For the first time in my life, I managed to make good syrnyky:
These are hard to make because they end up raw on the inside, burnt on the outside, and generally clumpy. I finally got them right, though. (The blackish bits are raisins).
The recipe is from here. You can translate it but where would you find tvorog, anyway
My childhood nightmare… Few things are as disgusting as cottage cheese, and turned into sweet patties it’s… well, I’m glad no one is force-feeding them to me anymore.
LikeLike
omg, yes!
LikeLike
“where would you find tvorog, anyway”
It’s my understanding that something sort of like tvorog is sometimes/some places available in the US as ‘farmer cheese’ (Dutch cheese and pot cheese and some other names used to be used regionally)… I’ve never had it in the US so…. fyi only.
A long time ago, some stores in Poland would have very large glass jars (20 or more liters) with big cubes of tvorog (twaróg) floating in them. At first I thought it was tofu which I was missing at the time.
In some stores they still have the big slabs and cut pieces off but more and more it comes in individual plastic wrapped portions…. not all innovations are good.
It needs to be completely unsalted for the recipe to work. I haven’t tried the US farmer cheese but I suspect finding the unsalted kind is hard. Another problem is the US version looks like it has too much liquid.
Although I have bought the Amish tvorog and it’s excellent.
LikeLike
I use Lifeway’s “Farmer cheese,” which is available at supermarkets where I live, for this purpose, and it works great. My recipe is very similar to the one in this post. I have also tried full-fat ricotta with good results. And if I’m too lazy to fry them, I just spread the dough in a circular baking dish and bake in the oven for 40 min, which results in a delicious zapekanka.
Both ricotta and farmer cheese are fairly easy to make, and I have done it. Doesn’t require a culture or rennet, only vinegar and a cooking thermometer and a bit of patience.
LikeLike
My mother makes her own but I’m too lazy, to be honest.
LikeLike
I don’t anymore, but back when we were using WIC, it gave us more free gallons of milk than we would ever drink… not being big milk-drinkers. Toddler at the time had some stomach problems with it. So in order not to waste it, I learned to make cheese. We made a lot of lasagna that year 😉
I love zapekanka. Thank you for the reminder. I’ll make one this week.
And yes, frying them is an absolute torture.
LikeLike
Watched Boiko’s movie version of Master and Margarita (10 series). A reviewer said it was an example of a too literal transfer from page to screen, but since I haven’t read the novel yet, loved watching.
Am writing to recomment you the latest movie version of Мастер и Маргарита (2024). Only 157 minutes.
It’s only based on the novel (Фильм по мотивам), focusing on the fate of an artist in a totalitarian society. The Master resembles Bulgakov himself, futuristic Moscow is amazing and the movie even contains references to the current situation. For instance, выкрикиваемый экспромт Бездомного “Зачем нам рай? Мы поедем в Крымский край!”. I loved the most the German actor who plays Woland – Август Диль.
A good review with spoilers:
https://ptiz-siniz.livejournal.com/367093.html
A link to full version of Мастер и Маргарита (2024):
https://kinogo.fm/1542-master-i-margarita-2024.html
I never liked the book that much, and I definitely never liked the screen versions.
In VZ, Bykov summarizes the novel as:
“Булгаков писал свой роман для единственного читателя [Сталина] с единственным месседжем: мы даем тебе полную моральную санкцию поступать с этими мелкими людишками как тебе угодно, ничего другого они не заслуживают. Но береги художника, ибо вспомнят его — вспомнят и тебя, сына сапожника.”
I’m in complete agreement with that reading. The novel is Bulgakov’s love letter to Stalin, exactly like his book about Molière.
LikeLike
\ The novel is Bulgakov’s love letter to Stalin, exactly like his book about Molière.
And I was just planning to read M&M and about Molière.
Is the latter (Molière) bad and not worth reading, in your opinion?
I understood that Bilgakov hinted at Molière / Sun King as himself / Stalin?
Absolutely, the relationship between Molière and the King is modeled on the one between Bulgakov and Stalin. I like the Molière book, actually. But if you are choosing, I suggest reading M&M. It’s one of the foundational novels of Russian literature. Bulgakov was extremely talented but he was human. Resisting Stalin’s love was beyond his capacities but it’s hard to judge him for that.
LikeLike
A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
Leave a comment