2. Riga Black Balsam is a traditional Latvian herbal liqueur made with many different natural ingredients and with an alcohol content of 45%. The recipe was developed by Abrahams Kunce, a pharmacist and blacksmith, in the 18th century. The liqueur is a remedy for many ailments of the respiratory and digestive system, colds, headaches etc.
4. World’s tallest women
Latvia is famous for having some of the world’s tallest women. In fact, Latvia has held the title for many years — although, they’ve actually been knocked off the perch of world’s tallest this year (2022).
According to the most recent statistics, the nations with the tallest women in descending order are the Netherlands (where women stand at an average of 170.36cm or 5ft 7), Montenegro (169.96cm or 5ft 7), Estonia (168.66cm or 5ft 6) and Bosnia And Herzegovina (167.47cm or 5ft 6)
The average Latvian woman stands at 168.81cm (5ft 6) and the average Latvian man is 181.17cm or 5ft 11).
5.Pringles
But that’s not the only famous Latvian invention to go under the radar. Latvia is famous for being the home country of the inventor of the flavor of Pringles. The story of Pringles is genuinely fascinating. From the iconic can to the flavor, there’s just nothing that rivals them.
The name of the man who invented the flavor of Pringles chips was Aleksandrs Liepa. He also invented the machine that was able to mass-produce them. Next time you pick Pringles as your movie snack, spare a thought for him!
6. Gutman's Cave is the largest cave in Latvia and it's formed from the sandstone rock of the Gauja river bank.
There are a few legends about it. One says a good man used to live there and he healed people with the spring water, so it's believed that the spring water has healing properties.
The other legend, a tragic one, says there used to be a beautiful woman Maija who was in love with a gardener Viktor. However, there was another man who was in love with her. She rejected him, so he kidnapped and imprisoned her in the cave, where she used to meet with Viktor, to kill her. She was wearing a scarf she got from her beloved, so Viktor was accused of murder, however, he was found innocent after the real killer committed suicide.
7.Denim
Latvian-born Jacob W. Davis invented jeans. Born in Latvia where he was raised to be a tailor, Davis soon migrated to the United States and had different jobs before he went back to tailoring. When he restarted his tailoring journey, he produced non-clothing items such as tents and used denim fabrics to make them. He bought these fabrics at Levi Strauss and Co. Then, he approached Levi Strauss himself and asked for help in registering a patent for his invention because he cannot afford it himself.
A client approached Davis and asked for a sturdy pair of pants. By using a tough cloth and copper rivets, this became the birth of denim jeans. Davis started embroidering the back pocket with an orange stitch in 1973 to stand out from competitors. To this day, the trademark is still recognizable worldwide.
8. Maizes Zupa
If you too wondered why latvians love dark rye bread so much, bread soup is one of the answers. It’s a marvelous Latvian dessert that isn’t too sweet and won’t leave you with a toothache.
Latvian moms in the past had to make sure of that because there weren’t many dentists in the countryside. However, they loved their kids too much and still wanted to make them a treat after dinner.
What they came up with is maizes supa or Latvian rye bread soup (or is it rye bread pudding?) We love gathering berries and drying fruits for recipes just like this one. So, we decided to mix things and see what our taste buds say!
You’ll need soggy rye bread, sugar, water, cranberries, dried fruits, cinnamon, and whipped cream. If it seems these things don’t go together, let me tell you…there was nothing tastier during childhood summers in Latvia after playing outside with friends.
