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Strawberry Mess

As a side effect of the quarantine we mastered the art of the meringue. Were the batches of unchewable or dark experimental tries worth? Yes – because at the end we came to a decent result that combined with whipped cream and strawberries results to one of the best desserts during a quarantine or anytime – a simple Eton mess or pavlova.

The deliciousness is unproportional to its simplicity – but who says that complicated recipes are always the best… Just think of sushi… Or pommes frites.. it’s what you do with the ingredients; they just have to be the best and you just need to put a sense of fugues into your cooking or baking. Like what Bach did with a Blockflöte.

We tried several meringue approaches ( with burned sugar,corn flour or cream of tartar) and we found that the basic version with a splash of Calvados works best.

For the meringues (makes app. 15 golf ball size meringues)

2 large egg whites (at room temperature)
60g caster sugar
60g icing sugar
1 Tbsp calvados (optional)

Preheat the oven to 100°C (fan).

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Put the egg whites into the clean bowl of a mixer and whisk them at a medium speed until they start to form nice firm peaks.

Now turn the speed up and gradually add the caster sugar, about 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until sugar is dissolved (about 10 seconds between each addition). Once all the caster sugar has been added, continue to whisk on high for 3 mins. Whisk in the calvados if using. If it feels grainy, whisk for a little bit longer, being careful not to overbeat. When ready the mixture should be thick and glossy.

Sift one third of the icing sugar over the meringue and fold gently with a rubber spatula. Repeat with the rest of the icing sugar by sifting and folding one third at a time. Again, be careful not to over-mix.

Spoon golf ball size spoonfulls of meringue onto the prepared baking trays, using a second spoon to scrape it off the spoon.

Put the tray into the oven. After 45 minutes rotate the tray 180 degrees and continue baking for another 45 minutes, until the meringues easily lift off the paper and sound crisp when tapped underneath.

Gently lift the meringues from the baking tray and cool on a wire rack. Once completely cool and ready to use crush them into small pieces.

The meringues can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

For the Strawberry compote

300g fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half
70g caster sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

Place the strawberries in a medium saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice over medium-high heat and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the sugar has dissolved and the compote thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature, about an hour.

For the macerated strawberries

500g fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in quarters
50g caster sugar

Put the strawberries in a bowl, add 50g caster sugar, toss very gently to coat and leave in a cool place to macerate for at least 30 minutes, until they begin to give up their juices.

For the whipped cream

250 ml cold whipping cream
1,5 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Put cream, vanilla extract and sugar in the (preferably cold) bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat until soft peaks begin to form. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

To assemble

To assemble fill a bowl (or six individual bowls/glasses) with layers of whipped cream, strawberry compote, macerated strawberries and crushed meringues. Repeat layering until all the ingredients are used, reserving some macerated strawberries for the top. Garnish with mint leaves and serve as soon as you can, otherwise the meringues will go soggy.

Almond Biscuits

Published by the other food interpreter

We are now in the third month of our GBTS project and are slowly fitting in our wardrobe again. We decided to ease the discipline for a small treat and after days of consultation we settled for almond biscuits. Why? I think because we had tuned the recipe just before we cut on sugar to the optimum balance of the three ingredients according to our taste, and the biscuit became the Sancho Panza of our coffee.

The main ingredient is – of course- almonds.

Stay, Almonds! This is probably the summit of cult of all dialogs in kitsch Greek cinema of the 60s. A potent looking shepherd offers some almonds to a blond English tourist. She doesn’t understand, panics and runs across the countryside while the benign shepherd follows her shouting: “Stay, almonds!” I do not know what happens after that, I think no-one has seen the whole movie since the 60s.

The recipe that follows looks a little vintage – the ingredients someone could easily find in any shop in the 60s. But it proves that masterpieces do not have to rely on over the top components or over-complicated instructions. You just have to be precise and humble!

We use a good quality organic almond flour, that can be found in some delis. You can use ground almonds, that you can prepare in a food processor at home for a more grainy result.

For 12 biscuits

1 egg white
100g fine caster sugar
135g blanched almond flour or blanched ground almonds
12 whole blanched almonds

Preheat the oven to 180^ο C

Using your hand mixer beat the egg white to soft peaks. Add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff and glossy.

Add the almond flour (or ground almonds) and fold carefully into the meringue with a rubber spatula until evenly combined.

Take a teaspoonful of the dough and roll lightly into a ball. Flatten each biscuit a little in the palm of your hand, and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, leaving some space between each biscuit.

Place a whole almond on top of each biscuit.

Bake them in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

When cool, wrap each one with cling film and store in an airtight tin, so that they remain crusty on the outside and very moist inside for several days. You can also freeze these biscuits for 3 months, just thaw them for a few hours prior to serving.

Oven roasted mushrooms

Published by the other food interpreter

There are no mushrooms in the famous painting ‘The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke’ of the Victorian lunatic Richard Dadd. Given the connotations of mushrooms and their place in folkore or in other Victorians’ eccentric writings, this is somehow unexpected. But we can think that something even stranger happened after the Fairy Feller stroke the chestnut. All the chestnuts – not just the one he masterly smashed- turned into mushrooms. They spread uniformly like a hypothetical constellation defying the rules of gravity and space-time. Of course they could not be put to use for the construction of Queens Mab’s carriage ( have you ever heard of a carriage made of mushrooms?), so we roasted them with onions.

Queen Mab aside, this makes a great sidedish or – with the addition of some more greens – a good salad.

The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke, Richard Dadd

Serves 4 as a side-dish

500g button mushrooms, washed, trimmed, and halved
250g small shallots, peeled and left whole
1 Tbsp rosemary leaves, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 handful rocket, roughly chopped
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 220^ο C ( fan) .

In a large bowl mix the halved mushrooms, whole shallots, rosemary, garlic, 3 Tbsp of the olive oil and season with 1/2 tsp of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.

Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking tray and spread into an even layer and roast for about 25 minutes until caramelised and soft. Remove from the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes.

Transfer to a shallow bowl and toss with the rocket, the remaining 2 Tbsp of olive oil and the lemon juice. Season with some more salt and pepper if needed.

Grilled Turkey souvlaki and a light yogurt sauce

Published by the other food interpreter

Out of all spices saffron is the one that in mind resembles the melange of the Dune universe. In a sense it has time shifting powers, only not in the future, but in the past. In the Archeological Museum in Athens you can see a fresco from Akrotiri ( destroyed in the Theran eruption of 1628 BC) depicting two women harvesting crocus – the Greek saffron variety. The taste and smell of saffron remains the same since the artist painted these two priestesses of an ancient world. The figures could easily be characters from Dune – perhaps some pretty Bene Geserit preparing the Water of Life.

Saffron gatherer, Akrotiri, Santorini, Greece

A more everyday application of saffron is in this recipe of turkey souvlaki. It is on our list of light and very tasty dishes.

This recipe is brought to you by the GBTS project!

Serves 2

For the turkey souvlaki

400g turkey breast, cut in to 2 cm cubes
1 onion, minced
1 generous pinch ground saffron
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
2 Tbsp parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 wooden skewers

For the light yogurt sauce

200g low fat greek yogurt
1 pinch fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried mint or 1 Tbsp fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Place the turkey breast cubes in a large bowl with the minced onion, ground saffron, sweet paprika, parsley, vinegar, olive oil, sea salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Cover and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least one hour.

Combine all the ingredients for the yogurt sauce in a bowl, cover and refridgirate until needed.

Soak the wooden skewers in water for about 30 minutes. This will prevent them from burning.

Preheat your oven grill to high temperature.

Thread the marinated turkey breast onto the 4 wooden skewers and place them on a greased rack. (I use a roasting pan with a rack).

Broil them under the hot grill for about 8-10 minutes, turning over half way and drizzling them with olive oil, until they are golden and cooked through. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and serve immediately with the light yogurt sauce and a fresh green salad.

Chimichurri sauce

Published by the other food interpreter

I dreamed of barbeques in Patagonia, after long treks and under a southern night sky of unfamiliar constellations. The only sound would be the cracking of the woods in the fire, the weather chilly and the wind fresh. Ah, Patagonia a mythical place, still wild. The names of mountains, lakes, rivers and water passages on the maps still not completely absorbed by the place –suited for the imagination of a kid still hoping there are unexplored lands and mystery in the world.

And then I read Bruce Chatwin’s “In Patagonia” and my desire evaporated. Patagonia did not seem that innocent and fresh anymore. It stands out as a place of difficulty, broken wills and social consequences – not to mention Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch . I am sure this does not make justice to Patagonia, but, in a time of Covid travel restrictions, what else can we do but armchair traveling and relying on the stories of others who have been there..

Chimichurri is a sauce for gauchos in the pampa. This version is very dynamic, with all the garlic, onions and chilli it contains. It is great with steaks or grilled fish and a very good alternative to richer sauces if you want to stay on the healthy side.

This recipe is brought to you by the GBTS project!

95g shallots, finely chopped
25g garlic, peeled and finely chopped
40g fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
375g very ripe tomatoes, deseeded and cut into very small cubes
1 small chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
30g sherry vinegar
60g white wine vinegar
300g extra virgin olive oil
150g water

Place the chopped onions, garlic, parsley leaves, tomatoes and chilli in a large bowl. Stir in the dried thyme, oregano, ground cumin,sweet paprika, sea salt and lemon zest. Finish by pouring in both vinegars, olive oil and water.

Spoon the chimichurri sauce into several small jars, then seal tightly and place in the fridge or freezer until needed – it should keep for 15 days in the fridge and up to 6 months in the freezer. Return to room temperature before serving.

The Lockdown GBTS Project

Published by thefoodinterpreter

What can you do when in lockdown? Eat well. Ontop, as parents of a child in e-learning, we needed a decent amount of alcohol. I would say that the occupation around food and drink became something of a modest obsession..All that had consequences. When going back to a somewhat more normal routine you notice that clothes don’t quite fit ( I had the impression that my pants upper button would launch and hit somebody in the eye or knock a person dead). When running the familiar route around the hill I began making concessions to the steep parts, accelerating only when another runner appeared.. So we had to face the simple fact: we gained weight! For my part I even considered doing nothing about it, and spending the rest of my life with the extra kilos. Then again, perhaps not. I fantasized journeys that you travel easiest when lean and fitting in my wetsuit.
Our problem is that we don’t like diets (who does..) . Our assumption is that even if we stuck to a diet for a period, we would slip into the previous habits without thinking much. So we decided to come up with some simple rules, and stopped eating sugar, wheat (mostly) and pasta. This – besides the obvious – had a couple of consequences in our lifestyle: No more cookies with coffee, no extravagant breakfasts, no deserts, no saying yes to the small temptations.. A glass of wine Fridays and Saturdays we allow. You switch to a more calvinistik state of mind and discipline your habits. We have stuck to this for several weeks now, and – in our case – it has worked. We intend to keep it longer on a strict basis, and then relax it with discipline.
And now the big question: Do we eat well? YES! First of all we even more than before try to source good ingredients: fish, meat, fruit and vegs. Our excess now is the size of fish.. We stacked the pantry with fresh spices. And we now have the recipes for tasty food and (we like to believe ) rather healthy and light food. We intend to share this newfound wisdom and tag recipes as “The lockdown G(etting)B(ack)T(o)S(hape) project”.

Tart with figs, feta, caramelised onions, thyme and pink peppercorns

Published by the other food interpreter

Pink peppercorns are not really peppercorns; it is a fake identity. They are the berries of Schinus molle, a tree native in South America. They somehow made the journey in the spice business from west to east – not from east to west. The tree now thrives in several lands and can can be found even in Zappeion in the center of Athens, near the ceremonial guard watch, where we used to stroll daily with our son during the covid lockdown. Of course in their native lands by the Andes they had a long association with costumes and rites. It fact they were not used to spice up fig and onion tarts, but people. Yes, they were used by the Incas for producing chicha, a fermented drink. If you were one of the lucky ones to be offered to the gods, you were first rubbed with chicha remains, then buried alive, then force-fed with more of the drink (think ducks and foie gras). So, pink peppercorns only pretend to be nice – in reality they await to be put in good use as they were for ages.

Figs, on the other hand, are much tamer, with the exception of the milky sap that can cause a mild rush. I think it’s effect is more annoying for children, as I remember from the times we climbed the fig trees in summer for their sweet fruit. Our trees in Naxos produce more figs than we or our friends can consume, so we try to use them anyway we can. One summer we cooked lots of chutney with mixed results. Fig salads with goat cheese are a success. This year as we decided to play it covid safe and not travel by boat for holidays we did not visit Naxos, so we must content with the fig donations of our neighbour in Anavyssos.

Figs, pink peppercorns, onions, thyme and feta (another local produce) work very well in this tart.

Serves 4-6

For the pastry

230g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
100g cold unsalted butter, cubed
25g egg, lightly beaten (approx. 1/2 large egg)
40g cold tap water

For the caramelised onions

2Tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and finely sliced
1 tsp finely chopped thyme leaves
1 pinch fine sea salt
1 tsp butter

For the filling

200g grated feta cheese
6-7 fresh figs, ends trimmed and cut into 1cm thick slices
1 tsp pink peppercorns, crushed
1 tsp finely chopped thyme leaves
freshly ground black pepper

For the pastry put the flour, salt and butter in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and combine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Change to the hook attachment and add the cold water and the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together to form a ball. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place the pastry between two sheets of baking parchment and roll out to a thickness of 2mm.

Butter a 24cm fluted tart tin, line with the pastry and gently push it into the base and edges,allowing the excess to hang over the sides. Prick all over the base of the tart with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Cut a large circle of baking parchment and scrunch it up a couple of times. Lay it over the pastry base, fill with beans or coins and bake for approximately 15 minutes before removing the beans or coins and parchment. Return the pastry case to the oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the tart tin from the oven, let cool a little and then, using a sharp knife, cut the excess pastry from around the top of the tart tin.

For the caramelised onions, heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the onions with a generous pinch of salt and cook slowly for around 30-40 mins. Stir occasionally to prevent them from sticking or burning until they become soft and a golden caramel colour. Remove from the heat, add the chopped thyme leaves, the butter and toss well.

Combine 1/3 of the grated feta cheese with the onion mixture and spread over the pastry base. Spread another 1/3 of feta cheese over the onion mixture and arrange the fig slices on top.

Sprinkle the rest of the feta cheese, the chopped thyme , the crushed peppercorns and some freshly ground black pepper and bake for about 20 minutes.

Arpi’s Chocolate Tart

Published by the other food interpreter

The lockdown gave rise to a new social group: mothers of kids that had to be homeschooled and kept busy within social acceptable norms. A number of tricks where utilised to keep us mothers relatively sane: memes in social media, zoom chats, cooking, alcohol.

Birthdays were a challenge. We did the best we could. Our son celebrated his over zoom with his classmates. They sung happy birthday, he blew the candles of his cake. Then, as the lockdown eased, we repeated the process with his grandfather, his godparents and then his grandmother in separate sessions. I am sure he is aware of the absurdity, but, given the presents, he plays along.

As of the cakes, and given that our assembly skills are a little rusty to build the Millennium Falcon or Darth Vader, the two variations we baked was a multi coloured cake so our son could choose the colours (white, brown, red, blue ) and participate in the process, and a chocolate tart.

We first had this chocolate tart from Arpi, a good friend and mother of two with similar challenges. She baked and brought it at a playdate in more care-free times. She was kind enough to give the recipe, and we have to say it is the best chocolate tart we have baked.

For the tart shell

115g unsalted butter, softened
115g unrefined caster sugar
1/2 tsp coarsely grated salt
115g all purpose flour (sifted)
30g unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)

For the filling

350g whipping cream
350g good quality dark chocolate (55% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
50g unsalted butter, cubed
2 Tbsp brandy (optional)

For the tart shell, combine the butter and unrefined sugar in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, about 5 minutes until light and creamy. Add the flour, cocoa and salt and mix well until combined. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and roll out between two sheets of baking parchment until approximately 3mm thick.

Butter a 23cm fluted tart tin (with removable bottom, if you have one), line with the pastry and gently push it into the base and edges, allowing the excess to hang by 1cm over the sides. Prick all over the base of the tart with a fork and refrigerate (or even better freeze if there is room in your freezer) for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Cut a large circle of baking parchment and scrunch it up a couple of times. Lay it over the pastry base, fill with beans or coins and bake for approximately 10 minutes before removing the beans or coins and parchment. Return the pastry case to the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove the tart tin from the oven, let cool a little and then, using a sharp knife, cut the excess pastry from around the top of the tart tin and set aside.

For the ganache, place the chopped chocolate into a bowl.

Heat the cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t scorch. The cream is ready when it reaches 90°C, right below the boiling point or you can tell the cream is warm when it just begins to bubble and is hot to the touch.

Pour the warm cream over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Add the butter (and the brandy if using) and keep stirring until shiny.

Pour into the tart shell and refrigerate for 2-3 hours to allow the ganache to set.

Quarantine Pathways

Published by thefoodinterpreter

What we are realizing as we are slowly stepping out of the lockdown is that we followed rigid routines: reading, cooking, wandering in the city and in nature, watching the daily announcement of the civil protection and the chief epidemiologist. In a sense we were walking on pathways that we deepened everyday. The first pathway was through nature, literary on the hill around the corner from where we live, or a little further away before and after the strict lockdown. We discovered new paths and took joy every time we saw wildlife (not the bears and wolves our son anticipated), but birds we had never seen before, swarms of butterflies and the usual turtles. We were walking mainly silently.

The second pathway was through the city. We strolled past the Tsoladies (the ceremonial presidential guard), down to Zappeion. Our son had a precise map on his head with the optimal routes for his roller scooter, down to the level of pavement material variations. Of course the stroll was bizarre, passing through sites that were now empty – an opportunity to focus on the architecture. On the edge of Zappeion we discovered a spot that looks old: perhaps a small theatre of late antiquity or the yard of a villa. We still have not figured out what the site is (was). A friend suggested a pun: A circular launch pad in front of a Frank Zappa statue. Our son called it ‘our hideaway’, ran on the circular marble line, watched ants in and out their nests between the cracks of the old mosaic and imagined moles living in under-earth tunnels (he spotted the entrance of such a tunnel). Another daily stop was at the pool with the water turtles: there are 63 of them and the gentleman who takes care of them confined that they grab the occasional pigeon from his leg disembowel and eat it. To the great disappointment of my son we did not witness such a scene. At the end and after hard thinking he concluded that the ‘animals are neither good or bad’.On the way back to our house I served as the engine of his scooter and pushed or pulled all the way uphill.

Animal Planet – observing some pigeon- eating turtles

The third pathway was food. We feel grateful to the local shops that they did not stop their delivery even for one day (thank you Nora, Nataly and everyone at Ideal Fresh). We cooked almost every day. The connotation that comes to my mind whenever I hear of daily emphasis on food is the overindulgence scenes in the dinning room of the “Zauberberg’, but we tried to stick to healthy and ‘Mediterranean’ cooking. We explored old and new cookbooks (between them Ottolenghi’s NOPI and Salt-Fat-Acid-Heat of Samin Nosrat) and discovered recipes that we will include in our repertoire. Our supply of Popi’s olive oil and Naxos’ cheese, honey and capers was interrupted. I guess you call this supply chain regional – so it is already partly restored.

The fourth pathway was reading. I managed to finish ‘Life and Fate’ of Grossman. The title sounds corny but it lives up to its aspirations! As with great Russian novels, I get so much involved and get identified with some of the characters, that I find it hard to keep on reading. I then moved to MacFarlane’s “The Wild Places” and Lino Politis’ Anthology of Poems Part 2, ‘After the Fall’. The highlight of the last is the ‘Tale of the Donkey, Wolf and Fox’. “ Damned Donkey and thrice- cursed/ heretic and and mean, filthy dog/ you ate that leaf of cabbage without vinegar/How comes we did not drown on this journey!”, says the Fox.

Watching the daily announcements of the Civil Protection and the Chief Epidemiologist became an obsession. Tsiodras (the Chief Epidemiologist) had nothing to do with the usual clowns. I think the guy is the last spark of the reaction of science coming together with the tradition of Christian orthodoxy and he seems like an answer to non-compatibility problems endemic to non-Catholic and non-Lutheran traditions. I have the suspicion that some of what he says can be traced back to 8^thcentury solved disputes.

The last pathway was of course technology – the big conceptual network that defines our lives and extends our perception, in a sense the triumph of science and engineering.

Now we are gradually stepping out of the confinement and reconnecting with friends and family, after relentless home schooling, teleworking, having celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, Easter and National Day at home. To what expend is it over? We hope that we will survive until science triumphs again!

Oven Baked Fries

Published by the other food interpreter

Fried Potatoes! We used to have them when I was a kid. Especially in the summer, during our holidays on the island, my mother prepared them with fried eggs! Then she became an advocate of healthy food, and the fried potatoes drifted into oblivion. Years later, on a trip to Madrid I had fried potatoes and eggs in an upscale tapas restaurant. This was my madeleine moment! And then, again, I lost the fried potatoes thread for more years. Now we sometimes have them as a treat for our son ( I mean how can he grow up without knowing what real fried potatoes are? ). Nevertheless, we always feel that we are pushing the envelope of what is acceptable a little too far.

After rigorous research we concluded that we found a very good alternative. They taste really good.

Besides the default way to prepare them, we suggest another three alternatives : with feta, garlic (optional) and oregano, with paprika and garlic and with truffle oil and parmesan.

Sometimes we go for a oven baked fries extravaganza and make all 4 alternatives. It’s fun to taste and compare. Of course you can choose just one version and go with that, or even improvise.

Serves 4 as a side dish

6 large potatoes (1,2kg) skin on (you can peel them if you prefer), cut into 1,5 cm wide fries

For the default oven baked fries

15ml olive oil
1/2 tsp fine semolina
1/4 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

For the feta cheese and oregano oven baked fries

15 ml olive oil
1/2 tsp fine semolina
1/4 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

For the paprika oven baked fries

15 ml olive oil
1/2 tsp fine semolina
1/4 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp sweet paprika

For the truffle oil and parmesan oven baked fries

15ml olive oil
1/2 tsp fine semolina
1/4 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp truffle oil
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 220ºC (fan).

Place a large saucepan of salted water over a high heat. Bring to a boil, add the potatoes and boil for 5 minutes.

Drain and set aside to dry out for 5 minutes. Divide into 4 batches and transfer into 4 different bowls.

For the default baked fries, mix all the ingredients gently together and set aside.

For the feta cheese and oregano baked fries mix the olive oil, semolina, sea salt, black pepper, minced garlic and dried oregano and set aside.

For the paprika baked fries mix all the ingredients gently together and set aside.

For the truffle oil fries mix the olive oil, semolina, sea salt, black pepper and set aside.

Prepare two large baking trays by dividing each of them into two compartments with foil and line each compartment with baking parchment.

Spread each batch out onto a parchment lined baking tray compartment. Take care to spread the potatoes in a single layer, evenly spaced so that the potatoes are not touching each other.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes, turning once halfway through, until golden brown and crisp.

Take the cooked fries out of the oven and place each batch into a separate bowl.

For the truffle fries, sprinkle with the truffle oil and the grated parmesan cheese.

For the feta cheese fries, add the crumbled feta ontop.

Serve immediately as a side dish or as finger food with our homemade ketchup.