Šurlice

Šurlice su vrsta tjestenine koja nam stiže s Kvarnera. Najpoznatije su one krčke, a ako se pitate kako su dobile ime, kao što sam se ja pitala, vrlo je jednostavno. Slonove surlice iliti šurlice. Još ih zovu i makaruni na iglu jer se šuplji dio dobije tako da se tijesto omata oko pletaće igle.

Ajmo na recept za šurlice.

Pošto sam radila manju količinu tjestenine, prepolovila sam recept a ovo je originalni koji sam pronašla:

1 kg oštrog brašna

2 jaja

0,5 l vruće vode

malo maslinovog ulja

sol

I igla naravno. U mom slučaju, metalni štap za ražnjiće jer nisam još krenula plesti, ali tko zna.

Šurlice are a kind of pasta that originated in the Kvarner region. The most famous ones come from the island of Krk, and if you’re wondering how they got their name, it’s actually quite simple. It comes from the Croatian word for elephant trunk, “surla”, or “surlica”. They also call them needle macaroni because the hollow shape is achieved by rolling them on knitting needles.

Let’s move on to the šurlica recipe. I wanted to make a smaller amount of pasta, so I halved the recipe, but this is the original I found:

1kg all-purpose flour
2 eggs
½ liter hot water
olive oil
salt
And a knitting needle, of course. Or in my case, a metal skewer because I don’t knit, but, who knows.

Ne moram uopće govoriti no ipak, od navedenih sastojaka treba zamijesiti čvrsto tijesto. I dalje se divim ljudima koje to rade pod normalno rukama. Ovo je, ljudi moji, posao.

Nakon što zamijesimo tijesto treba ga ostaviti da se odmara sat, dva.

It should be obvious that the ingridients are here to make a firm fresh handmade dough. I'm still amazed and in awe of people that do this every day, its a real job! After we made the dough we should let it rest for an hour or two to let its processes act out.

Pošto sam nova u tom svijetu tjestenina, lako se zanesem pa sam tako i ovaj put. Originalno se šurlice rade tako da napravimo dugi valjak, kao za njoke, i režemo komadiće koje zatim u dlanovima stisnemo i onda oblikujemo šurlice oko igle.

Since I am new to the pasta making world, I can easily get ahead of myself, which happened this time as well. Originally, šurlice are made by forming a long cylinder, like for gnocchi, and cutting it up into small pieces that are then pressed flat in the palm of your hands and rolled onto the knitting needle.

Kao što rekoh, ja sam se zanijela pa sam totalno zaboravila taj dio (kasnije sam i tako radila) već sam krenula valjat tijesto, izrezla ga na komadiće, oblikovala tanke trake i onda njih namatala oko igle. S iglom sam ih još malo "povaljala" po površini da ih izravnam, izvadila sa igle i eto, šurlice.

Tako su mi još više nalikovale na te surlice po kojima su ime i dobile.

As I mentioned before, I got way ahead of myself and completely overlooked that process. I started rolling the dough out, cut it into pieces, formed strips and then rolled them onto the needle. I used the length of the needle to roll them out slightly more, pulled it out and – there you go. Šurlica. This way they looked even more like the trunks they were named after. 

No da se razumijemo, strpljenje je ono što se vježba a ja sam ga bome uvježbala na svojim šurlicama do zadnjeg komadića tijesta. Ne znam što bi bilo da sam umijesila tijesto po receptu od kile brašna. Vjerojatno sad ne bih pisala ovaj post već bih još uvijek namatala oko igle. I ta brzina valjda dođe s iskustvom, pa ćemo raditi na tome i dalje.

But let’s be frank, patience is gained through practice and I can tell you that I got a lot of practice in by the time I got to the last bit of the dough. I don’t want to know what it would have been like had I actually used the full recipe. I probably wouldn’t be writing this right now because I’d still be making them. I guess speed comes with experience, so we’ll keep working on that.

Kad su šurlice gotove, treba ih pustiti nekoliko sati da odstoje i posuše se na pobrašnjenoj površini.

Šurlice se tradicionalno poslužuju sa raznoraznim umacima, šugovima a mi smo svoje poslužili sa pravim istarskim žgvacetom za koji recept slijedi u idućem postu. 

Dok čekate da se šurlice posuše, možete uzeti pletaće igle i plesti za zimu.

U nedostatku pletaćih igala, možete prigristi nešto. Mi smo prigrizli domaće kobase obitelji Ferina od prošlogodišnjeg kolinja. Ne moram ni govoriti da je to skratilo muke čekanja.

When the šurlice are done, they should be left to dry for a few hours on a floured surface.
Šurlice are traditionally served with all kinds of different sauces, and we served ours with a real Istrian žgvacet – the recipe for which will be in the next post.

As you wait for your šurlice to dry, you can use your needles to knit yourself a scarf for the winter. If you don’t have the needles, then you might as well have a snack. We had some homemade sausage from the Ferina family’s own production. I don’t even have to say how much easier that made the wait. 

Translation/prijevod: Anna Kosir