Easter, Family and Hrudka (Slovak Egg Cheese)

    We are having my family over for Easter.  

    Generally speaking I'm happy about this.   I don't get to see my brother and his family very often.  I'm sure that my niece will have a bit of fun feeding our next door neighbor, Billy the horse. as well as enjoying a good dinner of glazed Ham, carrots with some pesto and my homemade ricotta, scalloped potato's and maybe some grilled asparagus. 

    Easter is also a time of rebirth, a call back to simpler times when the natural cycles of the world held sway.   Both Susan and I are non religious, believing in Science more than some Higher Power but we are both smart enough to know that traditions matter; and that deep down we are still hardwired to be thankful for warmer days ahead.

Blessing of the Easter Baskets

    This is also the first major holiday since Thanksgiving that we will have family over.  Sadly my brother and I have little in common and completely different memories of growing up in the same home.  Since the death of my mother in October, we have learned to least tolerate each other, although we still differ in nearly every way possible.

    However, that is not what this blog is about.

    As part of that dinner I was considering making Hrudka (ha-ROO-ka) which is a Slovak Easter tradition.   Now for the record I'm not Slovak, we're more Irish/English, but what interested me about this was how it was made.  

    It's a cheese made with eggs.   In fact, in doing some poking around it's more of an egg custard in taste and consistency than an actual cheese.  However it does includes a lot of steps that cheese makers would feel at home with..   I found recipes with finely cut carrots and spinach in it to more of a sweeter cheese where cinnamon or vanilla was added. In other words, it seems like a forgiving recipe.   The video below is for illustrative purposes only.

    I decided to make a test version  and basically cut the recipe in half, I still ended up with a lot of cheese.   My version included a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 3 tablespoons sugar because I wanted a sweeter taste but not overly sweet.

  

        Hrudka also has a very short self life, which is another reason I wanted to keep it small.  Normally Hrudka is made with at least a dozen of eggs and eaten within one of two days around Easter. 

    Now, that being said.   It's wonderful!   The fresher the better as the vanilla flavoring that I added faded within a day or so and the cheese will firm up over time even in the fridge.   It reminded me of egg custard and I could swear that the taste reminded of me of something I had as a young child at my grandmother's house ages ago.  **UPDATE**  My ex Teri informed me that she made this one year, however it was called "Cidek" as was basically the same thing.  I knew I had tasted it before!!!

    It's light, fluffy, sweet and with a bit of savoriness to it that is surprisingly good.   Passing it among Sue's family they all enjoyed it and a few went back for seconds.  

    The only problem with this of course, is that my Dad probably wouldn't eat it because he would not know what it was.   My little niece and his wife are picky eaters, my brother is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and even though he's no longer working as a chef...he's tough to impress.  

    So, only one thing could be done.   I would not tell them what it was or what it was made out of. 

 

    Even though it falls on different days and months of the year, Easter is also the traditional celebration of spring.  It's roots go deep into pagan tradition and the earliest civilizations.  It's always been a special time of year for me, despite having killer allergies.

    It's opening up the house to the first warm breezes after having everything shut tight against the cold of winter.  It's the first hamburger cooked over an open fire, it's the first day sitting outside watching the sun set with a nice glass of wine.   

 

    It's spring.   Lets just be happy with that.