An Englishman in Latvia

What makes a biscuit Latvian — the recipe, the place it is baked, or the memories people have of eating it? We explore this question through three short stories about biscuits and then a biscuit tasting with friends.

The biscuits we tasted:

1. Pilngraudu cepumi - wholemeal biscuits, by Lāči

2. Selga classic biscuits by Selga

3. Blackcurrant cookies by The Beginnings

4. Medus Mandeļu - honey and almonds, by Lāči

5. Riekstiņi - nuts, by Rimi

6. Vaniļas vafeles - vanilla wafers, by Selga

7. Auzu pārslu cepumi - oatflake biscuits by Flora

8. Piparkūkas - gingerbread, by Flora

9. Źagariņi - little birds, by Staburadze

10. Cepumi Mājas - homemade biscuits, by Siguldas Maiznieks

11. Salmiņi - straws, by Dtaugu.

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Liepāja, Latvia's third-largest city, is known as the city "where the wind is born" and an easy-going seaside resort that became one of the Baltic's most strategically important and culturally distinctive places. Why? Join me as we walk through six layers of the city: wind, water, wood and brick, iron and concrete, music and footsteps.

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A tiny bottle of perfume opens a story of Rīga industry, Soviet scarcity and changing ideas of femininity. This episode follows Dzintars from its nineteenth-century roots through its Soviet heyday, explores the cult fragrance Koķete, and asks what MÁDARA's rise reveals about Latvia’s modern cosmetics industry.

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There's a sound that, if you grew up in Soviet Latvia, you'd recognise instantly: a buzzy little two-stroke engine. That sound belonged to the Riga moped. We tell the history of this moped and how it gave millions across the Soviet Union affordable mobility; we hear Jana's experience riding one; and we visit a wonderful place where you can find a collection of Riga mopeds.

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The story of amber, the fossil that isn't quite a rock, isn't quite a jewel, yet has shaped trade routes, folklore, craft guilds, and Latvian identity for thousands of years. We'll explore how it was formed, how it travelled from these shores to the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, how it ended up pinned to the shoulder of traditional Latvian costumes, and how to buy the real thing without getting stung.

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Rīga is 825 years old. Join me as we join the big party! We also tell the history of Rīga, not as a chronological listing, but through legends, stories and tales.

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There is an object in Latvian cuisine that has outlasted empires and is still in supermarket aisles today. It is small. It is round. And it is very, very sweet. It is a tin of condensed milk. Iebiezinātais piens is nostalgia in a can.

We will trace the history of this product, explore its use in Latvian cuisine and make one of Latvia's most celebrated cakes.

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Latvia's maritime history told through stories about its lighthouses. From Hanseatic merchants, through Courland's golden age, to the dark years when the Soviet Union turned the coastline into a military fortress and to today. Three lighthouses highlighted and a road trip!

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This is one of the most difficult and important episodes I have recorded: the deportation of over 57,000 Latvians by the Soviet Russian regime in 1941 and 1949. Regarded as genocide and a crime against humanity by the European Court of Human Rights. I tell the story of what happened and how it happened.

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The story of a small town in Latvia with a big name. It was renamed after a legendary Latvian ideologue who used to teach there, Krišjānis Valdemārs. It has an award-winning 500-year-old linden tree, a crumbling Baltic German manor house, and a lovely lake. Join me as we visit Valdemārpils.

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