Serbian Cheese Spread: Kajmak

This is sort of a quick version, not traditional. In the not too distant past, and even today in rural areas with cows, sheep or goats, raw milk was boiled and the cream was skimmed off to make homemade kajmak, which was not often commercially produced. This recipe substitutes other ingredients for the raw milk and thus cuts down on the more labor intensive traditional way. This is NOT a weight watcher's delight, but if you don't get carried away, it shouldn't hurt you. In times now gone by in many parts of the world, rich and fatty foods were seen as necessary to maintain or increase body weight, when much more physical labor was needed for many jobs.

This cheese is not only common in Serbia, but also in Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and other areas of the Balkans. In Serbo-Croatian the pronunciation is essentially like, "kai-muk," with the first part rhyming with "eye." It is often spread on bread, or used to top the common burgers of the region, called, "pljeskavice," pronounced as if, "pless-kah-veetsa." For the recipe for "Pljeskavice,: here is the link:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/07/pljeskavica-serbian-burgers.html  I also have a posting for "creme fraiche," which is similar to sour cream, with a slight difference, but it is very easy to make, and you can find it in some supermarkets or dairy stores. For Clevelanders, it is available at one of the cheese/dairy stands at the West Side Market, although, at least, one of the other stands has it "around the holidays," as I was told.

1/2 pound feta cheese, rinsed
1 stick (4 ounces) butter
8 ounces creme fraiche or sour cream
pinch of salt (optional, if using salted butter, you won't need even a pinch of salt)

You can use a beater or food processor. Let the cheese and butter come to room temperature. Mix the feta and butter, then mix in the creme fraiche or sour cream. Mix until smooth.

WORD HISTORY:
Feta-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, and in fact, its history is shaky, but it seems to go back to Latin "offa," which meant, "piece, chunk," the diminutive form of which was "offetta," meaning, "morsel, small piece." This passed into Italian as "fetta," meaning, "piece, slice," and Greek borrowed the word as transliterated "féta," circa 1600. English borrowed the word from Greek in the first part of the 1900s.