Kastinys

Kastinys is the dish Samogitia is known for, and it is a demonstration of patience: sour cream is warmed gently and beaten steadily for an hour or more, traditionally with a wooden whisk called a kastuvas, until the fat separates and the mass thickens into something between butter and a soft spread, seasoned with salt, caraway, onion or garlic. It is served with hot boiled potatoes, which melt it, and that combination was for a long time an ordinary supper across the region. Making it properly takes real time and arm work, which is why it became a special-occasion food and why restaurant versions vary. It appears on menus in Telšiai, Plungė and the Samogitian farmsteads, and it is worth ordering where the kitchen makes it rather than buys it.

What you actually see

• The whipping - cream beaten by hand for an hour or more.
• The set texture - a spread somewhere between butter and cream.
• Hot potatoes - the standard partner that melts it on the plate.
• Regional seasoning - caraway, onion or garlic worked in.

When to go

Year round; it is a farmhouse dish without a season. Samogitian restaurants and rural homesteads are where to find it, and country fairs and festivals often have it made on the spot.

Honest expectations

Many restaurant versions are shortcuts made with butter rather than the long whipping, and the difference is obvious. It is very rich and a small portion goes a long way. It is not widely found outside Samogitia.

Nearby

Telšiai and Plungė are the towns to look in; Samogitia surrounds them.