First time I tried it hreczanyków in the Bieszczady Mountainsat a friend of my family’s. There was a bowl of potatoes on the table a plate of ruddy cutlets smelling of buckwheat and served on sauerkraut. They did not look like classic ground ones, they were more compact, slightly darker and with a clearly noticeable buckwheat aroma. I got the recipe from my hostess, who laughed that the cutlets “don’t taste as good” without groats. Since then, I have often returned to the Bieszczady recipe.
. Their name comes from the word “hreczka”, an old term for common buckwheat. That’s it buckwheat is one of the main ingredients here – it is added to minced meatmost often pork or pork and beef, creating compact, filling cutlets with a characteristic taste.
The dish has roots in peasant and multicultural cuisine. For centuries, Podkarpacie has been a place of interpenetration of Polish, Ruthenian and Lemko influences. To this day, Podkarpackie cuisine is famous for its filling, specific and seasonal dishes. Groats, potatoes, cabbage, legumes, forest mushrooms and silage play an important role in it. Flour dishes and simple soups are also popular, and meat – if it appears – is often combined with plant additions to make it more substantial. Although what matters is the natural aroma of the ingredients, the flavors are distinctive.
For years, buckwheat in Podkarpacie has been considered an easily accessible and cheap productso it was often combined with meat to enrich the dish and feed the whole family. Hreczynaki fit perfectly into a simple but filling cuisine – they were nutritious, easy to prepare and based on local ingredients.
Importantly, they differ from classic minced cutlets in terms of consistency and taste. Thanks to the groats, they are more compact, do not fall apart during frying, and at the same time remain moist inside. Buckwheat gives them a delicate nutty flavor and makes the dish more filling.
In the past, they were fried in lard, today rapeseed oil is often usedbut one thing remains the most important – the proportion between meat and groats. Too little buckwheat will make the taste unnoticeable, too much and the cutlets will become dry. In well-made hreczanyki, everything balances.
Hreczanyki is nothing else than minced cutlets with cooked buckwheat. It sounds simple, but it is this inconspicuous ingredient that changes everything. Groats not only increase the volume of the meat mass, but also improve the structure of the cutlets and give them a more interesting taste. The traditional version uses roasted buckwheatwhich has a more intense aroma. Below I am sharing a recipe that I received in the Bieszczady Mountains and which has been used in my kitchen for years.
Hreczanyki – original recipe for 12 pieces
Ingredients:
- half a kilogram of minced pork,
- 200 g of roasted buckwheat (full glass with a capacity of 250 ml),
- a teaspoon of butter 82%,
- 3 eggs,
- 2 larger onions,
- 3 large cloves of garlic,
- 2 flat teaspoons of salt,
- a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper,
- lard or oil for frying.
How to do it:
1. Pour 400 ml of water into the pot, add a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of butter. Stir. When the water starts to boil, add the buckwheat. Keep it on low heat for about 15 minutes until the groats soften and absorb most of the liquid. After fifteen minutes, stir, remove the pot from the heat, wrap it in a blanket and put it under the blanket.
2. Meanwhile, peel the onions and cut them into small cubes. Fry in lard or oil until golden brown.
3. Pour the soft groats (which should have absorbed the rest of the water by then) into a deep bowl and add the fried onion. Stir to combine and set aside to cool completely. There’s nothing stopping you from preparing the groats the day before (or using the groats left over from the previous dinner).
4. Peel the garlic and press it through a press into a bowl. Add the ground meat, add the eggs, season with the remaining salt (a teaspoon) and pepper. Knead the dough with clean hands. It must be combined really well so that the cutlets do not fall apart while frying.
5. Place the mixture in the fridge for an hour to firm up a bit.
6. Then remove the bowl and wet your hands with cold water. Form round cutlets from the mass. Flatten each one slightly.
7. Heat the fat in a pan (there must be a lot of it, about half a centimeter high). Place the cutlets on the hot pan and fry over low heat for at least 5 minutes on each side (until golden brown).
8. Place the hreczanyki on a paper towel to drain excess fat. Serve while hot.
Hreczanyki taste best warm, just after frying, when the skin is crispy and the inside remains soft and juicy. Traditionally, in Podkarpacie houses, it is served with potatoes – most often boiled, mashed with a bit of butter or garnished with onion fried until golden. Water potatoes sprinkled with dill are also often available, which soften the more intense flavor of buckwheat.
The second must-have is silage. Pickled cucumbers, sauerkraut or warm beetroots perfectly break the satiety of the cutlets. The sour accent balances the taste of meat and buckwheat, making the dish not heavy. It works great in the summer season cucumber cucumber soup with dill, and in autumn – sauerkraut salad with carrots and onions.
Hreczanyki also goes well with classic roast sauce based on broth and roux. In some homes they are also served with mushroom sauce – the forest aroma emphasizes the character of the dish and refers to the regional Podkarpacie tradition. Simple is also popular dill saucewhich gives the whole thing freshness.
Meat and groats cutlets are served more and more often z baked vegetablese.g. carrots, parsley, beets or pumpkin. This is a modern approach that allows you to refresh a traditional recipe without losing its character and ensuring a healthy diet. In the home version the cutlet simply goes on a slice of sourdough breadwith mustard or horseradish. This is a quick and specific meal that is perfect for lunch, dinner and dinner. Hreczanyki can also be reheated the next day – they do not lose their taste, in fact they gain even more of it.
Hreczanyki is a specialty of Podkarpacie cuisine that combines simplicity with a distinctive aroma. The addition of buckwheat to meat makes regular minced meat more flavorful and juicy. If you haven’t tried them yet, be sure to test this regional Bieszczady recipe.
Source: Terazgotuje.pl, margarytka.pl
