to open can, pour and microwave. Also substitutes for ingredients like pike and carp should be mentioned. I know from living in Lithuania that these fish are common there, but not easy to find pike and carp in the grocery stores here in the states. Also, the book often sais to use mushrooms. However Lithuanians are masters at mushrooms. They have different terms for a species of mushroom depending on when they are picked, if they are under, on the side or on top of a log, etc. I personally use cremini mushrooms for Lithuanian cuisine for the more "gamey" nature. To make this book special a professional editor could do wonders. It would be great to see the meals broken down by the regions of Lithuania, and a historical reference of how these foods and spices made their way to Lithuania. However, I guess I am reaching for the sky. I would just like to see a book that gets people focused on the amazing foods of Central Europe. So many times people ignore agrarian cuisine as "peasant food" and fail to see the brilliance of it's simple ingredients mixed w/ expert preparation. With all this said, I am happy I spent [the money] on this book. I will definitely use it as a reference.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointed, January 12, 2009

By 

Aldona M. Guenter (Rochester, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art of Lithuanian Cooking (Paperback)

In retrospect, I should have gone with a Lithuanian cookbook where the author has a Lithuanian name, because I was disappointed to find that less than 1% of the recipes had Lithuanian headings. I found the recipe
"Little Ears" in this book and found it to be nothing like the Little Ears recipe I know, which would be called Ausiukés...little ears where the end product were tied up knots of dough fried in oil and dusted with powdered sugar...yummy! This was a traditional sweet for holidays like Christmas and Easter.

When I ordered this cookbook "Art of Lithuanian Cooking", I expected a real lithuanian cookbook with their proper names. If you want a real lithuanian cookbook, see if you can get a copy of "Popular Lithuanian recipes" by Josephine J. Dauzvardis. I received this cookbook from a very dear friend back in 1982. Its excellent! Anyone who has a lithuanian background and is familiar with the dishes will recognize the recipes right away, because ALL of the recipes have their true lithuanian name right before it, like Kaldunai, Zeppelinai, Kopùstú Sriuba (Sauerkraut soup), Duonoj Keptas Kumpis, Rúg`stus Pienas (Lithuanian Yogurt), and much more.

This book will probably just sit on my shelf. It only cost $10 something, so sending it back wouldn't be worth the postage.

Sincerely,
1st generation born and raised in America
Aldona Pauliukonis-Guenter

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Pleased, January 25, 2010

By 

Mary of Many Worlds "3rd generation" (Sarver, PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Art of Lithuanian Cooking (Cookery) (Hardcover)

My mother was delighted to receive this cookbook as a birthday gift, as we know very little about our Lithuanian heritage. The fact that the traditional Lithuanian names for the dishes are not included did not bother us, as we do not speak Lithuanian. We were very pleased to find an old Christmas recipe that we had not made in years. We found many recipes that we are very excited to try. This cookbook would be perfect for someone who simply wants to get acquainted with Lithuanian cooking for the first time but cannot speak or read Lithuanian. The recipes are simple, with very simple and basic ingredients. The recipes are interesting and easy to follow, provided you understand basic cooking methods. I wasn't sure what to expect when I purchased the book for my mother, but overall we are both very pleased with what we got and are very eager to try the recipes. Don't be afraid to give this book a try.