This Sunday’s lunch was a commemoration of my aunt.

We prepared  pumpkin soup,a Sunday roast, salad -that we forgot to bring to the table-and my parents-in-law brought a galaktoboureko.

We drank greek wines – always an argument with the aunt who would insist that we have to support the local winemakers. We used her cutlery and her old tablecloth with the small hole that makes it even more intimate and a family matter.

My aunt would throw a number of dinner parties each year, including the Christmas lunch. As she grew older and sicker, this was the last to hand-over to us.

She cooked from memory – so we try to re-generate her recipes by trial-and-error. This includes the Christmas -turkey stuffing and the bitter orange marmalade, all part of my childhood memories. A note regarding the bitter orange marmalade: in my mother’s family bitterness in food was regarded intrinsic for family togetherness and a sign of seriousness – we still have the tendency to look down on people how do not enjoy chicory or have their coffee with sugar. So loosing the recipe of the marmalade is a matter not to be taken lighlty.