Holodetz

Today is Christmas for Orthodox Christians around the world, which follows the Julian calendar.

My favorite memories of "Ukrainian Christmas" growing up were (1)getting to take the day off from school so that our family could spend the holiday with my grandparents (2) opening gifts on Christmas Eve, January 6 and (3) seeing the "shaky stuff" at the dinner table.

This delicacy is actually called Holodetz. It was simultaneously revolting and fascinating, especially to my sister and I as small children. My mother would proudly smack her lips and bring out the dish to the dinner table. Usually one of my great-aunts or great-grandmother, Baba, would have made it and brought it over. Only my mother and grandfather would eat it; the rest of us eerily watching the shaky stuff slowly come to a standstill out of the corner of our eyes.

I recently remembered this strange dish, and worried that the tradition would fade once the relatives started to age and cook less. Doing a quick Google search, I found many recipes online.This particular recipe explains it in english as "jellied beef" which is a fairly accurate description.

For all intents and purposes, it is jelly that has been boiled out of cow feet. True to Ukrainian cuisine, it is bland and fatty. And it shakes.