Sirac, a traditional cheese, which was prepared in western and central Serbia. The records of Serbian ethnologists from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century say that syrac was an inseparable part of folk customs and that it was prepared on Ivan's Day and consumed on St. Peter's Day.
O vinegar, that is about vinegars, it is also recorded in the book Serbian folk dishes and drinks, edited by dr. Jovan Erdeljanović, 1908, Serbian folk dishes (with an appendix on drinks) in Levč and Temnić, Stanoje M. Mijatović:
"For St. Peter's Day, they are made from cheese vinegar. It's done like this. Skimmed (unboiled) milk is curdled, as we said before, and left to stand overnight. In the morning, the whey is drained, and the lump is taken piece by piece and rolled between the palms in the form of cookies (4-5 centimeters in diameter). The whey is now heated in a pan (but it must not boil) and stirred into it cheese by cheese. It is then turned over several times, and when it has thickened, it is taken out and spread on a sovr, pan or lopar and dried in the sun. When they are well dried, they are left and given to the children on St. Peter's Day, who consider them a great delicacy. In some places these vinegar on the same day, they carry each other from house to house in the neighborhood and relatives. - Syrians are usually made on Midsummer's Day (June 24). "
Back in 1896, that is, more than ten years before Dr. Jovan Erdeljanović and his associates, the anthropologist Simo Trojanović also wrote about vinegar in his book Old Serbian Foods and Drinks:
"In western Serbia, there is a special type of cheese called cheese, which in folk customs has the same importance as eggs for Easter, because it is only eaten early in the morning on St. Peter's Day. The cheese spreads like this. As soon as the milk is brought from under the cow, it is immediately curdled like this, uncooked, and then the lump is heated in the whey by the fire and kneaded by hand until it becomes hard with everything, then it is taken out of the whey and put into hot water, then it is kneaded and folded until don't make a scone. After that, the top is covered with cross-hairs and dried in the sun for two days, and then it is ready. Somewhere cheese wrapped in the shape of a pretzel".
If you know someone who is still preparing curd, vinegar in this traditional or other way for St. Peter's Day, let us know to visit it!
READ: WHERE CAN I BUY THE BOOK TRADITIONAL RECIPES OF HOME SERBIAN CUISINE?
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