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Hungarian Cottage Cheese (“Pot Cheese”) Appetizer Spread
I’ve been cooking a lot
of Eastern European food recently, Russian “Tefteli” meatballs (see my blog
posting of 10/2/2019), cheese-potato Pirozhki, radish salad with sour cream
(see my blog posting of 10/2/2019), Transylvanian goulash. Maybe it’s
fantasizing for cooler weather as this dry heat wave continues in Georgia.
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| Bowl by Maria Dondero, Marmalade Pottery, Athens GA |
Here’s a common appetizer
from Hungarian cooking, which I encountered repeatedly at an authentic
Hungarian restaurant I frequented when I was in school. It’s easy and
satisfying.
Pot cheese, the homemade
fresh cheese in Central Europe, is relatively close to the old fashioned
dry-curd cottage cheese that used to be sold in the US. What seems available
now is wetter “creamed” cottage cheese. It can be turned back into the drier
version by letting sit in a sieve for an hour or so to drain.
The recipe will serve 8
to 12 as an appetizer with bread or crackers.
1 pint of fine curd
cottage cheese
1 tablespoon minced
chives or green onion tops
1/2 teaspoon paprika,
Hungarian “sweet” (not hot) preferred
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
(herb-seasoned can be good), plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black
pepper
Pinch of cayenne
Place cottage cheese in a
strainer or cheese cloth over a bowl and let it drain for an hour.
Mix cheese well with
remaining ingredients. Let rest a few minutes, then stir again.
Taste for salt, and add a
little if needed. More paprika can be added if slightly pinker color is
desired.
Let mixture sit for a
while, refrigerated, to let flavors mellow.
Serve with bread or
crackers to spread the mixture on.
