Buzhenyna (буженина, garlic-studded roast pork)

The best slice of buzhenyna is cold, not hot. That surprises people. The roast comes out of the oven smelling like garlic, pepper, bay leaf and browned pork fat, and everyone wants to cut it immediately, but the dish becomes itself later, after the juices settle and the garlic has crept through the meat overnight.

This is holiday pork for a table that expects people to keep arriving. Easter, Christmas, a name day, any day when the plates are too many and the fridge is already crowded. You roast one generous neck, tuck it away, and the next morning there it is: thin slices for the first guests, thicker ones for the hungry cousin, a little sharp horseradish beside it, black bread if you have sense.

The one thing that decides it is the resting. Salt and garlic need time to travel inward, and after roasting the meat needs to cool before the knife goes in. Aunt Nadia wrote only, "let it sleep under paper," which is typical of her, as if paper were a unit of measurement. She was right. Wrap it, chill it, then slice against the grain and watch the meat hold its juice instead of spilling it all over the board.

Don't chase perfection. Pork neck is forgiving, pork shoulder works, even a leaner loin can be made to behave with extra care and more fat on top. But don't skip the garlic pockets. They are the memory of the dish.