syrniki

English

Etymology 1

Syrniki served with strawberry varenye

From Russian сы́рники (sýrniki), plural of сы́рник (sýrnik). Doublet of syrnyky.

Noun

syrniki (plural syrniki or syrnikis)

1. A fried Eastern Slavic quark (curd cheese) pancake.

   Coordinate term: syrnyky (Ukrainian)

   • 1941 July, Marie Alexandre Markevitch, “Syrnikis”, in The Epicure in Imperial Russia, San Francisco, Calif.: The Colt Press, →OCLC, “Sweets” section, page 82:

     The Syrnikis may be either boiled or roasted; it is a question of taste.

   • 1997, Guillermo Erades, chapter 19, in Back to Moscow, London: Scribner, →ISBN, page 111:

     I would miss her enthusiasm and dedication – which kept me awake, most of the time, despite my hangovers and chronic lack of sleep – and I would also miss the little sweets she brought me once a week, usually on Fridays – blinis, syrnikis, home-made preserves.

   • 2017, C[hristopher] T[odd] Wente, chapter 50, in The Nearly Departed, [Scotts Valley, Calif.]: CreateSpace, →ISBN, page 499:

     The father of the small family snatched a syrniki from the plate in front of him.

   • 2019, C.D. Brown, chapter 11, in Fate’s Stiletto (Weapons of Fate; 1), [Grayson, Ga.]: Gryphonwood Press, →ISBN:

     Nina took a syrniki and popped it in her mouth.

   • 2024, Patrice Gilles, “Tuesday, 30 November 2010”, in The Trap, London: Austin Macauley Publishers, →ISBN:

     On the table were a plethora of dishes offering halved Malossol gherkins, cucumbers with dill, cheese dips, smoked trout rillettes, mushrooms marinated in garlic and dill, buckwheat blinis, caviar, crème fraiche, the inevitable Olivier salad, salmon egg canapés, salmon canapés, pirojkis, syrnikis.

   • 2024 May 30, Francesca Bond, “Nickel Plate opens, new items on local menus”, in The Buffalo News, Buffalo, N.Y., →ISSN, →OCLC, “Gusto Thursday” section, page 5, columns 4–5:

     Anastasia’s Artisan Bread owner Anastasia Nikolaeva is leading a workshop on syrniki, an Eastern European breakfast food that is a sweet and cheesy pancake made with farmer’s cheese. During the workshop, she will teach how to make syrniki and traditional farmer’s cheese, and send students home with syrniki, kefir starter, farmer’s cheese, her own notes and recipes and a book supplied by Read It & Eat Bookshop.

Further reading

• syrniki on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Noun

syrniki (plural syrniki or syrnikis)

1. Alternative form of syrnyky.
   • 2020 February 2, Tyler Jett, “Des Moines businesses prepare for caucus rush”, in Des Moines Sunday Register, volume 171, number 191, Des Moines, Ia., →OCLC, page 1E:

     The restaurant then was expected to transition to Sunday’s “No Malarkey” for former Vice President Joe Biden. The sandwich is Ukrainian: syrniki pancake buns with chicken Kiev, topped with Swiss cheese, sauteed onions and cabbage.

   • 2023 August 23, Rekaya Gibson, “Krem Bakery & Cafe: Enjoy a taste of European desserts”, in Daily Press, Newport News, Va., →ISSN, →OCLC, “Flavor” section, pages 1, column 1, and 6, column 1:

     Syrniki, a fried Ukrainian pancake at Krem Bakery & Cafe in Virginia Beach. […] It was my first time trying syrniki, fried Ukrainian pancakes. They were made with farmer’s cheese. The golden rounds looked appetizing; I expected a smooth and creamy texture.

   • 2024 January 20, Ron Hurtibise, “Tasting the world … one country at a time: Euroland, a grocery featuring products from Eastern Europe, opens in Deerfield Beach”, in South Florida Sun Sentinel, volume 66, number 21, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., →ISSN, →OCLC, section 1, page 8, columns 2–3:

     Among dishes that Americans would not recognize but would love if they tried, [Yuliia] Kovalchuk said, are Georgian khinkali (meat-filled dumplings), Belarusian draniki (potato pancake^[sic]) and fluffy Ukrainian syrniki (pancakes made with farmer’s cheese).