Latgalian cuisine is characterized by a simple and rich daily diet consisting of homemade products: milk, curdled milk (Latgalian - ryuguļs), cottage cheese, cream, butter, bread, pearl porridge and soups, potatoes (Latgalian - buļbas), onions, cabbage, various beans, meat - mostly salted or smoked. The bread baking process was special. Bread was considered both a symbol of prosperity as well as home and family blessing.
Fasting periods, in which the amount of food was reduced and using meat was forbidden, were particularly respected. Before the fasting there was so called “pre-fasting” period, during which meat dishes were obligatory prepared. Different kinds of pancakes (Latgalian - bļīni) were one of the favourite food. The festive meal did not differ much from everyday meals, but for holidays more fatty foods were prepared, such as different sausages - from minced or chopped meat (Latgalian - kilbasys), as well as grain, potato and blood sausages, cold meat (Latgalian - studiņs/ studziņs, kvašelina, aukstuo gaļa) and various snacks made of wheat flour (yeast dough pies and pasties, pancakes and homemade biscuits). A very special meal in Latgale was cheese, which was often served with homemade beer.
Similar recipes can also be found in the cuisine of other nationalities. For example, guļbešņīki (filled rolls made from boiled potatoes), zacirka (milk soup with crumbled dumplings), krupnik (thick soup with barley rice), oat jelly (ķīselis) were prepared by local Russians, Belarusians and Poles; well-known Russian, Belarusian, Polish and Jewish pancakes, cymuss - turnip stewed in a bread oven - food with this name, but different ingredients, was prepared by local Jews.
Cooking recipes have been inherited from generation to generation, and therefore, recipes for homemade meals rarely contained such measures as grams and litres – but there was a handful, a pinch, a mug, a piece, eye measure and taste.
Thanks to responsiveness of Kraslava district cooks, the recipes of traditional food have been collected, thus representing Latgalian cuisine of Kraslava district and ensuring preservation of food recipes for future generations.
Pateicoties Krāslavas novada saimnieču atsaucībai, ir ievietotas ēdienu receptes, kurus viņas ir likušas galdā no paaudzes paaudzē, tādējādi atveidojot tieši Krāslavas novada latgaliešu virtuvei raksturīgo un nodrošinot ēdienu recepšu saglabāšanu arī nākamajām paaudzēm.