Mykhailo Bonda home dairy farm, Irshava
Mykhailo Bonda's home dairy farm is a small family business in Irshava, a town in the foothills of the Borzhava ridges. The Tourism and Resorts Department of the Zakarpattia Regional Administration has included it in its catalogue of regional craft producers. Here "craft" means simple, honest home-made dairy: the family's own cows, daily milking and processing right in the yard. The owner's main rule is no preservatives and no milk powder, only fresh milk and the traditional methods Zakarpattia villages have always used.
Why look this farm up
The farm has no website or social media and does not run tours or tastings. But if you are staying in or around Irshava and want breakfast the way locals have it, with fresh curd cheese and sour cream, this is the place. Products are sold by prior arrangement: call or email, find out what is available and agree where and when to collect it. Everything is home-made and free of preservatives, so buy it shortly before you leave or for the next few days, and keep it cool on the road.
In Zakarpattia towns many people still buy dairy not at the supermarket but from "their own housewife", collecting fresh curd, sour cream and butter directly from farmers they have known for years. Small farms like this keep the taste of childhood alive, and they are exactly what to look for if you want real local dairy.
What to buy and taste
- Sour cream: thick and home-made, so thick a spoon stands up in it;
- butter: churned from home-made cream;
- home-made curd cheese: fresh, moist and slightly tangy.
How to enjoy it the Zakarpattia way? Curd cheese with sour cream is the classic breakfast; curd also goes into dumplings and pies, while thick sour cream and butter are the essential base of banush and other cornmeal dishes that mountain cooks make with cream and serve with crackling and brynza. Good butter and sour cream make even plain garden potatoes delicious.
Practical information
- Where: Irshava, Khust district; the exact address and meeting point are given by phone.
- Phone: +38 068 137 81 94.
- Email: [email protected].
- Hours and prices: not published; check by phone. Quantities depend on the day's milk, so arrange in advance.
Getting there. Irshava lies between Mukachevo and Khust, on the road linking the two towns through the foothills. It is an easy drive from either. There is no railway in Irshava, so without a car take a train to Mukachevo or Khust and continue by bus. Buses to Irshava also run from Uzhhorod.
Please confirm by phone before your trip.
Photos: zaktour.gov.ua.
