Ever wondered how many cooks it takes to throw a huge Lithuanian picnic?

I recently had the pleasure of finding out when the Lithuanian Heritage Club of Rumford sponsored a Lithuanian outing at Black Mountain Ski Resort in Rumford.

Between 15 and 20 Lithuanian descendants cooked pan after pan of kugelis, pound after pound of kielbasa, and pot after pot of soups and authentic dishes — many made with beets and cabbage, two ingredients commonly found in Lithuanian cooking.

Not all of the 150 guests in attendance were of direct Lithuanian descent — like me, my mother and my aunt — who went to mix, mingle and sample Lithuanian food made by other families. The folks who had married into the Lithuanian heritage seem to have ended up loving Lithuanian food almost as much as those who knew about it firsthand.

While there was quite a bit of socializing going on, the food really caused major excitement. There was much discussion about personal favorites, family recipes and stories about how someone’s mother, aunt or grandmother had always made certain dishes.

A Lithuanian staple

Kugelis took center stage at the picnic buffet. An old-country concoction of shredded potatoes, milk, onion and eggs, it is most similar to a German kugel. There were at least nine pans of baked kugelis at the event, each one offering a slightly different nuance. Some kugelis included bacon, others were made with diced ham. Kugelis is often served with applesauce and/or sour cream, two other important elements in Lithuanian cooking.

Not surprisingly, there was much debate about the kugelis, and everyone seemed to like best the version that most resembled the kugelis they had while growing up. Speaking of which, my great-grandmother, Mary Leonas, followed by my grandfather, James, always made their kugelis with salt pork instead of bacon. Which is, of course, the preferred version for Leonas taste buds.

Had it been a contest, I think there might have been a nine-way tie. Michael Piveronas of Rumford Point, who shares his kugelis recipe with readers here today, laughingly stated, “But mine is definitely the best!” One of the younger members of the Lithuanian Heritage Club, Piveronas said, “Kugelis is really the staple of Lithuanian food.” A freelance photographer, he traveled throughout Lithuania for two months in 1992 — soon after Lithuania had gained independence and freedom from Soviet Union rule — “and I was able to eat some incredible kugelis” while there.

He has made kugelis so often he knows the recipe by heart. Since he prefers a slightly dryer texture, one of his favorite tricks is to place the grated potato mixture into a linen cloth or cheesecloth and squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible.

Barbara Arsenault, of Rumford, was part of the event planning committee. She assisted in organizing the numerous chefs and volunteers. For the buffet, she brought Andrulis brand farmer’s cheese, made plain or with caraway seeds. “My grandmother used to make it. It’s something we grew up with.” Other items on the buffet table included potato pancakes, cabbage soup, a couple varieties of beet soup, chicken-and-rice casseroles and sauerkraut.

Arsenault said a lot of Lithuanian recipes have been passed down from generation to generation, and a lot of the cooking was done by taste, not by written recipe. She said the picnic was organized because “we were looking to bring the Lithuanian food back to the people. We wanted to celebrate our heritage.”

Adding an authentic touch to the event was Elze Vareikyte, a young woman from Lithuania who was visiting Maine along with her mother and father. She excitedly pointed out what she considered the most authentic item at the picnic — a cookie made by Beverly Jasud of Mexico, called ausukes, meaning “little ears.”

Jasud said they are not difficult to make, but rather time consuming. The dough needs to be rolled out, cut into triangle shapes, twisted into little ear shapes and deep fried. A few years ago, she decided to make the process faster by ordering a little gadget from a Lithuanian catalog that works as a cookie cutter, allowing her to twist the dough into the proper shape much easier and quicker. And for folks that don’t want to be bothered with the fancy dough formation, it’s OK to cut the dough into strips. “They taste just as good!” she said.

Beets, beets and more beets

Gail Cutting, of Mexico, made a mixed vegetable salad — although at first glance, it looked like it was made with just beets, since it was all quite red in color. “I grew up with a similar dish — just beets with sour cream,” she said. “The recipe I used celebrates the local harvest and that’s why I included the potato, carrots and peas.” Fresh dill from the garden is a key ingredient in this recipe, she said, which she found online at Food.com. The pickle used in the recipe is dill, not sweet, to match the flavor of the fresh dill weed in the mix. “The beets and the sour cream are what really make this dish,” she added.

Julie Koris, of Rumford, was responsible for making at least 30 pounds of homemade kielbasa for the picnic, using a well-guarded Koris family recipe “reluctantly handed down to us from my mother-in-law Millie Koris.” Thankfully she had help from other family members. It is ground pork mixed with onions “and our secret blend of spices.” Millie used to make the sausage to sell in her store, Bert’s Market on Spruce Street in Rumford, years ago, Koris said. 

While she was uncomfortable sharing the secret family recipe, Koris offered up her recipe for a lovely beet greens soup. When told it was delicious, she said, “It’s because I spent two days making it!” Her secret was to make her own broth, using the bones of beef short ribs. “And I used all fresh beets and greens. It just so happened that beets are in season and my neighbors brought a bunch over for me.”

“I actually do not follow a recipe per se. As with any soup, you can add, subtract and improvise according to specific tastes,” Koris said. She sometimes uses a combination of fresh and canned beets, along with fresh beet greens. She recommends making the beef stock a day or two ahead. “It is always served at our house with rye bread and/or small boiled potatoes,” she said. “Skanus!”

Translation? Tasty!

For more information about the Lithuanian Heritage Club, contact: Olga Richardson at 562-4482, Connie Cassidy at 364-2444 or Barbara Arsenault at 364-3966.

Recipes

Michael Piveronas’ Kugelis

5 large potatoes, washed but not peeled (Piveronas said it was quite important to use older potatoes. He finds the texture works better than new potatoes; perhaps because they are less starchy or wet)

1/2 pound bacon, diced and fried in a cast iron fry pan until golden brown and crispy. Do not discard bacon drippings.

1 large white onion, chopped

5 eggs

4 ounces evaporated milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Grate the potatoes by hand and rinse in a colander. Drain thoroughly. Because he prefers a dryer texture to his kugelis, he will often line the colander with cheesecloth or a clean dish towel, gather it up around the potato and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Place in a large bowl.

Add the fried bacon — along with all the bacon drippings — and chopped onion to the potatoes. Mix together. (Piveronas usually does this by hand.) Add the eggs and milk, mix thoroughly once more by hand.

Place mixture in a greased casserole dish (he greases his oval 9-inch-by-10-inch dish with spare bacon grease). Bake at 400 degrees for approximately half an hour; lower temperature to 325 degrees and continue baking another 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are slightly browned and crispy.

Serve with “grybas” (mushrooms sauteed in butter) and sour cream. “And maybe sauerkraut,” he said.

Gail Cutting’s Lithuanian Mixed Vegetable Salad

(Darzoviu Misraine)

Ingredients:

4 medium potatoes, cooked, peeled and diced, about 4 cups

1 medium beet, roasted, peeled and diced, about 1 cup

2 carrots, peeled, cooked and diced, about 1 cup

1 cup peas, cooked

1 small onion, chopped

1 small dill pickle, finely chopped

1 hard-boiled egg, chopped

1/2 cup minced fresh dill

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

It is very important not to overcook the vegetables, especially the potatoes. Once cooked, wait until all vegetables are at room temperature before combining. Place cooked vegetables, egg and pickle in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, stir the sour cream to loosen it up. If it is very thick, stir in 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk.

Sprinkle half the salt and half the dill on the vegetables. Add some freshly ground pepper. Add half the sour cream and stir carefully, taking care not to mash the vegetables. Repeat with remaining salt, pepper and sour cream.

Serve cold or at room temperature. Leftovers should be stored covered in refrigerator, and will be good for about a week. (If you will be storing more than a couple of days, do not mix in the eggs — add to the portion you are serving. Eggs do not do well over time).

Note: Canned beets can be substituted for fresh. Frozen mixed vegetable or mixed peas and carrots can be used. Cauliflower or cooked white beans are also excellent in this dish. Change the ingredients or proportions to meet personal preferences. Just keep the ratio of cooked vegetables at about 7 cups to 1 cup of sour cream.

Note 2: Dried dill is not good in this dish; use fresh parsley if fresh dill is not available. Adjust salt to your preferences.

Julie Koris’ Beet Greens Soup

For the home-made stock:

Simmer the following ingredients together for at least a few hours:

2 to 3 beef short ribs, or a soup bone with some meat on it

6 cups of water; or 3 cups of water plus 3 cups beef broth from carton (you can also include the liquid from canned beets)

2 large bay leaves

1 large onion, quartered

Salt and ground fresh pepper to taste

Koris has found it is best to then refrigerate the stock overnight, then skim and strain off. Remove any meat from the bone — it should be quite tender — and cut into small pieces. Add to the stock.

The following day, bring the stock to a gentle boil and add sliced beets (approximately 4 cups) and chopped stems from fresh beet greens. She prefers to use only the smaller young stems. Save the leafy greens to add later. She also likes to add a new quartered onion for additional flavor.

Allow to cook gently until beets are done, approximately 15 minutes. Stir in about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar to the soup. Near the end of the cooking time, add the reserved chopped beet leaves.

Remove 1 to 2 cups of the broth and cool in small bowl. Add a half cup of sour cream to this and whisk in to blend. Stir mixture back into the soup.

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