Baltic Drinks

The Vilniaus Universitetas‘ Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics has a tantalizing array of Lithuanian traditional food recipes.

Solid foods notwithstanding, the recipes are highly manageable by unskilled labor.  Mead, beer, kvass, and herbal teas are standard fare. But fermented tree saps covered in sprouted oats, poppy milk, hemp seed milk, beet pudding, acorn coffee, and carrot coffee deserve further investigation.  Baltic soups, including sauerkraut soup, sorrel soup, pickled beet soup, blood soup, and the rest represent all that is good in life.

Birch sap kefir

I have been fermenting birch sap using milk kefir grains the past few days, and it is very delicious – the most palatable non-dairy fermented drink so far.  The grains transitioned relatively smoothly to a non-dairy environment.  Will have to try a tree sap yeast fermentation with sprouted oats as soon as I come across a food grade plastic container in which to do it.

Shortly before Olives, the most amazing Russian supermarket ever to glimpse the balmy shores of Brooklyn, went out of business, I had purchased a compote that I believe contained peaches among other fruits.  It turned out to be mildly fermented, probably due having sat neglected on Olives’ overstocked shelves for too long (supermarkets and Russians mix as well as oil and water without an emulsifier).  It was the most delicious drink I’ve ever had.  More experiments in that direction to come.

Homemade pie fillings at Olives