Today I am taking you to Slovakia with a traditional egg dish that is made in many Slovak households during Easter. This is not a dish I was brought up on every year, but since I have been sharing recipes from around the world, I thought why not challenge myself to learn one from my grandparent’s homeland and share it here.
This cheese goes by many names such as cirek, hrudka, sirecz and many more. It is also called Easter cheese as it is typically made and served for Easter Sunday breakfast after it has been blessed at church the Saturday before.
The cheese is very mild in flavour and to someone who has never had it before, it tastes like scrambled eggs meets a cheese texture which is a pretty accurate description as that is almost exactly what it is.
The eggs and milk are heated over boiling water until the cheese proteins separate from the liquid. There are only three ingredients needed and it is extremely easy to make (you just need some time for it to set into a cheese form).
- 12 eggs
- 4 cups milk (I used 3.25%)
- 1 tsp salt
- Boil water in the bottom of a double broiler (or make your own double broiler using a larger pot on the bottom with a small pot for the top).
- Beat eggs, milk and salt in a small pot (the top pot) until thoroughly mixed.
- Place pot on top of the bottom pot and cook on medium stirring constantly as mixture can burn to the sides if you leave it.
- The mixture will begin to resemble scrambled eggs as the protein curds begin to separate from the liquid whey.
- When the whey appears watery then you are about done.
- Line a colander with cheesecloth folded over once and place in an area to drain (in a sink, or over a pot).
- Place egg cheese mixture into the cheesecloth and drain for a few minutes.
- Tie the ends of the cheesecloth together and try to squeeze out more of the liquid.
- Tie the cheesecloth to a wooden spoon and let it drain into a deep bowl for 1 - 2 hours.
- Lightly squeeze out any excess liquid with your hands. *Do not let the cheese sit in the liquid as the goal is to remove all of the liquid now.
- Place in the fridge overnight then serve.
Follow the steps from top left to bottom right to make this traditional Slovak Easter Egg Cheese.
Eggs have always had 14 important vitamins and nutrients including protein, iron and vitamin A. Natural goodness, brought to you by your local egg farmers.
For more information about the natural goodness of eggs, visit eggs.ca.
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Egg Farmers of Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Egg Farmers of Canada.
Sheri publishes, and writes at This Bird’s Day where she shares all of the thoughts in her head without the voices. Sticking mainly with content for Canadians, Sheri shares family stories, product information and anything that fits into her (and her family’s) daily activities.
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My grandma always added a quarter cup of sugar, a tap vanilla and a quarter to of finely ground nutmeg. Gives it a wonderful taste.