The culinary heritage of the region

The Raubonys village community is trying to revive the old culinary traditions of the region - the community's excellent gaspadinas are making High Styrian dumplings. In our region, they are called "virtieniais" and have been cooked since ancient times to feed the family or even to entertain guests. They are a favourite with everyone because they are made with various fillings: potatoes, cottage cheese, mushrooms, meat and lungs. Those who like a 'stronger' meal eat the dumplings with a sauce of fried bacon and onions, while those who are thinking of a slim figure choose a butter and sour cream sauce. There is always a queue of people wanting to try the soup, which is cooked by the community's gaspad ladies during various festivals. For those who are interested, the gaspadinas always give a detailed explanation of how they are made and offer to try to make the dumpling themselves.

The organisers of the Song Festival in Vilnius in 2003 asked us to bring not only the folklore of our region, but also our culinary heritage to remember our culinary heritage. Then, for the first time, the Raubonites treated Vilnius residents and visitors to the capital city with their homemade dumplings. The most popular were the 'dripping dumplings'. Everyone was amazed and ate them deliciously, even asking for a repeat. This time, there were no 'curd' or 'potato' dumplings left, and they all ate them deliciously. The dumplings were cooked at the Panevėžys and Pasvalys town festivals, at the Lithuanian Community Meeting in Karkle, Klaipėda district, and at various festivals in our district.

In 2018, the Raubonys community's "cooked dishes" were presented at the Pasvalys Region Culinary Contest organised by the Union of District Communities and the Pasvalys Community of Local Citizens during the town's festival. This time, the second prize was won. After the competition, the participating communities decided to cooperate and to promote and showcase the culinary heritage of Pasvalys region. They agreed to share their experience in passing on cultural and culinary traditions by organising presentations of educational programmes and culinary activities in the communities. In the same year, the Rauboniai community, together with the communities of Namišiai, Atžalynas and Daujėnai, prepared an application for the implementation of the project "Partnership skills through the experience of culinary heritage". It was submitted to the Pasvalys District Local Action Group. Funding was received and the project started in 2019. The project has been used to equip a community kitchen for the educational programme "Raubonys' cooking". It will showcase the culinary heritage of our region - soups. Participants will learn all about this dish, how to make it and how to eat it deliciously. We invite everyone to taste the world's most delicious dumplings!

In our educational sessions, you can not only have a delicious and nutritious meal, but also listen to traditional High Styrian music - the beautiful sounds of the armonica. No rush when you want to chat, talk, sing and maybe even dance!