We prepared for Easter the old-fashioned way. Back in the 1940s, when we had a cow, my mother would make a wonderful treat for the holiday. She gathered cottage cheese and sour cream in a large clay pot that she kept in the cellar. Each time she added a new batch of cottage cheese and sour cream, she carefully mixed the entire mass with a wooden spatula until the pot was full. On Easter, we would take out this delicacy. For some reason we called it “sour milk,” even though it had nothing to do with sour milk in taste or texture. It was completely unique — a true delight.
For a quick version, you put cottage cheese in a pot, pour milk over it, and place it on the stove. You stir while it heats, and once it boils, you remove it from the heat after about five minutes. You strain it through cheesecloth and let it drain well. You pass the resulting thick mass through a meat grinder, add eggs, butter or margarine, salt, and baking soda, and mix everything well in the pot. You place that pot into a larger pot filled with water and set it on the stove. You stir occasionally, and after about an hour, the cheese is ready. Transfer it to a bowl or plate, and once it cools it releases easily and slices beautifully.
To process the cottage cheese from 10 liters of milk, use 5 eggs, 100 grams of butter or margarine, 1.5 liters of fresh milk, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. This yields about 1.5 kilograms of cheese.
