Project coordinator: UAB Biordico (Lithuania)
The main aim – research and development of food products in order to promote gastronomic (food) tourism in the Kupiškis district (at places of interest: Palėvenė Dominican Monastery, Antašava Rectory, UAB “Brolių medus”, Adomynė Manor and cafe “Janta”), combining modern solutions with traditional artisanal food technologies (their education) and applying the principles of the circular economy.
The following prototypes of innovative food products (dishes) were created and demonstrated:
- Honey condiments “Honey ambers” are honey products made from honey and agar without or with additional flavor (lyophilized berries and fruits), in the form of different spherical shapes. The pleasant color and smell of the condiments are determined by the honey and the added berries and/or fruits. In the sun, the products are especially shiny, they are irregularly shaped ovals, all this creates the impression of pieces of amber found on the seashore. Solid honey condiments or “honey in a different way” go well with various desserts.
- The dish Barn Lunch Differently is a modern interpretation of an ancient monastery dish consisting of boiled sausage, mashed potatoes and stewed cabbage, recreated in the Palėvenė Dominican Monastery. By applying modern food production processes (lyophilization, gelation and foaming) and the principles of molecular gastronomy, the characteristics of the raw materials and the sensory perception of the final dish change. The dish is composed as an appetizer: from freeze-dried sausages and sauerkraut, mashed potatoes are presented in the form of a gel-like cube, pasta is made from sauerkraut and other vegetable juices, and drinks (beer or kvass) are served in the form of a stable but drinkable foam.
- Pies with cottage cheese and edible flower blossoms or petals fillings are improved baked boiled potato pies (St. Jack’s pies are made during tastings at the Antašava rectory), enriched with cottage cheese and different flower blossoms and/or petals fillings. Different flower blossoms give the cottage cheese filling unique different colors, various aromas and flavors.
- Yeast buns “Seasons” are modern variations of authentic “Pagrabinė” buns with sauce, described as a dish of the Kupiškis region, according to the seasons. The strategies chosen for the production of buns with different biologically active compounds (respective extracts and seeds) are: “Lašininė” buns (winter); “Kanapinė” buns (spring); “Vestuvinė” buns (summer) and “Anglinė” buns (autumn). “Lašininė” buns – yeast buns enriched with rye malt extract and with cracker sauce. “Kanapinė” buns – yeast buns enriched with unhulled hemp seeds and with hemp oil (instead of sauce). “Vestuvinė” buns – yeast buns enriched with red wine extract and sweet sour cream-Paradise apple syrup sauce. “Anglinė” buns – with cuttlefish ink and chili pepper and sour cream sauce.
- “Kupiškio dessert” is a modern dessert (a “sandwich” of yeast buns and ice cream) symbolizing the Kupiškėnai wedding (a wedding flower basket in the Mother-in-Law’s Tongue). The dessert consists of a historical Adomynė Manor yeast bun with freeze-dried wine (from the Palėvenė Dominican Monastery) and raspberries. A pink bun is cut horizontally (like separate layers of a “sandwich”), covered with a thick inner layer of plombyri edible ice cream. On top of the bun is a dried flower bud (from the Antašava rectory flower garden), and above the bun is an edible bow made of raspberry puree. The resulting dessert is presented on a unique “tongue”-shaped dessert plate, decorated with freeze-dried raspberries and “honey amber” (from the Broliai Medus apiary). The Kupiškis dessert is served at the café “Janta”, where wedding celebrations are held and guests from the Kupiškis region visit.