Saturday, February 9, 2008

Hurka recipe

After I wrote the column below, I got many requests for the hurka recipe my grandparents used. I e-mailed my aunt, Anita Csincsak, in Tecumseh, Mich., for the recipe because it was her husband, Dick, who inherited the hurka maker when my grandparents died.
Anyway, this is what she sent me:

Hungarian Hurka, from Dick Csincsak

Pork Liver 2& 1/2 lbs.
Pork Heart 2 & 1/2 lbs.
Fresh Side 2 & 1/2 lbs.
Pork Shoulder 4 & 1/4 lbs.
Rice ( 4 cups) 2 lbs.
Onions 1 lb.
Lard 1 lb.
Salt 3/16 cup
Pepper 1/8 cup

Boil pork livers and hearts until punctured when they do not bleed.
Cook the fresh side and pork butts ( or shoulder) in a separate kettle.
Cooked diced onions in the lard.
Cook rice.... one cup rice per 2 cups water
Grind the cooked meat and add to the rice, onions and seasoning
Stuff hurka and boil in water till they rise.
Let set and package..

Patti, there is no way a novice could make this without someone showing them.
... Love you Aunt Nin

So, hope that helps all you little hurka makers.
p.

2 comments:

radiostevetv said...

For years I was the lucky guy who had to grind the pork/liver/hearts and stuff and tie the hurka. We were the only Slovak family that belonged to a Magyar Byzantine Catholic Church in southeastern PA, and my task was issued "as penance for not being Hungarian". We would often have friendly fights about which nationality had the better cooks. I once accused the "patriarch' of the church, whose nickname was "Buxsie" of having stolen Paprika from my Carpathian-Rusyn family members in the old country.

We were all lucky to have encountered such rich tradition!

Unknown said...

Where in S.E. PA? I belong to St. Mary's Byzantine in Wilkes-Barre. I've been looking for a hurka recipe.