Latvia and Lithuania
Latvia and Lithuania are neighbors in Northern Europe. Along with their neighbor to the north, Estonia, they were the Baltic states, an empire that dominated much of Europe in the 14th to 16th centuries. In the 1940s they became part of the USSR. In 1990, Lithuania declared their independence, and in 1991 Latvia declared their independence. In September of 1991 the Soviet parliament acknowledged both countries' independence.
Before WW II, Latvia had a large Jewish population Now, they comprise the "other" segment of the 6 religions listed on the webpage. WW II also drove the rural population to urban areas, and independence in the 1990's prompted the country to launch efforts to increase the birth rate of the population as their population had been shrinking for years. Lithuania also had a large Jewish population that was also decimated by WW II. Lithuania has not had problems with an aging population that is not being replaced, and independence in the 1990s is when the rural migration to urban areas began. Lithuania has greatly improved social services since independence, and provides free healthcare to its citizens, along with pensions and funding for kindergartens and day care. Nothing is mentioned about services offered in Latvia.
When researching tea for this region, I discovered that they do not talk about steeping leaves of some sort, they steep seeds to make tea. What kind of seeds, you ask? Why they steep caraway seeds. According to the internet, they also add sugar to this brew. Now for those who don't know me, I hate caraway seeds. For a long time I thought that I did not like rye bread. Eventually, I tried some rye bread that did not have caraway seeds in it, and discovered that I liked it just fine. My mother, who likes caraway seeds, laughs about this, and sometimes exploited my disdain for caraway seeds. While she never used much seasoning when cooking, she will use caraway seeds (when I was a kid, she also used celery seeds sometimes, another seasoning I hate). In my opinion, you can't add enough sugar to caraway seed flavored water to get me to drink it, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to politely decline the idea of making tea like Latvia and Lithuania.
Before WW II, Latvia had a large Jewish population Now, they comprise the "other" segment of the 6 religions listed on the webpage. WW II also drove the rural population to urban areas, and independence in the 1990's prompted the country to launch efforts to increase the birth rate of the population as their population had been shrinking for years. Lithuania also had a large Jewish population that was also decimated by WW II. Lithuania has not had problems with an aging population that is not being replaced, and independence in the 1990s is when the rural migration to urban areas began. Lithuania has greatly improved social services since independence, and provides free healthcare to its citizens, along with pensions and funding for kindergartens and day care. Nothing is mentioned about services offered in Latvia.
When researching tea for this region, I discovered that they do not talk about steeping leaves of some sort, they steep seeds to make tea. What kind of seeds, you ask? Why they steep caraway seeds. According to the internet, they also add sugar to this brew. Now for those who don't know me, I hate caraway seeds. For a long time I thought that I did not like rye bread. Eventually, I tried some rye bread that did not have caraway seeds in it, and discovered that I liked it just fine. My mother, who likes caraway seeds, laughs about this, and sometimes exploited my disdain for caraway seeds. While she never used much seasoning when cooking, she will use caraway seeds (when I was a kid, she also used celery seeds sometimes, another seasoning I hate). In my opinion, you can't add enough sugar to caraway seed flavored water to get me to drink it, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to politely decline the idea of making tea like Latvia and Lithuania.
I always stay away from rye bread because of the chance it has caraway seeds. A few years ago, C got himself a loaf of rye bread because he remembered liking it and I never buy it, but apparently the rye he'd always had didn't have caraway seeds and the one he bought did-- and he discovered that he hates them too! We ended up pitching the whole thing because neither of us could stand it.
ReplyDeleteThe safest bet is to make your own. I don't know why people think caraway seeds go so well with rye bread (or anything really).
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