Syrnyky

The story

Syrnyky are small fried cakes of syr, the fresh, slightly sour curd cheese of Ukrainian kitchens, bound with egg and a spoonful or two of flour. Ukrainians fry them in sunflower oil until browned on both sides and serve them with sour cream or varennia, Ukrainian fruit preserves, and the dough sometimes carries raisins. They are often eaten for breakfast, and chef Ievgen Klopotenko presents his poppy-seed version as a breakfast dish. His notes trace the usual failures, cakes that fall apart or scorch, to too much sugar or too much heat, and he tells cooks to work in another spoonful of flour when the cheese is wet. He recommends cheese with about 9 percent fat, portions of 50 to 60 grams shaped about 4 centimeters across, and two minutes a side over medium heat. Cooks vary the dough with poppy seed, raisins, dried apricots, coconut or semolina, and there is a savory version with dill. As a cheese dish, syrnyky also fit Masnytsia, the cheese week before Orthodox Lent, which falls on March 8 to 14 in 2027. A double batch can be shaped and frozen, so a weekday breakfast needs only ten minutes at the stove.