Pecan pie and stories about tailors

Oh la la, time is flying and stories and ideas are piling up… Here is one of them… I have a soft spot for tailors...

The other day, Nati came home with an impressive bag of what I would call non-identified nuts. It was a gift from the tailor to thank him for the nice amount of work Nati gave him. I thought it was a nice gesture.

My tailor in the old town fixed the small hole of my pants for free. While he was working, we made conversation with the little greek I know. I came back several days later with homemade biscotti to thank him. I like tailors !

Oui ! I do, my grandfather Joseph Furda was tailor for ladies in the 50s. He was working at home : 2, rue des Moulins in the first district of Paris.

He was well known and he even had the wife of a minister as client. In the parisian salons, ladies were talking about the tailor on Moulins street with the little girl who was climbing on his back… she was my mother taking the opportunity to climb on his back whenever he was knee down to fix a tailor.

My grandfather was signing his work with a label « J. Furda » sewn inside. Sometimes, his clients were coming back because they had gained weight and needed their tailor to be adjusted. My grandfather was recognizing his work and from time to time he could see his label was replaced with the label of a famous haute couture house such as Chanel. Not sure he enjoyed that…

Back to the non-identified nuts… The city girl I am could not figure out what was it. I never saw such a big and long shells before… Pecan nuts of course ! So this is how looks like a whole pecan nuts… I see… let’s bake a Pecan Pie then !

Remove the shell of the pecans is a long and very messy piece of work having the piece of shell flying through the kitchen but enjoying a generous piece of pecan pie is a nice reward…

Life List # 17 - Climb the Nyiragongo volcano in Democratic Republic of Congo

Why in the world would I like to climb the Nyiragongo volcano in Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.Congo) ?

In 2005 I took a two-years leave from work to participate in a humanitarian mission. The french Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) « Medecins du Monde » sent me to Goma in D.R.Congo.

The Nyiragongo volvano (3.470 meters high) overlooks Goma, the biggest regional capital in the eastern country next to the border with Rwanda. The volcano is still active and its last eruption in January 2002 had damaged significantly the city.

During my mission in 2005-2006, I could see the volcano from the back of our compound. The obvious marks of the lava flow were still there : dark dust and volcano rocks everywhere. Getting closer to the volcano you could observe smoke coming out fissures.

A couple of weeks after I arrived to Goma there was an expedition to climb the volcano. I joined the group : volunteers from other NGO and locals who would escort us to the top. How exiting is that ?

The ascent started slowly but surely on volcano stones, as big as my fists and rolling down under every step I would take. It is like climbing a dune with big grains of sand. Very soon I was out of breath. I must say at this point that I am not an athletic person at all. Unfortunately. 

Soon the weather changed and it was raining buckets ! We get all completely soaked. And now every step was even more difficult to make. It felt like I was carrying the buckets of rain, so much my soaked pants were heavy. So far from the goal, I eventually gave up and came back to our compound breathless and so disappointed…

There were not so many opportunities to go again as you need to get permission from the authorities : the area might not be so safe if rebels are around. As well you need to consult the Goma Volcano Observatory (GVO) to make sure there is no forecast of lava, smoke or ash eruption or gas release…

In May 2006, few weeks before I leave D.R.Congo, there was another expedition planned but I could not go… we had to work on the accounting ! I enjoy very much accounting but that day I think I hated it…

Several months after I left D.R.Congo, Nati who was not my husband yet at that time had the chance to climb the volcano and experienced camping on the edge of the crater ! Those are his pictures… isn’t it amazing ?

Missing that golden opportunity to climb the Nyiragongo volcano is my biggest regret in life. I was there. I could have done it but I missed it !

I recall this dream of mine when last November D.R. Congo made the headlines on BBC for its unrest in the province of North Kivu : a new rebel group call the M23, took Goma…

David, our cook was not very optimistic about the situation of his country back then when the first democratic elections in more than four decades were being organized. 
I hope the future will give him reasons to believe again in his country.

Meltingly soft eggplants with greek yogurt and pomegranate

I never been into eggplants. They were either flavourless or either too oily to me depending on the way they had been cooked.

No, eggplants were not my thing until I gave them another chance two years ago in Istanbul. I tried the Imam Bayildi, braised eggplants stuffed with onion and tomatoes and, served at room temperature. Oh what a fabulous discovery ! The eggplants were just melting in the mouth…

I attended a cooking class to learn how to prepare them. It did not work so well at home but the eggplants definitively came out of my « ugly-taste » foods list !

Not long ago I came across the cookbook « Plenty : Vibrant vegetable recipes from London’s Ottolenghi » by Yotam Ottolenghi. The book cover is featuring such appealing eggplants with buttermilk sauce and pomegranate seeds… I had to try this out !

The original recipe involves as well a condiment call Za’atar, very popular in the Middle East. The lady who was putting the spices and herbs on display could not help me to find this condiment so she call her supervisor.

Originating from Liban, her supervisor was very happy to share with me his recipe.

So here is his recipe for the Za’atar :

• 100g ground dry Oregano,
• 21/2 teaspoon Sumac,
• 50g Sesame slightly toasted on a dry pan and,
• 1 tablespoon salt.

I know this is a huge quantity of Za’atar for only two eggplants but think of many pita breads, seasoned with Za’atar and moistened with olive oil, you are going to enjoy !

Berries swiss roll for Christmas

The Christmas swiss roll cake or Bûche de Noël, as we call it in french is not so much a tradition in our family for Christmas.

After having, smoked salmon on blinis, foie gras on warm toasts, snails with garlic & parsley butter, lobster tails for starter, then turkey with chestnuts and green beans, then salad and cheese platter, we would hardly make it to the rich traditional yule log.

And the Trou Normand itself (Calvados alcohol on sorbet), served after the main course would not have helped. So we were usually going for an iced yule log : passionfruit, coconut and vanilla, if I recall correctly.

This year we went for a lighter dinner so why not to try a version of the yule log with berries for dessert ?

The dinner was not so light as my mom brought cheese and foie gras from France and my sister, the unexpected but very appreciated last minute surprise guest, brought from Russia : cheese as well, caviar, special pickles, gingerbread men, lemon jam, tea, black bread with mustard seeds… and so many other goodies !

We started our Christmas Eve diner with a very colorful cocktail early in the evening and about midnight we were still around the table, having dessert… and opening the last presents ! We have this habit of all opening a gift in between each meal… We like to pretend it is for digestion !

Santa has been very generous this year. We all get spoiled. One of my gift was a new gear for my camera : a fixed lens 50 mm, aperture f1.8. It was then just a piece of cake to get a proper picture of this swiss roll ! Look ! Just look ! Thank you Santa !

We had a fantastic Christmas ! Family, excellent food, tons of gifts, what else do we need ?

We spent the following days wandering around Cyprus. We went back to place I knew already and discovered new places…

Old Town, Limassol

Laneia

Laneia

Loufou

Nicosia

St Hilarion Castle

St Hilarion Castle

Greek Salad

Choulou

Abandoned village

Fish Meze, Zygi

Famagusta

Valva

Kato Drys

Kato Drys

I wish you all a sweet and inspired new year !

Blend of sautéed mushrooms to start…

No, I did not spend my Sunday afternoon wandering in the forest looking for mushrooms… It would not have been very safe. The hunting season started and the rules are pretty flexible around here…

As well I would not trust my mushroom skills. I am a city girl and all I know is the button mushroom call « Champignon de Paris » in France. Yes, poor me !

But look what I gathered today… at the supermarket, in the safe fresh veggies section :

The Red Pine mushrooms are from Cyprus. Freshly picked. I like the color, the shape and the crispy texture.

The following recipe is inspired from the starter we had last week end at Gaya Bistro Bar in Binyamina, Israël. The mushrooms had been picked three hours earlier.

Sitting at the bar, no better place to be, to watch the cook throwing the mushrooms up in the air a couple of time. A glass of good red wine. The mushrooms dancing in the pan, when not in the air, with the sizzling oil and the almost caramelized garlic. Nice entertainment before to dig in…

Last figs of the season

My mom is going to the farmers market in my hometown in France, each Wednesday and each Saturday morning to buy her fresh fruits and veggies.

During the figs season she would come back home and dig in the figs before even putting all her groceries away.

I can clearly picture her in the kitchen facing the window and eating greedily a couple of purple figs. She would not peel the skin off, just wash it and devour it !
I know as I have been witnessing her many times when I was living in France. 

How can she like so much a fruit full of countless fine-grains with a such thick skin ? I don’t remember even trying it as the look and texture were not appealing to me at all.

Municipal Market in Cyprus

I am sure she kept this seasonal habit but this year I have not been able to witness her as I now live in Cyprus. Instead I witness my husband having the same craving. 

We would go for a walk in the neighbourhood at evening, sit down somewhere on the top of a hill watching down Limassol at nightfall and discussing about the boats we would see offshore…

On the way back we would make a detour via the big fig tree next to the playground to check it out. Nati would look at each branch and pick few that he would eat on the spot !

Still not interested in figs at this point until I finally decide to taste one : the skin did not seem so thick and the flesh not so grany… 

Then I started to put purple figs in salads, make figs jams and, the best for last : Figs Tarts !

My new tripod has been very useful here : shooting and eating at the same time, what a treat !

What do I like about this recipe ? It’s a tasty one of course but as well an easy one with so many possible variations: Apricots instead of figs, hazelnuts powder instead of almond powder…

The variation with hazelnuts powder came out after this man gave me a handful of hazelnuts. 
I met him in the old town of Limassol. I was wandering with my camera. He was wondering why I was shooting an old stone staircase going up nowhere... I came in his workshop, intrigued to see him cracking hazelnuts with a hammer!... 
I wish I could speak greek, I would have loved to talk to him. I love stories!