Cepelinai

Cepelinai is the national dish of Lithuania consisting of potato dumplings stuffed with spiced ground meat. The dumplings are traditionally quite large, served with bacon, pork rinds, and a sour cream and milk-based sauce after they have been boiled in plenty of salted water. The dish is named after Graff von Zeppelin, due to the resemblance between the dumplings and the airship. It is believed that cepelinai have German origins and are based on Kartoffelknödel. There are many versions of the dish, and similar dumplings can be found in countries such as Denmark, Norway, Ukraine, and Belarus. However, cepelinai remain the most popular in Lithuania and the northeastern part of Poland.