UBLF's Chilldown Period: Chilldown Period - Episode 41

For this month's episode of the Chilldown Period (you can download the show here) we're venturing musically to Latvia! All the artist on this episode hail from Latvia, and for me it has been a treat to hear all of this audio gems from these great artists.

Paldies for everything!

Credit for the Original Photo for this episode cover of the Chilldown Period goes to Sergey Vladimirov. You can view the usage license here. Cheers, Sergey! and what a wonderful photo of the Riga Cable Bridge.

I have to give a big, huge thanks to Dr. David MacFadyen and his site Far From Moscow. Also, a but thanks to Dirty Deal Audio, Oriole, Dusted Wax Kingdom and also to I Love You Records!

Side note - when I say "travel" in this episode - I mean sonically not physically. I got a bit carried away.

I have a confession: I'm an overachiever. In the past I have used music to help me cook. For this episode I decided to allow the music to inspire what I eat. I decided to find Latvian recipes and celebrate this episode of the Chilldown Period through food. We found a website called Latvian Stuff and used their recipes and I hope they are authentic (or as close as possible.)

We started off with desert first! Our first course was Ābolu kūka (Apple Cakes), and WOW! I love the mild flaky crust, the sweet apples and the natural caramelized "glaze" from the sugar and the apples. After a stressful day, smelling and seeing this delightful dish was just relaxing in and of itself. The taste was tremendous!

I hope the photo at your right does this tasty treat justice.

Our second course was Rasols (Potato Salad). Hailing from the Southeastern US, I love a good potato salad. My wife, coming from the same area, isn't too thrilled with potato salad. My wife, after tasting this tart, salty delight was hooked. She now likes... nay LOVES potato salad!

It's fairly simple to make! The ingredients which took the longest to prepare were the potatoes. With a little bit of experimentation and some taste testing during the whole process, this was the result.

Our final dish was Pīrāgi (Bacon Buns). I do not like onions very much. I do like them sauteed or in a French Onion soup, but if they have not been cooked or lightly cooked I can do with out them. In this dish, you can't tell they are there. The bacon juices are absorbed by the onions (my wife sauteed them before she rolled them into the buns), and the end result is delicious!

For flair, my wife used some of the remaining bacon and onions and baked them on top of the Pīrāgi.

This was a fun aside to this podcast and if I get tracks from other locales (City, State, Province, Country, etc), I may follow suit. So, if you're helping me get tracks in for a podcast, send me a recipe from where you're at! If you're in Albuquerque, New Mexico, send some chili recipes, if you're in Tokyo hook me up with a great soup or other dish recipes. I'm willing to try new foods! Now, there are some food restrictions here in the States and we'll have to make adjustments. I think this will be a fun way to celebrate the music and culture of each area represented in these podcasts.

Now to the tracklisting!