For New Year's Day my wife and I ate Hoppin' John for many years. That tradition ended last year and look what happened - we're getting divorced.
Divorce means deciding on which elements of your old life you want to bring into the new one that you build everyday. I missed the New Year's meal last year and decided not to forgo it this year. But it couldn't be Hoppin' John. One day a week or so ago I was poking around in the refrigerator and found the bag of Winesap apples that I had bought on my last trip out to Lapacek's of the season.
Something went off in my head. A few minutes of internet searching later and I had decided to make Racuchy - Polish apple pancakes - on New Year's Day.
The Winesaps were grated. At the orchard the sign said they'd take on a marzipan-like flavor with aging which was a big bonus for me.
The batter included yeast. Just as with the bundt cake, I used half wheat, half buckwheat which gave it a brown-grey color.
I fried them up in plenty of oil and butter. They turned out well, I thought. Very fritter-like. It didn't take me long to consider trying them with cardamom next time instead of cinnamon.
I couldn't taste anything akin to marzipan but I do have one apple left for a tasting.
My hope is that Racuchy becomes my new New Year's tradition. Before meeting my wife, I didn't eat anything in particular to start the new year. Now that we're parting ways, I am retaining the tradition of eating something special on 1 January but am cooking a different food. Continuity but also forging a new future.
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