Summer Traditions

Summer Traditions and Recipes

Ligo

In many places of Latvia, Ligo is celebrated according to ethnic traditions, singing farewell folk songs to the sun, as it sinks behind the horizon, and welcoming it at dawn. A pitched barrel filled with firewood is lit and raised up on a post, and revellers, dressed in traditional folk costumes, sing and dance all night long. Many Latvian folk ensembles hold Ligo celebrations at Riga’s Ethnographic Open-air Museum and Turaida Museum Reserve. Everyone is welcome to take part in the festivities.

Several traditional schlager and pop music concerts gather thousands of listeners on Ligo night every year, and open-air dances take place in Latvian cities and towns. And while the bonfires reach towards the sky throughout Latvia, guests are greeted with beer and traditional Jani cheese with caraway seeds.

Some people still maintain the old Ligo tradition of running naked through the morning dew, which has seen a modern revival in Pedvale near Sabile and in Kuldiga, where a “Naked Run” takes place across the Old Venta Bridge.

During the recent years, several Latvian cities have also begun to offer interesting Ligo events. Last year, Ligo festivities in the centre of Riga – on the 11th November embankment, gained wide recognition among the city’s residents and tourists. Various pop musicians and bands performed on three stages until the break of dawn.

Ingredients:

• Cottage cheese 3 kilograms or 6.6 lb
• Butter 250 grams or ? lb
• Milk 300 ml or 10 ounces
• 3 eggs
• salt
• caraway seeds

Preparation:

Put cottage cheese in the blender, add milk, eggs, salt, and caraway seeds and mix well.
Melt butter in a big casserole and add the mixture. Continue heating and stirring until the mixture transforms to shiny and homogeneous mass.
Grease big bowl with butter. Put the cheese into the bowl and keep refrigerated until the cheese hardens.
Preparation time: 60 minutes.

Debessmanna
(Whipped cranberry dessert with milk)

75g (2.65oz) cranberries (or other berries), 200g (7oz) water, 50g (1.75oz) sugar, 30g (1.05oz) semolina.
Rinse cranberries. Crush and squeeze out juice. Place cranberry solids in a saucepan, cover with water, boil for five minutes and strain. Add sugar. Gradually add semolina, stirring constantly. Heat until semolina thickens, then add cranberry juice. Pour mixture into a bowl and cool rapidly. Whip mixture until it becomes light and airy and has doubled or tripled in volume. Serve in deep dessert dishes with cold milk.?

Layered Rye Bread Dessert

Version 1: 75g (2.625oz) dry rye bread, 50g (1.75oz) loganberry jam, 20g (0.7oz) sugar, 60g (2.1oz) cream, cinnamon, vanilla essence.
Finely grate rye bread, mix with cinnamon and half of the sugar. Beat cream, adding sugar and vanilla essence gradually, until mixture forms stiff peaks. On a shallow dish arrange layers of bread, jam and whipped cream, finishing with a layer of bread which is decorated with whipped cream. Serve with a drink of milk.


Version 2: 80-100g (2.8-3.5oz) dry rye bread, 20g (0.7oz) sugar, 15g (5.25oz) butter, 50g (1.75oz) loganberry jam, 60g (2.1oz) cream, vanilla essence.
Finely grate rye bread, add half of the sugar and fry in melted butter on the pan, stirring frequently. Allow mixture to cool. Beat cream with remaining sugar and vanilla essence. Layer rye bread, jam and whipped cream in serving dishes, sprinkle rye bread on top and decorate with whipped cream. Serve with a drink of milk.