Salami is a salume consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature for up to 45 days once cut, supplementing a potentially meager or inconsistent supply of fresh meat. Countries and regions across Europe make their own traditional varieties of salami.
Sourdough or sourdough bread is a bread made by allowing the dough to ferment using naturally occurring lactobacillaceae and yeast before baking. The fermentation process produces lactic acid, which gives the bread a sour taste and improves its keeping-qualities.
Lactic acid fermentation is a metabolic process by which glucose or other six-carbon sugars are converted into cellular energy and the metabolite lactate, which is lactic acid in solution. It is an anaerobic fermentation reaction that occurs in some bacteria and animal cells, such as muscle cells.
A blood sausage also known as a blutwurst sausage, is a sausage filled with blood that is cooked or dried and mixed with a filler until it is thick enough to solidify when cooled. Most commonly, the blood of pigs, sheep, lamb, cow, chicken, or goose is used.
Offal, also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the internal organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, and these lists of organs vary with culture and region, but usually exclude skeletal muscle. Offal may also refer to the by-products of milled grains, such as corn or wheat.
Lithuanian cuisine features products suited to the cool and moist northern climate of Lithuania: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, berries, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialties. Various ways of pickling were used to preserve food for winter. Soups are extremely popular, and are widely regarded as the key to good health. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with Northern Europe, Lithuanian cuisine has much in common with its Baltic neighbors and, in general, northern countries.
Romanian cuisine is a diverse blend of different dishes from several traditions with which it has come into contact, but it also maintains its own character. It has been influenced mainly by Turkish but also a series of European cuisines in particular from the Balkan Peninsula and Hungarian cuisine as well as culinary elements stemming from the cuisines of Central Europe.
Latvian cuisine typically consists of agricultural products, with meat featuring in most main dishes. Fish is commonly consumed due to Latvia's location on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea.
Brennivín is considered to be Iceland's signature distilled beverage. It is distilled from fermented grain mash and then combined with Iceland's very soft, high-pH water, and flavored only with caraway. A clear, savory, herbal spirit, the taste is often described as having notes of fresh rye bread. It is considered to be a type of aquavit and bottled at 37,5% ABV. The steeping of herbs in alcohol to create schnapps is a long-held folk tradition in Nordic countries, and Brennivín is still the traditional drink for the mid-winter feast of Þorrablót. Today, Icelanders typically drink it chilled, as a shot, with a beer, or as a base for cocktails. It often takes the place of gin in classic cocktails, or of a lighter rum in tropical drinks.
Soured milk denotes a range of food products produced by the acidification of milk. Acidification, which gives the milk a tart taste, is achieved either through bacterial fermentation or through the addition of an acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar. The acid causes milk to coagulate and thicken, inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria and improving the product's shelf life.
Hákarl, referred to as fermented shark in English, is a national dish of Iceland consisting of Greenland shark or other sleeper shark that has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months. It has a strong ammonia-rich smell and fishy taste, making hákarl an acquired taste.
The cuisine of Iceland has a long history. Important parts of Icelandic cuisine are lamb, dairy, and fish, the latter because Iceland has traditionally been inhabited only near its coastline. Popular foods in Iceland include skyr, hangikjöt, kleinur, laufabrauð, and bollur. Þorramatur is a traditional buffet served at midwinter festivals called Þorrablót; it includes a selection of traditionally cured meat and fish products served with rúgbrauð and brennivín. The flavors of this traditional country food originate in its preservation methods: pickling in fermented whey or brine, drying, and smoking.
Sour cereal soup is a Slavic traditional soup made with various types of cereals such as rye, wheat and oats, which are fermented to create a sourdough-like soup base and stirred into a pot of stock which may or may not contain meat such as boiled sausage and bacon, along with other ingredients such as hard-boiled eggs, potatoes and dried mushrooms.
Þorrablót is an Icelandic midwinter festival, named for the month of Þorri of the historical Icelandic calendar, and blót, literally meaning sacrifice.
Þorri is the Icelandic name of the personification of frost or winter in Norse mythology, and also the name of the fourth winter month in the Icelandic calendar.
Svið is a traditional Icelandic dish consisting of a sheep's head cut in half, singed to remove the fur, and boiled with the brain removed, sometimes cured in lactic acid.
Slátur is an Icelandic food made from the innards of sheep. There are two types of slátur; blóðmör (Icelandic) or "blood pudding" and lifrarpylsa. The first is similar to Irish and British black pudding, although it does not contain the spices used in British and Irish cuisine. They are also much smoother in texture.
Fermented sausage, or dry sausage, is a type of sausage that is created by salting chopped or ground meat to remove moisture, while allowing beneficial bacteria to break down sugars into flavorful molecules. Bacteria, including Lactobacillus species and Leuconostoc species, break down these sugars to produce lactic acid, which not only affects the flavor of the sausage, but also lowers the pH from 6.0 to 4.5–5.0, preventing the growth of bacteria that could spoil the sausage. These effects are magnified during the drying process, as the salt and acidity are concentrated as moisture is extracted.
Traditional foods are foods and dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national dish, regional cuisine or local cuisine. Traditional foods and beverages may be produced as homemade, by restaurants and small manufacturers, and by large food processing plant facilities.
Şalgam or şalgam suyu, pronounced "shal-gam", is a popular Turkish traditional fermented beverage from the southern Turkish cities of Adana, Hatay, Tarsus, Mersin, Kahramanmaras, İzmir and the Çukurova region. The name of the fruit is a Persian loanword meaning turnip. It is either called turnip juice, turnip water, shalgam juice, or shalgam water. The French traveler, naturalist and writer Pierre Belon described its production method in the 16th century. Şalgam is produced by lactic acid fermentation. Studies have shown that the juice of the purple carrot used in Şalgam reduces the effects of high-carbohydrate, high-fat diets in rats. It is one of the most popular beverages during winter in Turkey.
