A land of abundance for fish food gourmets will open up on 2 and 3 September in Kaltene, Rojas parish, where "Home Café Days" will take place in the courtyard. Guests will be able to feast on both traditional and brand new fish dishes from the Kurzeme coast, and in a relaxed atmosphere get to know the rich history and people of Kaltene and enjoy the rich seaside nature, especially the nearby rocky seaside.
How many herring dishes can we make when most of them are dried, fried and pickled? With a skilled and talented host like Dina Chuba, it turns out that you can create ten or more fish dishes! A starter plate with a little of each of the different herring dishes, fake oysters, herring meatballs in red sauce, herring friccadels, smoked herring pate, herring cakes, Kathleen herring zacene, herring pizza and even a herring flatbread! It will remind you of a quiche - a savoury pie where herring with tomato sauce and horseradish cream shine their silver bellies on a flaky pastry base. A veritable leiputria of herring-eaters awaits!
If you like it, you'll like it too!
The Home Café at the Kaltene Club will be welcoming guests for the third year. The Kaltene Club is a branch of the Roja Sea and Fishery Museum and is the perfect location for the Home Café Days - the club is located in the former summer house of the Baron of Nogale, by the rocky seashore. Kristīne Voldemāre, who works in the Roja Tourist Information Centre on a daily basis, but after the end of the working day, together with a team of about 10 people, is involved in the organisation of the home café, tells us how they got involved in the campaign.
"I talked to my colleagues at the Roja Museum, told them my idea that we should try to organise a home café at the Kaltene Club, and they supported me and kindly let me use their premises. It was immediately clear that Dina Chuba would be the hostess who would prepare the food. We are a team, we agree with each other what path we will take, how we will divide the work, what dishes we will cook," says Kristīne.
The municipality of Roja and Kalteni are certainly familiar to fish food gourmets, as this part of Latvia is well known for its delicious fish dishes and products. It was therefore immediately clear that the menu would consist of fish dishes, and nowadays the most accessible fish is herring, which is also the parish's trademark, she explains. "That's why we come up with different dishes from them. We cook them, taste them ourselves and then decide what to put on the menu. I know that people come to our home café because, even though we live by the sea, we don't get to enjoy fish dishes that often," says the organiser.
Visitors have already enjoyed some of the herring recipes in previous years, but this year herring soup will be a new addition. Last year, salmon soup, which is traditional on this coast, was also cooked in a large pot on the bonfire and guests loved it so much that the pot was empty within a few hours. This year, a recipe for herring pancakes was also tried. A local restaurant has already included them on its permanent menu. This week, Kristīne and her team have been busy sourcing produce from local farmers and welcoming fishermen with fresh catches in the harbour. All week long, the kitchen has been banging dishes, baking and cooking to prepare for the guests.
Kaltene - a popular, unique place
Kristīne expects the response to the home café this year to be as great or even greater than in other years. Already in the first year of the campaign, they were surprised by the turnout - more than 100 guests: the café was full of gourmets all day until late in the evening. Last year, the number of visitors had already more than doubled. Kristīne estimates that around 300 people came and around 200 feasted in the café. As many as 80 diners arrive at the same time, and while waiting for a table to be cleared or after enjoying their meal, guests have the opportunity to explore the nature and history of Kaltene. You can walk along the nearby rocky seaside or go one and a half kilometres away from Kaltene's seaside, where large stone cairns, known as hills, are located in the forest. There are no similar formations on any other Latvian coast.
Nature researchers believe that these mounds of rocks, which later became forested, were formed several thousand years ago as the Baltic ice lake retreated. However, the locals have their own story. You can find out more about the local stories and history from club leader Gundega Balode. She will guide you through the historic clubhouse, introduce you to Kaltene, show film and photo material, tell you about the history of Kaltene, and talk about the sailors and the people of Kaltene.
Guests will also be able to take part in a masterclass. Local craftswoman Anitra Tooma has been recruited for the event and will teach how to weave nets. Remember when net shopping bags were fashionable in Soviet times? You can learn how to make them and buy ready-made ones. On Sunday at 13.00, local ladies from the Kalitene family ensemble will perform a musical performance. By the way, Kalitene is the ancient name of Kaltene.
Wide choice of cafés
If you don't fancy fish dishes, there are plenty of other things to eat in Kaltene, with a total of five home cafés, and 15 home cafés in the whole municipality of Roja, including one each in Mērsrags and Ugunciems.
This year, several new participants have joined the home café campaign in the municipality. "That's what we coastal people do - we see how others are doing and then we dare. This campaign gives new experiences and positive emotions to both guests and participants. It is an opportunity not only to get to know your neighbourhood, its uniqueness and traditional dishes, but also to meet many new people, which gives you positive emotions and makes you want to work harder. Of course, the two days with lots of guests are difficult and the night on Sunday is a sleepless one, because you have to prepare the meals for the next day, but the positivity outweighs all the difficulties," says Kristīne. She wishes everyone a good weekend and invites them not to be afraid to come even if it is rainy, because in good weather the tables will be set in the courtyard of the Kaltene Club, and in rainy weather the food can be enjoyed on the club's terrace or indoors.
More information about the "Home Café Days" can be found on the website majaskafejnicas.lv, and you can find out what's happening in the home cafés of the municipality of Rojas by logging on to the Facebook page VisitRoja (https://www.facebook.com/visitROJA): there, by scanning the QR code, you will also find a map with more information about each café, such as its menu, programme, address, contact details, etc.
This year, the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) together with the Latvian Rural Tourism Association "Lauku ceļotājs" are implementing the "Home Café Days" campaign for the third time, which will take place in Latvia from 14 July to 17 September. It is an opportunity to get to know the treasures of Latvia's colourful regions through gastronomy.
During the "Home Café Days", the backyards, farmsteads and other places of farms, local community enthusiasts and entrepreneurs will become home cafés. This is an opportunity for visitors to learn about and enjoy local cuisine - to gain new taste experiences and to indulge in an interesting cultural programme. The number of cafés is growing every year, proving that there is a high demand for rural recreation. This year, Home Café Days are taking place in a total of 42 destinations in Latvia.
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