It has been so hot, I don’t want to cook or eat anything too heavy.  A good latvian dish is “skabputra”.  If you like plain kefir, or plain yogurt, you might want to try this!

Latvian Sour Cream Soup (Skaba Putra) – a hot summer delight. Barley is cooked until tender (in water with no spices, no salt). To lukewarm cooked barley add buttermilk, milk and leave it to ferment in a warm place for about 6-12 hours. Afterwards it is chilled for 6-12 hours and sour cream is added before serving.

Can be served by itself or with sandviches, etc.

Of course I’ve heard of this before, as being very nutritious, healthy, but somehow in our household, we never had it on a regular basis; maybe it was because my father was primarily a meat and potatoes kind of guy (karbonade with potatoes swimming in gravy accompanied by plenty of rupmaize with thick slabs of butter); or remembering it being spoon fed to me as a child by a sweet well meaning old ‘vecmamina’ and nearly gagging to death.

But maybe I should give it a try—it certainly sounds simple enough!  Paldies!

Irena

Paldies, a very good recipe! Just checked the very very official Skabputra recipe of nobody less than the Minister of Foreign Affairs-yes, Skabputra is a real state affair;-)- at http://www.am.gov.lv/en/latvia/about/Cuisine/food/Skabputra/ and must say: Yours is the winner!
PS: I must confess, that I was adding a little tiny bit of Salt, Pepper and Kumin.. Sorry. But it surely works without as well.

I wonder, does adding salt in the beginning inhibit the fermenting process?  I’m sure “season to taste when serving”  is ok.

Sounds great.

I do not remember skabputra at our country home.  The summer favorite was a milk soup with dill and cucumbers, served cold with ice chips floating in it. I myself did not care about it.

We had an ice cellar with ice blocks all the year long. I do not think that the farmer homesteads around had any ice in summer. 

Mr. L. L.