Our favourite recipes from our countries

It is acknowledged that food reunites people, creates memories, and is one of the things we miss the most when we go abroad. Food is a cultural thing, specific to every country, and when we meet with our friends and families, we cook and eat together and reminisce of previous encounters, share stories, discuss issues and laugh.

Food is a very important aspect of our lives. As this is so, we have done several food exchanges in which each of us cooked something from their countries. Moreover,  we have asked our volunteers to share some of their favourite dishes from their countries and they have come up with these delicious suggestions:

Samanta, Lithuania. My favourite dish from my country is the Pink soup or Lithuanian we say ”Šaltibarščiai”. I like the fresh taste of it and how it easy to make when you are lazy to cook during those hot summer days!

• Ingredients for ”Pink soup”:
• Kefir (non-acidic) – 1 l
• Boiled beetroot
• Cucumbers – 1.5 pcs
• Boiled eggs – 3 pcs
• Onion leaves – 2 pcs
• Dill – 1 cup
• Salt – 1 teaspoon
• Water (boiled and cooled) – 1 l

Grind the beets on a coarse grater. Cut the cucumbers into quarters. Boil the eggs and cut them into medium-sized cubes. Finely chop the onions, parsley and dill.
Mix all the ingredients and pour kefir.
If you prefer a more runny frosting, add boiled water to a bowl, add salt to taste, mix well and place in the fridge to cool. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes. Real Lithuanian šaltibarščiai are eaten with potatoes!

Adrian, Poland. Pierogi is what we eat in Christmas, alongside other things. The ingredients are as follows:

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Minced fresh parsley

1 Prepare the fillings and make the dough
2 roll the dough into a thin sheet
3 cut out round shapes in the dough with something round like a cup
4 put the fillings on the round dough cutouts
5 close the dough around the fillings forming it in to the shape of pierogi

Meltem, Turkey. My Turkish recipe is called Dolma. It is made from pepper and rice. First we wash the rice. Then tomato paste, some spices, parsley, onion, olive oil; We mix them and stuff them into the pepper. Then we put it in the pot, add some water and cook it. We use this recipe both as a meal and as an appetizer. It is a dish often eaten in Turkey.

Zulema, Spain. One of my favourite recipes is potato omelette. It is traditionally eaten for lunch at home and also, a lot of bars provide them as a tapa. It’s a delicious snack to have and try the different styles of doing it.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 125 ml
• 3 medium sized potatoes
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 large brown onion
• 6 cage-free organic eggs
• pinch sea salt

First you cut the onion and put it in the pan to fry, then you add the sliced potato. When it’s fried you add the egg and fry all together until it’s done. Enjoy!