Our beautiful guest Maria is from the village of Kalloni, on the island of Lesvos. As well as being an accomplished cook, Maria is also a great storyteller. When Maria first shared the Platseda recipe with us, she also shared a lovely story about bartering for orange blossom essence; an essential... moreOur beautiful guest Maria is from the village of Kalloni, on the island of Lesvos. As well as being an accomplished cook, Maria is also a great storyteller. When Maria first shared the Platseda recipe with us, she also shared a lovely story about bartering for orange blossom essence; an essential ingredient in the Platseda glaze.
Growing up in my village of Kalloni, we had two monasteries; one of which was inhabited by nuns. I have special memories of my sisters and I walking along paths lined by wild lavender and oregano, to reach the nuns’ monastery. The nuns were very skilled. They weaved and embroidered beautiful cloths. They kept bees and gathered honey and they also collected sour orange blossoms, which they pressed to extract orange blossom essence. My sisters and I would offer the nuns a bottle of olive oil or some dried beans or lentils and in return they would give us a bottle of their aromatic orange blossom essence. We used this precious essence to make Platseda as a New Year’s treat.
Maria’s Platseda are truly a texture and taste sensation – they are crisp, sweet, nutty and the orange blossom essence makes them intoxicatingly aromatic. Make it your New Year’s resolution to master this recipe and along the way, you may even relive the magic of childhood in the village of Kalloni, in times past. less
