Demikát

Ingredients

Soup

• 300 gbryndza, sheep’s cheese
• or 300 g feta, mashed with cream
• 1 litrewater or light stock
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoonslard or butter
• 1 tablespoonplain flour
• 1 teaspoonsweet paprika
• 1 teaspooncaraway seed, crushed
• black pepper

To finish

• 100 mlsoured cream
• a handful of chopped chives
• or chopped dill

To serve

• thick slices of bread
• or fried croutons
• or small boiled dumplings

Directions

1. Taste it before adding any at all. Understanding the shepherd context helps. Crumble the bryndza into a bowl. Add a little warm water to it. Mash it into a smooth loose paste.
2. Work out every lump at this stage. Feta needs more mashing than bryndza does. Add a spoonful of cream to help it along. Melt the lard or butter in a pot. Add the finely chopped onions.
3. Cook them gently for about eight minutes. They should soften without browning much. Sprinkle the flour over the onions. Stir it through and cook it for two minutes.
4. Take the pot off the heat entirely. Add the paprika and stir it in. Paprika burns instantly in a hot pot. Add the water a little at a time. Whisk each addition in fully before the next. Return the pot to a gentle heat. Add the crushed caraway seed now. Bring the whole pot to a simmer. Let it cook for about ten minutes.
5. Take the pot off the heat entirely. Let it cool for a minute or two. Whisk it in gradually and thoroughly. Return the pot to a very low heat. Never let it boil after the cheese goes in.
6. Warm it through for three minutes only. Judging the soup takes a taste. Season it well with black pepper. Taste it before adding any salt at all. Add more water if it is too thick. It should coat a spoon lightly. Stir in the soured cream at the end. Stir in most of the chopped chives.
7. Put bread or croutons in each bowl first. Thick slices of bread are traditional. Scatter the rest of the chives over. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• Bryndza is a soft sheep’s milk cheese from the Slovak highlands that holds protected status in the European Union, and is the same cheese used in bryndzove halusky.
• The soup was shepherd food from the Tatra mountain huts, made from the cheese the shepherds produced there, and is among the oldest recorded Slovak dishes.
• The cheese is salty enough that the soup usually needs no added salt at all, and the bread it is poured over moderates it.

Substitutions

• Feta mashed with a little cream is the closest widely available substitute for bryndza.
• Fried croutons or small boiled dumplings stand in for thick slices of bread.

Variations

• Some cooks brown the onions deeply for a sweeter soup.
• A version finished with soured cream is common, and some leave it out.
• Bryndzove halusky and bryndzove pirohy use the same cheese.

History

Bryndza soup with bread or dumplings, shepherd food from the Tatra huts and among the oldest recorded Slovak dishes.

Frequently asked questions

What is Demikát?

Demikát is a soup & stew from Slovakia: bryndza sheep-cheese soup poured over croutons. Bryndza soup with bread or dumplings, shepherd food from the Tatra huts and among the oldest recorded Slovak dishes.

How long does Demikát take to make?

Demikát takes 15 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Demikát?

Yes, within limits. Feta mashed with a little cream is the closest widely available substitute for bryndza. Fried croutons or small boiled dumplings stand in for thick slices of bread.

What is the most important thing to get right in Demikát?

Take the pot off the heat entirely. Add the paprika and stir it in. Paprika burns instantly in a hot pot. Add the water a little at a time. Whisk each addition in fully before the next. Return the pot to a gentle heat. Add the crushed caraway seed now. Bring the whole pot to a simmer. Let it cook for about ten minutes.