Brânză Frecată
Brânză Frecată·(brin-zuh freh-cah-tuh)
Cămara: Afternoon Snacks & Pantry Hacks
If there is a flavor that instantly drops a first-generation Romanian kid right back into their grandmother's kitchen, it is the sharp, herbal tang of this stuff. Before store-bought tubs of processed spread took over, grandmothers took fresh, sweet farmer's cheese, mixed it with a pungent wedge of sheep's milk feta, and beat the hell out of it with a wooden spoon and a knob of butter until it turned to velvet. It is a brilliant, utilitarian pantry hack born out of necessity that turns a heel of rustic bread into a feast. You don't need a dairy farm to pull this off; an American supermarket and ten minutes will get you the exact taste of home.
Before you start
Bring the butter completely to room temperature.
Cold butter will not properly emulsify with the curds, leaving you with a lumpy mixture rather than a smooth, luxurious spread.
Ingredients
- farmer's cheese8 oz
- sheep's milk feta4 oz
- unsalted butter3 tbsp
- full-fat sour cream2 tbsp
- shallot1 small
- fresh dill1/4 cup
- black pepper1/2 tsp
Method
- 01
Whip the cheeses and fat into a smooth paste.
In a food processor, combine the farmer’s cheese, feta, butter, and sour cream. Pulse until it transforms from crumbly to a cohesive, velvety spread, about 30 seconds. If you want to channel your inner Romanian grandmother, skip the machine and aggressively mash the mixture against the side of a bowl with a sturdy wooden spoon for three to four minutes.
- 02
Fold in the aromatics by hand.
Scrape the cheese mixture into a mixing bowl and stir in the minced shallot and dill. Never run the herbs and onions through the food processor, or the cheese will turn a sickly green and the alliums will become bitterly pungent.
- 03
Season and let the flavors marry.
Add the freshly ground black pepper. Feta is notoriously salty, so taste before even thinking about adding extra salt. It is perfectly edible right now, but resting it in the fridge for 30 minutes elevates the dish exponentially.
- 04
Serve at room temperature.
Pull the spread out of the fridge a bit before serving so the butter softens. Slather it thick on dark peasant bread, or use it to stuff hollowed-out bell peppers and tomatoes.
Notes
The Farmer's Cheese Hack.
Farmer's cheese perfectly mimics the dry, slightly tart Romanian brânză de vaci. If you can't find it, buy standard whole-milk small-curd cottage cheese, place it in a fine-mesh strainer, rinse it briefly, and press out as much moisture as humanly possible.
The Transylvanian Variation.
If you want to try the Austro-Hungarian influenced Liptauer variation, omit the dill. Instead, fold in 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika to dye the cheese a pale orange, along with a half teaspoon of caraway seeds.
From Cook Romanian in America.