Say (farmer's) cheese

When it comes to food, Goa is a magical place. After years of deprivation (aka my time in Delhi) it feels like grocery shopping paradise. Thanks to the large number of expats living in the area, I can get just about anything in the local store. Plus, there is something so wonderfully quaint about hand labeled pesto or homemade yogurts…

But, even with this treasure trove around the corner, I still like to have homemade food made… well, at home. Like farmer's cheese, for example.

It is extremely easy, not to mention you only need one ingredient: milk!

Fresh farmer’s cheese:

1 ½ + ½ liter of raw milk

Pour 1 ½ liter of milk into a glass jar or bowl, cover with a cloth and leave on the counter until it starts to separate. It should have curd – like consistency. You can also wait for the whey to separate completely.
It will take 1-2 days depending on the temperature of the room and freshness of the milk.

Boil remaining ½liter and pour it into curdled milk immediately. Set aside for 10-15 minutes. 

Line a sieve with a cheesecloth (I sometimes use fine mesh sieve, without the cloth) and place on top of a large pot. Pour the milk into the sieve and allow to drain. Gather the corners of the cloth and twist it to squeeze extra whey. The more you drain, the firmer the cheese gets, you can decide when it’s “done”.

 If you like more cottage cheese – like consistency, remove cheese from the cheesecloth when it’s still quite loose, add a spoon of cream and mix well.

If you want a proper farmer’s cheese, wait until it holds its shape, remove from the cloth and store in the fridge.

quilting discovery

Once upon a time, I decided to make a quilt. What’s more, I thought it’s a great idea. I mean, how difficult can it be? I had a huge box of scraps I collected during my fashion course, I had free time on my hands and a big need for some light cover. It seemed like a perfect thing to do. Plus, since all my scraps are roughly rectangle – ish, I figured I would just stitch them together without following any pattern. I honestly thought it would be done in few days.

Well... it wasn’t. To be fair, I had all the pieces stitched fairly quickly, I even pieced together the back part of the quilt, what I didn’t have was the batting. I looked and looked and then I just packed my unfinished quilt and forgot about the whole thing. 

About a month ago, I decided to clear out the linen trunk and get rid of all the old bedsheets. And then I thought to myself: what if, instead of looking for batting, I would use old bedsheet?

Surprise, surprise, that’s exactly what I did, and I can proudly say: my first quilt is done! Sure, it’s not fluffy and warm like other quilts are, but it’s perfect for Goan weather. It has enough body to stay in place and not crumple like a simple bedsheet, but it's light enough to use even during the hottest night.

Technically speaking, it’s far from perfection, but I’m kind of in love with it. Plus it looks great in the guest room. And so, with my newly discovered passion, I decided to put the rest of my scraps to good use! I only hope this one will take me less time to complete. 

Cracow's obwarzanki - best "pretzels" in the world

It was morning like any other: with eyes half open, a cup of coffee in hand, I was browsing Pinterest and suddenly…  I found a picture that kept me running from the oven to my laptop and back for past few weeks. It was a recipe for, what someone claimed to be, the best pretzels ever. 

First of all, being born and raised in Cracow – the city where, to my knowledge, pretzels were invented, I have to register a complaint. English language is missing a word describing the kind of pretzel I was obsessing about recently. Sure, there is pretzel (polish: precel) and bagel (pl.: bajgiel) but we also have obwarzanek, which is sort of a culinary symbol of the city.
Traditionally, pretzel is supposed to be much lighter and crispier than obwarzanek, and instead of being round, it’s 8-shaped. Bagel and obwarzanek are both round, with the hole in the center, but while obwarzanek is braided, bagel is formed from one piece of dough. Plus, bagels are soft and chewy and obwarzanki are crispy from the outside.

Apparently, the first written documents mentioning them are dated as far as XIII century. Somewhere around XVI-XVII century, bagel was created in Cracow’s Jewish district, as a competitor to obwarzanek. Later on, the recipe traveled as far as USA, to become New York’s staple while obwarzanek was recognized by EU as a regional food specialty.
Skipping over the history lesson, I jumped at the chance to try the recipe. To say that I failed dismally would be and understatement. I produced an endless supply too chewy, too heavy and hard rings, not even close to the original fluffy obwarzanek with crispy skin.

I was just about to give up when, finally, I found this beautiful recipe and excellent video tutorial (in polish; around 8:20 min – different ways of braiding obwarzanek):

Cracow’s obwarzanki

3 tbsp dried yeast
30g sugar
250ml milk mixed with water in equal proportions
500g flour
1 egg
5g salt
30g melted butter

Poppy seeds, sesame seeds or salt for decoration
 plus wide pot, boiling water, 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp baking soda

Mix sugar, yeast, milk, water and 3 tbsp of flour – leave for 15 minutes until foamy

Add remaining flour, egg, salt and butter and mix until a smooth dough is formed (about 5 minutes). The dough should be light and fluffy but not sticking to the hands – add flour or water if needed.

Leave to rise for about 45 minutes.
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and form into long rolls (about 30 cm). Form obwarzanki: take a roll and fold it in half, twist it together until the whole roll forms a braid, join the ends forming a circle (or refer to the video). Let them rest for few minutes.

In wide pot, boil water with sugar and/or baking soda. Dip obwarzanki in boiling water for about 45 seconds on each side – place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with seeds or salt and bake in 200 degrees for about 15 min – until golden brown. Best eaten the same day, still warm, but can be kept overnight.