Bograch at Vasyl's house

Saturday morning we rinsed out the three largest wine barrels for the final time, rinsing them with boiling water. We had been cleaning them for the past two weeks, filling them with water,letting them sit and soak for a few days, emptying them, then filling with water again. After the final rinsing, we took them down into the wine cellar. On Monday, Misha will test the must with a saccharometer, and if the must is ready, it will be pressed and the juice transferred to the wine barrels.

Saturday afternoon I went by bicycle to the Khoma home in Baranyntsi. Peter Khoma Sr. and his wife Svetlana were in Uzhgorod, but their son Peter was home; also home was Tanya and her 8 month old baby Yaroslav. I didn't get a chance to talk with Tanya because she was busy trying to get the baby to sleep. Tanya graduated from the university several years ago with a degree in English, and has been working as an English teacher.

Peter is in his second year at the University. He is studying Computer Science, specializing in Cybersecurity (aka IT Security, or Computer Security). One of his interests is cars, and he just bought an old car which he is trying to get running again.

Peter's maternal grandmother offered me some homemade wine from last year; it was a rich dark purple/red, made entirely from black grapes.

I got a call on my phone from Misha. I was supposed to meet him at Vasyl's house for dinner, so Peter got on his bicycle and I followed him from his house to Vasyl's on my bike.

Vasyl was cooking his bograch over an open fire, in one of the cauldron's which give bograch its name. Bograch, goulash, and paprikas are examples of Zakarpattian cuisine which has been borrowed from or influenced by Hungarian cuisine. There are two main ingredients in each - meat, and paprika; the major difference between the three dishes is the amount of liquid - how "soupy" it is.

Vasyl had just finished pressing his wine, so while the bograch was cooking, Vasyl and Misha dismantled his wine press. I had just read earlier today that many small craft wineries are going back to using "basket" type hand presses like Vasyl's, rather than modern mechanical presses, because the old presses produce a superior wine (something to do with the amount of time the juice is in contact with the pommace).

Vasyl's wife set the table, with miniature cauldrons for soup bowls.

Vasyl's two sons came over, with their wives and daughters. Vasyl's son Vitaly is the dentist I've been going to. His other son is an oncologist (I can't remember his name). The two girls are Tanya and Oksana. The two girls look like they could be sisters. (or even twins if not for the age difference). Oksana is Vitaly's daughter, and she is the youngest. 

I'm don't know if the woman below is Vitaly's wife, or his sister-in-law:

While we were waiting for the bograch, we had popcorn to snack on. This wasn't any "Orville Redenbacher" popcorn from the store, but popcorn they had grown themselves.

Vasyl and I cooked salo over the fire, and dripped the fat onto pieces of bread.

The table set with all kinds of food - hurka, sausages, mushrooms, bograch, pickles, tomatoes and peppers, wine, cognac, vodka, and an aged cheese very similar to "Bleu Cheese", or "Roquefort", very sharp but went well with beer and wine. 

I wanted to ride my bicycle home, but Misha insisted on driving me. I tried writing this post yesterday once Misha brought me home, but I ended up falling asleep at the computer.