Ode to Grechka

Yesterday Spencer and I both had the day off. While most of it we wasted just lounging around and reading, we did accomplish one important task. We went to the Russian store! I've enjoyed most of the traditions Spencer has shared with me from his mission in Russia. I must confess though that my favorite one may be grechka! What is grechka you may ask? Grechka is a cereal product commonly eaten in Eastern Europe. In English, grechka generally refers to buckwheat groats, but in Slavic countries, grechka refers to porridge in general, and can be made from any cereal, especially buckwheat, wheat, barley, oats, and rye. It is one of the oldest known dishes in the Slavic cuisines of the Eastern European cuisine, at least a thousand years old. This Buckwheat grechka is so versatile that it can be used in the morning as a cereal with hot milk or in the evening as a side dish instead of rice or potatoes

Sounds quite appealing right? We bought three bags of grechka at the store! Well, there are many ways to prepare and eat grechka. What we enjoy best is a breakfast concoction (I say breakfast but we enjoy it for any meal!) We'll boil the grains like any other recipe, but at the same time we start to fry up some ham. Once all the water is absorbed or evaporated we combine the grechka with the ham in a frying pan. Then we crack a couple of eggs into the pan and mix everything up. Then we dish up generous servings into large bowls. On our grechka we like to mix in mayonnaise and ketchup. You have to be careful though to get the proportions right. It's very delicious and filling. I recommend that everyone go out and try some grechka....or just come to our house and we'll make you some!