Lithuanian cuisine remains one of the more undiscovered European cooking traditions, despite the Baltic nation’s strong agrarian history, burgeoning beer reputation and hunting and fishing culture. Luckily, a handful of influential Americans with Lithuanian ties are working to boost awareness in this country. Last week, COOK hosted Michael Laiskonis, former executive pastry chef of Le Bernardin and current creative director of NYC’s Institute of Culinary Education, for an evening of reinterpreted Lithuanian food.

Brought to town by Krista Bard, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania, Laiskonis hosted a two-night dinner series in Philly to commemorate Lithuania taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Laiskonis, a Michigan native, has spent the past few years researching and rediscovering his Lithuanian lineage, connecting with family in the country and taking multiple trips there to experience the food first-hand. His five-course menu, which saw him stepping away from his usual pastry-only wheelhouse to tackle savory cooking, as well, showcased traditional Lithuanian flavors in a clever but approachable manner.

For his first course, Laiskonis prepared “Textures of Borscht” — all the elements present in a typical Eastern European beet soup, just rejiggered and reformatted. The chef demonstrated how to go about turning English cucumbers into small spheres, using the seaweed-based gelling tool agar-agar to manipulate shape and texture.

Seafood makes up a significant portion of the everyday Lithuanian diet due to its geographic access to the Baltic Sea. Laiskonis said that wasn’t even aware that he liked herring prior to visiting Lithuania for the first time — good thing he enjoys the stuff, since it’s eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Bard explained that Lithuanians celebrate Christmas Eve with a dinner of a dozen fishes, a total one-up on the significantly more famous Seven Fishes suppers of Italy.) For his second course, Laiskonis served Holland herring he purchased from New York’s famous Russ & Daughters, first glazed with pickling liquid intensified with xanthan gum, then garnished with fingerling potatoes, charred onions and pickles.

Cepelinai is considered Lithuania’s national dish. Laiskonis admitted he was a little nervous preparing these straightforward pork-filled potato dumplings the night prior, when he had the opportunity to cook for the Lithuanian ambassador and other dignitaries at Sbraga. But they heartily approved, and so did the COOK crowd. The light but significant consistency of the dumplings, Laiskonis revealed, was achieved by mixing together an exact ratio of raw and boiled potato.

The evening’s main course shouted out Lithuanian hunting and foraging — seared duck breast, with chanterelle mushrooms, Brussels leaves, dollops of butternut squash and “kepta duona,” the Lithuanian name for hard-fried dark bread that has a consistency close to a crouton.

For dessert, Laiskonis showed off a few techniques from his dessert arsenal, most interestingly a sponge cake prepared by running batter through a CO2-powered whipped cream canister and baking it in a microwave. No one expected to see a James Beard-winning pastry chef nuking one of his dishes, but the consistency was dead-on, a springy foil for apple confit and ice cream made with beer from Lithuania’s Utenos Alus Brewery.

Laiskonis plans on returning to Lithuania as often as possible to continue learning about his heritage — let’s hope he continues to spread the word here in the states.

Photos: Michelle Flisek