This is one of those recipes that’s so simple it barely needs instruction. When I spent a summer in Moscow, my group of American students invited one of the student desk clerks at our dormitory to come up to our suite for drinks. Ilya was sweet and funny and instantly won us over even before he showed us this quick appetizer trick.

2-3 garlic cloves
Any medium-to-hard cheese like edam or cheddar
Crackers, celery, or other spread delivery system
Optional: marmalade or jam
Optional: cream cheese

Grate the cheese. Grate or mince the garlic. Mix them together and voila, you have garlic cheese spread. It’s a bit crumbly, but as the cheese softens you can press it back together with the garlic, or mix in some cream cheese if you want a creamier consistency.

Add it to some crackers or celery. If you like, you can add a little dab of orange marmalade (as seen in the photo above) or other jam for a sweet/salty/umami flavor combination.

Pair this with cucumber vodka shots or other fun beverage of choice.

Ilya didn’t work at our dorm for very long. Before he left, he had to go back to the Urals for a family emergency, which meant he also had to drop out of school. I exchanged a few letters with him afterwards. He got a job which he vaguely described as “driving around and exchanging goods for money” which could mean anything. Maybe there was a language gap in the way, as neither of us were perfectly fluent in each other’s languages. Maybe it was something truly banal, or something more exciting and/or illegal. Whatever happened to him, I hope he’s had a good life. Thanks for the recipe, Ilya!