Hrudka
Easter is the time of the year when we turn to our roots and we celebrate with home made food. Smoked ham, home made sausages, bread, beet root salad, horse radish dip and Hrudka are the most important parts of Easter basket which is blessed in the church by a priest.
Hrudka/Hrutka/Syrek/Sirecz or Cirok is a ‘egg ball’ traditionally cooked at Easter time, especially in the East part of Slovakia.
It can be prepared sweet or savoury. There are many variations of Hrudka. You can prepare Hrudka with:
Salt & pepper
Chives
Paprika
Sugar
Raisins
The variation of Hrudka depends on region/village you come from, or on your family traditions. Our family prepares plain - salty version.
Hrudka is served cold with Kolacok (traditional bread from east part of Slovakia) and usually accompanied by ham and sausages. We usually prepare our Hrudka the day before.
This dish is surprisingly easy to prepare. You just need a patience, eggs, milk and piece of cheesecloth or kitchen towel.
Ingredients
10 eggs
1 litter of full fat milk
¾ teaspoon salt
cheesecloth or kitchen towel
Directions
1. Line colander with cheesecloth/kitchen towel.
2. Crack 10 eggs into a large pan and beat with a whisk.
3. Whisk in 1 litter of milk.
4. Add ¾ teaspoon of salt.
Cook over low to medium-low heat.
5. Keep stirring constantly, until mixture will start to look like soft scrambled eggs.
This will take 20 to 30 minutes.
If you use higher heat or if you fail to stir constantly this will result in a big pan of scrambled eggs. In case that you burn eggs, whole Hrudka will have smoky (burnt) taste.
6. Pour the mixture into a colander lined with several layers of cheesecloth.
7. Use the cloth to shape into a ball and twist the top to remove excess moisture.
Secure with a twist tie and hang for 1 hours. If you leave Hrudka hanging for too long, it will lose all the moisture and it will result in Hrudka being dry.
Remove cheesecloth and put into Tupperware in the fridge overnight.
