In the 19th century, majority of Nemenčinė residents were Jews. Most of them had their own tailor, shops or transported people to Vilnius. Jewish prayer house – synagogue – and a school was in Nemenčinė. At the start of World War II, Jewish people were hunted. On 20 September 1941, 500 Jewish people were taken out from the Nemenčinė synagogue and shot to death. In Nemenčinė, to commemorate those killed during the pogroms a monument was installed. The Jews left their traditional cuisine as their heritage in Vilnius region. Jewish cuisine distinguished itself with its peculiarity. Dishes from fish were made, such as, herring with raisins, geese – stuffed necks of geese, bagels or forshmark.
Recipes:
Forshmark – 3 herrings, 2 apples, 2 cooked eggs, 1 onion, 1 tea-spoon of cinnamon, a dash of milk, a dash of oil, a dash of lemon juice, a pinch of cinnamon, salt and pepper according to taste. All of the ingredients must be fine cut and mixed, milk, oil and lemon juice must be poured in to the mix, and seasoning must be added for flavor. Forshmark is spread on the bread.
Bagels – 500 g of flour, 300 ml of lukewarm water, 2 table-spoons of sugar, 7 g of dry yeast, 1 tea-spoon of salt, 1 egg albumen, a spoon of oil, seed sprouts for sprinkling. Yeast must be dissolved in water, mixed with flour, salt and sugar. The kneaded dough must be put inside a dish, which was rubbed with oil, and left to rise. From the risen dough, balls must be shaped and they must be left to rise again. A small orifice must be made at the center of the ball, add a couple of buns in to the boiled water and boil for 1-2 min., do not forget to turn them over. Spread the egg albumen on the buns and sprinkle some seeds. Bake for 20-25 minutes in an oven, which was heated up to 180 degrees.
