If a single plate could stand in for Latvian home cooking, this would be a strong candidate. It puts three of the country's great staples side by side: potatoes, which Latvians call their second bread and eat at nearly every dinner; biezpiens, the fresh curd cheese that turns up in everything from pancakes to cakes; and herring from the Baltic, lightly salted or marinated and cut into silky pieces. Each element is simple, and the pleasure is in the combination: hot and cold, rich and sharp, soft and salty, all on one fork.

Latvians make it all year, but it is at its best in early summer when the first new potatoes come out of the ground and the spring onions are sweet. There is no real cooking beyond boiling the potatoes, which makes it a favorite lunch for busy days and a fine introduction to a cuisine that values good ingredients over fuss.

It also happens to be the ideal race weekend lunch: on the table in half an hour, generous for a crowd and gone well before the formation lap.

The herbed curd cheese

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) biezpiens or farmer's cheese
• 2/3 cup (160 g) sour cream
• 4 spring onions
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 to 4 tablespoons (30 to 60 ml) whole milk

Method

1. Put the curd cheese in the medium bowl and break it up with the fork, pressing out any large lumps against the side of the bowl.
2. Add the sour cream, spring onions, dill and salt and stir until smooth and creamy. If it seems stiff, stir in milk a tablespoon at a time. Taste and add a pinch more salt if needed, then cover and chill.

The herring

Ingredients

• 10 oz (280 g) lightly salted or marinated herring fillets
• 1/2 small red onion
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) sunflower or cold pressed rapeseed oil
• a few dill sprigs

Method

1. Lay the fillets on the board and pat them dry with paper towels. Run your finger along each one and pull out any larger bones you feel, and trim off any fins or dark tough edges.
2. Cut the fillets across into pieces about 3/4 inch (2 cm) wide and arrange them in the small serving bowl. Scatter the onion rings over the top, drizzle with the oil and tuck in the dill sprigs. Chill until serving.

The dill potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 lb (900 g) new potatoes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 4 dill stalks
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill

Method

1. Put the potatoes in the saucepan, cover with cold water by about 1 inch (2.5 cm), and add the salt and dill stalks. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down to a steady simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Drain the potatoes in the colander, discard the dill stalks and tip the potatoes back into the hot empty pan. Leave them over the lowest heat for 1 minute, shaking the pan, so the last water steams away.
3. Turn off the heat, add the butter and chopped dill, put the lid on and shake the pan gently until every potato is glossy.

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