Cooking Class in Vilnius

The most memorable part was that this was a lovely house with a decent kitchen. Ruta and her husband were both cordial and good guests to visit, only Ruta works to cook. That is where the good part ends. The lighting was very dark for a cooking space. The menu was not what I expected. The "sample" menu stated chicken liver pate, Cold beet soup, and coffee mouse. We ended up with potato pancakes! I have made these myself for 40+ years as Jewish Latkes, Doukabour Draniki, and Irish Boxty, among other recipies - all very slight variations but all potato pancakes! Also, only on the fine print did they mention NO Wine! Wine was clearly visible in photo from their advertisement. Every cooking class I have attended from Mesaria on Santorini, La Cuisine in Paris, to Rose's Kitchen last year in Hanoi Viet Nam - all had bottomless pour of wine. We did learn to make a desert potato, that is not potato but a chocolate desert recipe with butter and condensed milk. The cold beet soup also was nothing spectacular and it's primary ingredient was store bought marinated beets! Not a lot from scratch which is typically what we hope to learn from world of cuisine and how each culture evolved to eat what they could find or grow. The total cost of ingredients in this class was under 20 Euros, and we paid 85 euros each for this class - $240 Canadian dollars. I did not feel like I learned anything about Lithuanian cooking other than it is much like Polish and Ukrainian. There seemed like something was missing - a unique cheese or a unique use of common ingredients.

My mom and I did this cooking class and were highly impressed with the experience and very much enjoyed not just the cooking but the conversation and learning as well! The host Ruta is very nice and welcoming and made us feel right at home in her beautiful house. The kitchen is amazing with all the tools you need to do the cooking setup already with the ingredients. She is very knowledgeable in cooking as well and setup the class in a way that used our time efficiently while also making sure our questions were answered. She also was willing to show how to do things better like slicing vegetables, how to cook things well, and little tips and tricks on what to look for to know when things are done. After the cooking, we got to enjoy the dinner which was absolutely delicious! Further, we got to have conversation with our fellow tourist couple and with Ruta and her husband. The conversation was great giving everyone a look into the life of living in Lithuania giving us knowledge on the culture, norms, daily life, and of course, Lithuanian cuisine. If anyone is looking for something that is super fun and educational while also being hosted by an amazing person, I HIGHLY recommend this cooking class and if I am ever back in Lithuania with friends or family again, I will definitely be taking them to this cooking class. Thank you for an amazing time Ruta!

It was a highlight of our trip! We learned how to cook traditional Lithuanian dishes and enjoyed our food together with Ruta’s family. The food preparation was done in a modern kitchen with clear instructions and great advices! But tge most we loved spending the evening with the family and learning about Lithuanian history, traditions and culture.