The fruit of the love story of Lithuania and Latvia: Latvian cheese dairy in the Lithuanian village Food

“Robertas doesn’t speak Lithuanian, because when I’m angry, I start screaming in Lithuanian. That’s when you try to speak Lithuanian, you think you’re angry,” Eglė, who opened the conversation openly, revealed the subtleties of the couple’s communication.

Recently, journalists and television cameras visited their houses, so the couple has already managed to feel like little stars. “Our cheese is half a year old and the stars are already” all over Lithuania. “While we were visiting our own cheeses at one of the fairs, we sold half a ton in 2 days. Now let’s go to Kaziuk,” take us out. “Other cheesemakers are already sniffing it out. that we deserve here and the attention of buyers here ”, the fact that the cheeses made by MB Ostvalds Fabrica have recently been on the wave, admitted the farm owner.

Right here on the patio, the couple built an extremely cozy gazebo with a gourmet education. He established a garden next door. “When we bought the house, there were 11 outbuildings in it. I did not go Approve. We demolish many things. We left only an old clone ”, explained Eglė, showing the surroundings of the cheese factory.

Behind the fence there are cut chickens. Neighbors are constantly treated, as the interlocutor jokes, they do not buy cheese, there is an exchange in kind.

Travel through markets and fairs

We also enter the production facilities and rotate between huge pots with a capacity of 30 liters. Here 4-5 tons of milk are processed every month. The plush factory is a couple for just two.

“Our small cheese factory – up to 100 m2. M, but when we installed it, we had to reach the same level and meet the same requirements, standards that apply to large companies like Milk Stars. We have permission to export our cheeses, but We haven’t made it in summer yet because of the pandemic. After all, you have to go alone, deliver that cheese, find your way to a foreign country. First of all, our eyes are on neighboring countries: Latvia, Poland. Have we discovered that recipe for a successful entry to the market? I think so, we are doing well, we are carrying out our plans. The cheese does not freeze “, – Eglė was happy as he sliced ​​the delicacies.

The milk for the cheese comes from local farmers. They were probably glad that the cheesemakers settled in the village of Liutoniai, as they paid more for milk.

Interestingly, Egle and Robert distribute cheese. The man, according to the interlocutor, makes sweet milk cheeses from his Latvian recipe. There are 8 types of them: with cumin, basil, chili, tomato, garlic, black grain, sea buckthorn (the most popular because it gives a nutty aftertaste) and dessert, with blueberries, oranges and toasted walnuts.

“It is common in Lithuania to make cheese from fermented milk; this is how Latvians differ from Lithuanians,” Eglė clarified.

The book is almighty. Signing of where you will be this weekend and where buyers will be driving.

Every day, he spends 5 to 6 hours in the cheese factory, if there are many orders, and 10 hours, so that the leisure couple does not have much time, because on weekends they sell their products in exclusive markets and fairs. Roberto and Eglė cheeses can also be purchased in various organic food stores, at the Bačkonių restaurant.

“The book is almighty. Signing where it will be this weekend and where the buyers will drive,” Eglė smiled.

There was no kitchen fan

Food was never the sphere of Spruce. Before meeting Robert, the interlocutor lived by crafts: he had been developing scarves with Japanese technology for about 10 years.

“I have finished sewing. My kingdom is more art. When I immersed myself in this business, I also had to discover some art in the kitchen. After all, cheese can be artistically presented and look delicious. Here, fried cheese, delicious with watermelon and balsamic sauce. Discovery! So I started to improvise with cheeses so as not to get bored.

I am more involved in tastings and education, plate decoration in this business. You can come to us and taste the cheeses and try to make them before buying. The need for tastings is great, we will have to expand, because now we can only accept a group of up to 20 people ”, he smiled.

First we had a cheese factory built, and only then was the cheese made.

Eglė admitted that he had never made Lithuanian cheese. At first the Georgian tried to replicate. It was successful maybe 5 times. “First we had a cheese factory built, and only then was the cheese made,” he laughed.

Then he learned how to make Italian ricotta and Cypriot “Limassol” cheese, the equivalent of baked halum.

“I learned this remotely from my cousin in Cyprus, who, like me, is married to a cheesemaker. Only not a Latvian, but a Cypriot “, – laughed Eglė.

So why didn’t Eglė show up at Robert’s birthplace, Latvia? The interlocutor explained that she had already bought a house here, had just put down roots, so she did not promise to move.

“I come from the same town where we founded the cheese factory: Lutoniai. I had been going to Vilnius for 15 years -” I did not go. I was always attracted to the town, I need to have a lot to do, pose challenges. There was very little space in the city , I didn’t want to share it with others, I wanted to have my own. So I went back to the village and bought this house, and then Robert appeared, “Eglė told his story.

Travel and learn from the locals you met

I joked that Robert “took her with a dowry.” Smiling, Egle replied that the man had a dowry, but a different business idea, which they are now implementing.

It is true that at first, while Robert was making cheese in Latvia (he owned a family cheese farm with his brother, the tradition of making cheese came from his grandmother), the idea did not disappoint: Eglė kept it aside. Thoughts turned 180 degrees when construction began in the backyard of the house.

“As you can see, I like different cheeses. This is what I produce: Georgian, Italian, Cypriot. This summer we still had the opportunity to go to Sakartwell. We were lucky because there, in the mountains, we met people from whom we learned. His unique cheese, he explained, is different because cows graze in the mountains. There were impressive lessons there, the locals told all the secrets ”, Eglė assured.

After this trip, the idea was born that she would travel to a foreign country with her husband and learn the secrets of making local cheeses so as not to have a black job in the cheese factory. In the near future: Bulgaria and its recipe for seedlings.

“This way we will be able to travel, because when you have a company you can’t do it much,” said the interlocutor that working in a cheese factory would only become a hobby, and she could do it. go back to handicrafts. – Now only when I am completely tired, when there are no plans in mind, do I take out the sewing machine. This is therapy, calm down. Lo, the man set up the tent, so I immediately had to cut the curtains. I want to go back to what is mine. “

Known at the fair

“We are the first apsiženyjom, and then we met, – when asked how her and Robert’s love story began, Egle responded in an unusual way. “August marks the third anniversary of our friendship and we are celebrating the anniversary of our three-year marriage by celebrating the New Year.”

Egle met Robert at the Ventspils fair. They both worked really hard at the time, so they realized that they didn’t have time to date.

He looked at me for a long time. I’m just Bee. Later he began to pull my teeth that I live in the village. I did not understand what pride there is here, why I returned from Vilnius to the village. I was thinking about what was not good for anyone. I explained to Robert that life in the village is pulsating. I said, “You have to come to understand.” After all, a Lithuanian village is different from a Latvian one. We have people who live in town who can afford it: they have jobs, businesses. Few abandoned villages, few gravel roads, polished roads. In Latvia, the town is inhabited by those who have not been able to do anything else, have not gone anywhere. There is Riga and there is a town, ”Eglė said of the differences.

He looked at me for a long time. I’m just Bee.

Robertas accepted the challenge of a disdainful woman, took it up, and came to this Lithuanian village. Perhaps a month had passed since the date of the acquaintance. He came and stayed. Didn’t he even go back to Latvia?

“He came back to make cheese,” Eglė smiled. – During the first year, Robert went to Latvia, made cheese there, came back here and we both went to markets and fairs – he with cheese, I – with handicrafts. This is how he lived between the two countries. Then I found myself alone in that kingdom of cheese, and I was alone in the Lithuanian people ”.

This is where it all started: love or cheese?

“When he once asked us that, Robert replied, ‘First we fell in love …'” He wanted to say “we fell in love”, but in the Lithuanian language … “, Eglė laughed when he remembered.

What town did the Latvian move to? According to the interlocutor, Lutonys is an extremely lively settlement with an unusually small number of people of respectable age.

“It just came to our knowledge then. What meat smokeswho prepares cakes, one-bite sandwiches. During the quarantine, when it was not possible to travel between municipalities, we laughed that it is not terrible for us, we have the whole industry here, we can do it, “said Eglė, placing plates on the table, right here, in the courtyard, with cheese baked and salad.

And the aforementioned combination of watermelon and fried cheese and balsamic sauce is really perfect! The afternoon in the viewpoint built by the couple, under the sun, does not last long. Truly the most reliable modern table in the rural courtyard, serving the culinary traditions of different countries.