The banush is a traditional Hutsul dish. It is predominantly cooked during holidays or feasts in mountain area or the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. It is always served hot. According to the legends, no one could stay indifferent after tasting this national dish.
Ingredients
Corn grits 1 glass
Cream or smetana (sour cream) 3 glass
Salo (pork fat) 200 g
Cep 300 g
Bryndza 300 g
Vegetable oil 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
Stages of cooking
1
Rinse the porcini; cook them in slightly salted water. Then chop them and fry in a little of vegetable oil.
2
You can use 100g of dried mushrooms instead of fresh one. Therefore you should soak the mushrooms in cold water (from 3 to 12 hrs) then steam, chop and fry them in the frying pan.
3
Chop or grate the bryndza.
4
Either fresh or smoked fatback can be used. Cook the cracklings in separate frying pan previously finely slicing the fatback and preheating the frying pan.
5
Put the fatback onto the hot frying pan, reduce the heat and fry over minimum heat pouring off liquid fat.
6
Put the sour cream or cream in cast-iron kettle or thick casserole, bring to the boil, and then slowly add the corn grits, stirring continually. It is important to avoid clots and prevent the porridge to swell.
7
Reduce the heat to minimum, stir actively with wooden spoon either clockwise or counterclockwise, until the butter appears on top.
8
If the banush doesn’t stick to the cast-iron kettle’s edge, it is ready. The finish banush bears resemblance to pudding.
9
Put the hot banush in deep bowl or clay pot, dress with grated cheese, chopped mushrooms and cracklings. The banush is consumed unstirred with big spoon.
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There are a lot of variants of this dish; nevertheless the main ingredients – eggplants, garlic and mayonnaise – are always the same. This cooking of this appetizer won’t take long therefore it can be served piping hot.
It is a common beverage throughout Western Ukraine – the dried plums were soaked in water and cooked until the fruits almost dissolve. The drink bears strong resemblance to a dense kissel.
