Baltic Christmas Day 13 - Pītes, a traditional recipe from the Latvian kitchen

On Day 13 of 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas, a recipe for pītes, a traditional Latvian recipe of gray peas, bacon, onions and dill!

‘Tis the season of lights, cookie baking, holiday parties and Christmas concerts. It is also the season of sala vecis (Father Frost): snow, freezing rain, cold winds and dark days. Therefore, make time this season for curling up with a book, watching the fire, listening to your favorite Baltic Christmas music, and cooking up a batch of comfort food.

Peas, grains and beans have long been staples of Baltic cuisine, due to ease of storage and the short growing season that enable successful crops even during the short, cool Latvian summers. Full of vitamins B, C and E, they are also a valuable source of protein, and their pervasiveness on the Latvian menu persisted until the introduction of the potato in the early 19th century. Probably the most famous of these for Latvians are pelēkie zirņi, or grey peas. Considered the unofficial national food, grey peas are a traditional food of New Year's Eve, when tradition dictates every person must eat at least a handful and the pot of peas must be eaten entirely so that no tears will be shed in the New Year. Grey peas and bacon are one of the most popular traditional Latvian dishes during the holiday season, and in many households a place for them is guaranteed on the Christmas table; find the 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas recipe and post here: pelēkie zirņi with bacon.

Your biggest hurdle in preparing any dish with pelēkie zirņi will be to source the grey peas. Balticshop.com stocks them, but requires 2-3 weeks to ship from Latvia, so your best bet might be to get in touch with someone traveling from Latvia, or to visit one of the seasonal Ziemassvētku tirdziņi held in your area. Another option is to purchase something similar from a European Imports store; I have found Dutch kapucijners to be very similar in taste and preparation (purchase kapucijners, or marrowfat peas online at TheDutchStore.com).

To prepare pītes, you will need the following ingredients:

500g grey peas (the grey peas we buy usually come in packages of 500 grams, which is a little over 1 pound)

2 lb. potatoes (can be adjusted to preference – some recipes have 2x the peas as potatoes)

½ lb. smoked bacon, chopped

1 small onion, diced

3 tbsp butter*

1.5 tsp linseed or flax seed (optional)

Salt to taste

To prepare:

Rinse the peas, and soak for 8-12 hours in 8 cups of water.

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 90 to 120 minutes.

Boil the potatoes separately.

In a pan, sauté the smoked bacon and onions.

Once the potatoes are tender, smash them. Add the peas, bacon and onions, butter, linseed and salt, and mix.

Top with chopped dill or chives and serve! The traditional pītes are rolled into round balls, but we skip this extra step. My boys like them with a dollop of sour cream, and I imagine they would also pair well with sēņu mērce.

* The traditional pītes would have utilized hempseed butter

With less than two weeks remaining until Christmas, we are in the second half of the series and in the home stretch! Hope you are enjoying 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas, and see you tomorrow for a special invitation…