Thursday, February 21, 2008

Product Review: Lutenitsa

Here’s the second installment of my occasional series on worthwhile items you can buy at Russian/Eastern European grocery stores. (In the first write-up, we sampled baked milk.) I highly recommend lutenitsa. Depending on the brand, this is a sauce or a spread made with red peppers, tomatoes, onions, sunflower oil and usually something spicy, like a little hot pepper. Lutenitsa is Bulgarian, not Russian, but I hear it was a very popular imported product in Russia during the Soviet times. I like adding lutenitsa to tomato-based soups and stews, especially borsch, or eating it as an appetizer with cheese on crackers. It's also good eaten right out of the jar. Just sayin'.

5 comments:

adele said...

I'm always on the lookout for interesting condiments. Particularly when they can be eaten out of the jar.

It might be time to make another venture into my local Eastern European grocery store, and confuse the hell out of the owners again.

Mrs. M. said...

Adele--This is wonderful eaten out of the jar. In the grocery, head straight toward those little colorful jars with pickled vegetables, spreads, etc.

Anonymous said...

Liutenitsa is extremely delicious. Great stuff, I love it. Of course, not all brands are the same. I've bought the ZerGut brand and the one produced by Solvex Mira Frukt and they are great. Try them out!

Mrs. M. said...

Anon--Most ZerGut products are indeed pretty good.

Anonymous said...

for me the best brand is Olineza (the Home Lutenitsa version), I don´t know whether you can find it abroad though

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