Comment
And that is that …
This morning I thought I had missed call from someone I have worked during the last two very intense years of my water related job (which takes up most of my time during the week). He has accepted a job in a faraway warm rich place and I had sent him a farewell card. I called him back to wish him well, thinking it was his last day at work. At this stage of our testing professional relationship, having been through intense challenges, trials and tribulations, we could just be human, and focus on the person immigrating to a different country, leaving their home behind, regardless of whether this is done happily or sadly. So it was to my surprise that at the end of the conversation he chose to say something awkward. It aimed to question the role of the hard working organisation I spend almost all of my working week at to protect the interests of the public in a private UK water industry. Still I obliged him. It was not personal, he’s a good guy, it was probably his way of joking and he was making small talk whilst I was calling to wish him good luck from the bottom of my heart.
Straight after that I went to Oasis, a refugee charity in Cardiff, where hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers, migrants or immigrants, receive support and food every week. I found myself in the kitchen with women from Ghana, India, Uganda, Zambia, Albania whilst they were cooking a meal for ninety odd people who will have lunch at Oasis today. I met them for the first time. They all probably have interesting stories, perhaps some of these stories are harrowing. Some of them have their children at their home country whilst they work here. Still they opened their mind and their arms to me as soon as I walked in. You know that sense of that we are all in it together? That’s what I felt.
This morning I felt relieved as I was putting the phone down, being thankful for the bad signal that interrupted the awkward final bit of my discussion with a newly appointed ex-pat . And as I was leaving Oasis I felt grateful to Reynette and the women in the Oasis kitchen for opening their door to me, to cook, to share & record their recipes and listen to their experiences. As a human.
I think I know for good which conversation I’d rather be in.
Lia’s Kitchen meets Riverside Market Garden
About a month ago I started visiting the people who grow delicious food locally. It was a good reminder that the food we put on our plates and which many times is grown organically, is a hard labour of love. I walked and talked with Tom from Bleancamel Market and then Poppy and Debby from Riverside Market Garden.
Alongside with discussions I had last autumn with Poppy Nicol working with Riverside Market Garden these visits became the inspiration for a pop-up pie shop at Roath Farmers’ Market on 23 May 2015. This was a true collaboration with hardworking growers. The Greek pies we offered people used fresh ingredients from Riverside Market Garden, either picked or foraged from the farm a couple of days before the event. Blaencamel Farm also supplied some of their delightful rainbow chard.
We are nearing the end of a period called the hungry gap when new crops, such as for example potatoes and carrots, are not there yet or are available in small amounts. Instead of focussing on what we don’t have we looked around us to the delightful and nutritional greens that are available throughout May. This awareness of wild greens’ abundance has also been the result of on-going research into wild foraged greens that I spent my childhood eating and picking with my family. Catalan Chicory, radishes, dandelions, purslane, chard and beetroot leaves have been a staple of the Greek diet for years and indeed many restaurant offer these as a delicacy in inspired recipes with fish, lamp, cuttlefish or in plain refreshing summer salads. In the past year I have been making the connections between what grows in the place I grew up and the place I live. And I have been noticing that many growers have been cultivating or even introducing some of these feisty crops into our diet.
My choice to make pies is not only because of my love of pie and my mission to make sure that everyone in Britain knows what a good homemade Greek pie tastes like, but also because wild green pies have something special because of their freshness – they always surprise people with the flavour and texture of their ingredients.
On 23 May we sold all our wild green pies and hopefully we helped people reimagine they can do with the food that nature gives them each season.
I have one message to leave you with- support your local growers, visit the markets they attend and order your precious life giving food from them where you can. Remember that fresh and organic also means nutritious and healthy. And of course as ever I would like to say: don’t forget to eat more pie!
Want to learn how to make Greek Pie?Contact Lia’s Kitchen for private cooking lessons, catering orders and bespoke pop-up events & dinners. Email liaskitchen@gmail.com to be added to our mailing list.
Visit www.riversidemarketgarden.co.uk to find out more about your local growers. A weekly vegetable box scheme is delivered in Roath, for more information see here:
Our menu on 23 May included Nettle and green garlic pie, Chard pie, Chard & dandelion pie with chocolate mint and fennel leaves.
Practice what I preach…
In the past couple of months I have worked with Green City Events and Cynefin Cardiff to deliver two cooking workshops and a roadshow to help the kind people of Roath to find ways to reduce their food waste. We have done this in the process of delivering the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign [1] in Cardiff supported by Wrap Cymru.
The week after our last cooking workshop on 21 February I decided to practice what I preach and took my own personal Love Food Hate Waste challenge. I pledged to shop very little food (apart from fresh essentials) and to eat what is already in my cupboards and freezer for the most part of the week.
The challenge was a great creative success and I saved around £30 as I only bought small quantities of milk, some cheese and some salad to complement the meals we made.
The meal I was most proud of that week was a Mexican spice inspired vegetable dish made from frozen cauliflower, quorn mince and spinach (all commonly kept in my freezer), the leftover greens that we did not use at the cooking workshop on 21 February, the final two spoons of yoghurt, a tin of black beans from my essentials’ pantry and the last cup of couscous from that bag that we have not eaten for ages. Not only did that dish give us dinner and lunch the next day, I actually froze a couple of portions in anticipation of the busy week that followed.
During my challenge I looked carefully through my cupboards and my freezer. For example, I thawed just over half a kilo of meatball mix that was leftover from one of our supper clubs and made a linguini ragú with which gave us a couple of meals for two and another frozen meal.
At the Love Food Hate Waste workshops we aimed to empower people to make personal and household changes to their food consumption and wastage. Lots of people seemed worried about getting a recipe right or that they couldn’t cook with random ingredients. So hopefully through making different mixed vegetable Ribollita soups with various herbs and whatever vegetable was available to us at the same workshop we empowered participants to be creative and daring in adapting recipes to what they have or can afford. Experimenting is the way!
I would definitely recommend Eat-What-You-Have weeks like mine as they will help you sort through your cupboards and freezer. Making shopping lists or using the online Love Food Hate Waste App on your smart phone can help you loads with shopping and meal planning. And if you fancy being inspired by seasonal ingredients or what is on offer, why not browse www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for ideas.
One of the most useful tips I could give you to save food and money is to be aware of what you already store in our cupboards before heading back to the shops. Also storing food correctly, e.g. labelling it, using airtight containers or keeping your fridge temperature low will make you yield more meals from what you buy. Using your freezer more and keeping it tidy is another step to help you achieve this by prepping food in advance, storing the right amount of frozen basics or storing extra portions from meals.
The whole process of this project has made me think long and hard about food waste and food poverty. According to the Trussell Trust the number of people using food banks has almost tripled since last year. And whilst this is because of the increase in the number of food banks set up, a noteworthy effort to help an increasing number of people in need, I cannot reconcile this fact with the amount of food still being wasted in the UK. It is estimated that we still throw away 7 million tons of food and drink a year. This is food is costing all of us £12.5bn each year.
Today I was reading about France’s Good Samaritans law which protects those helping someone in need or peril from being sued or accused if something goes wrong. It is important to protect public health and to minimise risk for people in the food sector. But I wonder, would the introduction of a ‘good Samaritan’ legal principle in the UK encourage all of us personally as well as larger corporations or small (food) businesses to do more to address food poverty or to donate food that we would have otherwise wasted?
[1] Love Food Hate Waste is a campaign that has been running since 2007 and run by WRAP, a well-established not-for profit company that is responsible for a lot of good work in on resource efficiency and waste reduction across the UK.
Pop pop pop goes 2014
The last 2014 Lia’s Kitchen pop-up dinner took place on the last full moon of the year . On Sunday afternoon I ‘sat’ tired amongst boxes and paperwork reflecting on the two pop up dinners we completed this weekend. What a success!
Accounted for are a broken box (it happens), a broken gazebo (don’t ask), at least 30 to-S and fro-S between the shed , the living room and the car, hours of cooking , sorting , cleaning, thinking. And also one proud me and endless moments of contentment.
I begun and ended this year’s pop-up dinners at Penylan Pantry a deli/café that has livened up and brightened our area. I have thrown five pop up dinners since May 2014 all exploring foods, cultures and recipe combinations that I love. It’s been quite the journey, fulfilling and always full of surprises.
The next immediate thing on the cards for me is slightly different in that it will involve educational waste awareness workshops to help people reduce their food waste. I will be working with two social venturers I respect a lot. I am very excited and proud I will be using my free time towards such a venture.
As for the future…it holds surprises that I cannot predict but I am sure there will be congregations as beautiful and warm as those of the last two days. So watch this space ! Get in touch! Don’t be a stranger!
Thanks to all who have joined our table and made these pop up dinners so wonderful. It’s the people who appreciate what’s offered to them and enjoy each other that create this wonderful atmosphere that seeps into our life and fuels Lia’s Kitchen.
Thank you old and new friends who help make Lia’s Kitchen happen through your hard work -you know who you are.
Happy birthday to the Penylan Pantry who is one today. Mel and Jo well done you are stars and thanks for hosting Lia’s Kitchen events.
Photos by Jo, Penylan Pantry, Dean Doyle, Lia’s Kitchen and Dan Green.
Juice Fuel
Image Posted on Updated on
Here I go venturing into the unknown world of juices. My aim is to cure the hangovers and boost the immune systems of some wonderful people in West Wales whilst they party at a most wonderful secret location.
Up until yesterday I was chopping all my fruit and veg to go into the juicer, until my friend Gaby (a.k.a. Juice Queen) just threw everything in there and pressed the ON button. I squealed with delight at how much time this saved me.
Yesterday I left at 6am to work outside Cardiff and as soon as I was back at 5.30pm I continued my juice recipe testing. I am truly dedicated to finding the right recipe.
The result: I think we’ve got three strong contenders for the Blue Lagoon Festival. And they seem very pleased with themselves too.
Cross your fingers people I am quite nervous about this one 😉
Jacob’s Market Art and Dining Supper Club
This time last week we were taking down our pop-up restaurant and packing Lia’s Kitchen for a return home after a successful art and dining fundraiser and one the happiest birthday’s of my life. Thank you so much for overwhelming us with support, we were fully booked with a waiting list and a few spectacular late night reservation ‘wars’ took place for the last few places at our dinner table.
To all our guests I have to say thank you, you made the atmosphere of the night so wonderful. Thank you to our lovely friends some of which travelled from London and Plymouth for this !!! But even though half the people there we had not met before and they did not know each other, when I walked in to greet everyone before we started eating I was welcomed by a relaxed and comfortable vibe. ‘How wonderful’, I thought, ‘it’s worked!’.
So that you know you have helped us raise enough dosh to cover all our expenses for setting up the pop-up restaurant and to contribute to the fundraising for the community art project in Ghana. There will be more events coming up and you can always purchase a Ghana print from Dan Green Photography to support the art project , see here.
I am so moved and impressed that we have set up and delivered this event in our spare time. Jacob’s Market opened their doors to us- thank you Liz, Ian and Mike (for your wonderful bar and cocktails)! Dan Green set up and took an exhibition of prints and pasting of images from Ghana in 24 hours. Our friends worked so hard with us- Martin chopped and cooked tirelessly. Becks was the best maitre’d with her calm assertiveness. Peanut and Dan rocked the floor and were fantastic hosts. Beth was a joy to work with and gelled wonderfully with the team shifting her attention where it was most needed. And my lovely Elpida, was a rock, washing, serving, tidying and being there to the bitter end.
Some people have asked me whether I am mad holding this event on the eve of my birthday. To this I happily respond that I probably am. But this was the best birthday ever because to see people coming together to support art and food ventures, to see them loving the food and the environment we set up in a white walled gallery is precious. And because I shared a sense of achievement so big with new faces and people I love. I guess it is true that joy when shared is magnified by a million.
See you on 26 October at The Pot, Crwys Road, for the next one!
Good food for a good cause
I am joining forces with Dan Green to create a fundraising art and dining experience. As well as supporting my food ventures, we are collaborating to help raise funds for a community art project in Ghana, a project affiliated to our favourite charity , the Safe Foundation, as we have come to know this Ghanaian community through their work and support.
Large scale prints of photos of the Kumasi community and its members will be pasted in the neighbourhood streets and walls of the school Safe Foundation volunteers started building in 2010. We want to empower and pay tribute to a community that builds its own resilience and gives back to the visiting Safe Foundation volunteers as much as they give to it. The artists will collaborate with the Safe foundation to make this project happen but we will need support to fund its completion, and costs such as materials and airfares.
We will soon be sending more information to many of you about our endeavours but we count on your support to make this project happen. So watch this space, get in touch, get involved!
Our first supper club is taking place on Saturday 21 September 2013 at Jacob’s Market Cardiff. You can book a place at the event here:
http://www.wegottickets.com/sct/ZgGSsYkKGA
And you can find out more about the artists here:
Email me at liaskitchen@gmail.com.
Pilgrimage to the sun #2-Spoon sweets and tips from the Aegean’s Balcony
Our time in Pelion was full of flavours, changes in scenery and surprises around each corner of its winding roads- a village, a forest, the sea, a character, some artwork. We saw Pelion’s Aegean waters tamed by heat and then turning familiarly choppy before we fled to Pagasitikos Gulf.
There is so much to tell you about Pelion. We spent nights on the beach bathed in the full moon after dining in the moonlight on the southern hill of Chorefto at Marabou – their homemade olive paste and salads are tasty and generous in portion. At the tavern Kima (Κύμα), Chorefto, we savoured the daily home cooked specials such as kanati and stuffed courgette flowers. We tasted an amazing wild green pie at Victoria’s café in Damouchari’s idyllic cove. We stayed as Foteini’s home in Damouchari who gave us herbs, courgettes from her garden to make a fresh tourlou. There we dined in candlelight, facing the lights of Ai Giannis and listening soft waves crashing on the sharp rocks, protected from the elements and civilization a little cove of serenity- I feared if we stayed there longer the mermaids would steal our minds. We discovered a stylish and creative coffee shop and art space when we found Karpofora in MIlies on our way to Afissos.
Almost three weeks ago on our way to Elitsa cove from Parisaina beach in Horefto we walked alongside olive groves hanging off the side of the mountain in North Pelion, Greece. We picked sage, bay leaves and gigantic super-lemons nourished by the sun-all two meters of Dan pulling down a branch so that I can pick the fragrant fruit. We ate wild figs from trees that fruited early. We breathed in herbs and sea salt.
We reached Analipsi beach on foot from Chorefto, passing the church and the beautiful Plimari Tavern (Πλυμάρι). We swam to Tourkolimano (accessible through water and the coastal path from Parisaina and Analipsi) and snorkeled along the rocks in the company of sea creatures. Then we fell asleep in the naturally shaded side of the beach and woke ourselves up with a swim and a coffee at the tavern. And finally at dusk we walked back to our base at Orlys and used our foraging ingredients for another home cooked dinner in the outdoor kitchen.
At Pouri village we woke up everyone when the dogs detected our mid afternoon entry. We climbed to the Nikolaou square, one of the tallest spots of the upper village, and the view took our breath away- the coastline all the way to Horefto where we started out from lay beneath us. Just as we were about to leave what seemed to be a closed coffee shop/tavern the jammed door open ajar and out came its smiley owner, Babis Lagdos.
At Babi’s ‘Balcony of Pelion’ in Pouri we had locally made Greek spoon sweets, cherry and walnut flavours. Greek spoon sweets are preserves made with local fruits (mostly whole), after their the seeds or stones are removed (e.g. cherries, apples but also baby aubergine). Otherwise citrus fruit with their peel and unripened nuts and seeds such as walnuts and figs are also used to make spoon sweets. Spoon sweet are called so because they are served and eaten with a teaspoon. If you go to Pelion or other Greek countryside places and you do not try the locally produced spoon sweets you should be punished! Not only would you be testing a local delight but you would also be supporting women cooperatives and local producers in the area. A spoon sweet is delightful with dark bitter coffee, on yoghurt or on fresh buttered bread.
We met and saw people who survive the changes of seasons, governments and life- reaffirming the inevitability of joy if your heart is open to it. Poets, cooks, wild campers, yogis, entrepreneurs, chilled locals, young hippies. So I cannot close this blog entry without mentioning Popotech (Ποποτεχ) and Gemma and Gerry.
About five minutes after leaving Pouri we drove past a big red sign and a man with a cap looking like a modern Sheppard in front of a red vehicle in what seemed a movie still or a scene that dropped out of the page of a book. In the backdrop I saw sunflowers, artefacts and colorful metallic structures dancing in the soft wind. We turned the car around and stopped on the road side. And so we met Gemma and Gerry and Popotech their art space, workshop and gallery. They live and work there summer and winter. In the past year they moved from Pouri and built their home on their own land on a hillside. They grow some of their food on the land and their inventiveness in structuring their workshops and house on a hillside is inspiring. The place is serene and beautifully wonderful, like an art playground for grown up children. Their company is a delight. And now that I think of it they must have lived in Greece longer than I have as I have been gone for sixteen years. I have no more words to describe Popotech and its two curators. This is their life, not just a transient show, and I would love to spend more time with them soon again. Take the road to Pouri from Zagora and keep your eyes wide open so that you don’t miss Popotech’s red signs on your left hand side. You won’t regret it.
Lia’s random facts and tips
- Kanati is a slow cooked dish with cubed beef and pork with some tomato sauce, lemon and herbs
- Make sure you try kreetama (coastal wild green) but also tsitsiravla (hill wild green) for a meze and a glass of cold tsipouro
- At every tavern or restaurant you visit always ask for μαγειρευτά (mageirefta), the daily home-cooked specials, to make sure you try the fresh local specialties and what is in season.
- If you drive to Elitsa or Analipsi it’s best to use the main road past Zagora. The ‘coastal’ road just about fits one car if there is oncoming traffic and it’s not a local you may be stuck for a bit.
- If you walk to Elitsa or Analipsi (Tourkolimano) go to Parisaina beach from Horefto (at the end of the Horefto beach to your left as you are facing the sea there is a small footpath). Then at the far left side of Parisaina beach look up to one of the beautiful house hanging of the cliff and you will see a cobbled road winding up the hill. I suggest you wear steady foot wear or at least shoes that cover your toes for a better grip.
- Parisaina is a wild camping beach that gets busy with people who still respect nature and their surroundings. There is a beach bar , Kripti, on the hill that offers water and drinks, but this is not a beach resort or lido. Please do not visit of you expect that. And also be prepared to through away your swimsuit. No-one will judge you if you don’t but I hope you feel comfortable to take it off and enjoy a nice swim in the crystal waters.
- You can also access Elitsa or Analipsi (Tourkolimano) through the local (dirt) road at the end of Horefto beach. It is also a beautiful route and perhaps longer but more shaded.
- Visit Pelion’s east side at full moon and watch the moonrise either from Parisaina beach or enjoy at Pouri, at Babi’s Balconi of Pelion tavern. If you are carnivorous he does a mean goat slow roast.
- Damouchari feels like an island and it’s definitely worth a visit but be warned it is on the more touristic side, in a tasteful way albeit.
- Damouchari is a good place to explore the many footpaths in the area, e.g. to Fakistra beach but also to the beautiful and large village of Tsagkarada. Be warned it is steep but worth every drop of sweat. You can hire a guide at Vistoria’s guesthouse and café.
- Horefto is the seaport of Zagora, Damouchari is the seaport of Tsagkarada so if you head for these destinations you will see sharp turns towards the sea.
- Originally we went to Pouri in search of locally produced cheese after locals told me there were some sheep owners and cheese producers there. Don’t expect little Deli’s and stalls in Pouri. My advice is to go to Babi, the owner of the Balcony of Pelion, when you arrive as he can source the cheese for you and a couple of days before you leave you can pick it up from the tavern.
- If you would like to stay at Foteini’s place in Ntamouchari get in touch with me. It is a unique experience sleeping at the wave at an old house with an interesting hostess.
Photo Galleries
Spoon sweets and Pouri
Popotech
Analipsi
Damouchari and Milies
Pilgrimage to the sun
My pilgrimage to the sun begun last week. I am in motherland.
I am currently in Pelion, Greece, the land of Argonauts and Centeurs, the land of mountain and crystal blue sea.
I thought this would end up a food pilgrimage with many food photos to share but nature has won me over. I bathe in the sea and walk up the steep hills with the excitement of a newcomer, as if I have never encountered such beauty before. As I write this we are getting ready to set off on a coast path hike to the beach of Elitsa (little olive).
I have no phone signal here but last night after wild camping in Parisaina cove Dan and I rested in a house (Orlys) overlooking the Aegean. So no phone signal but wi fi yes! Lucky you!
Last night in the outdoor kitchen we used giant ripe tomatoes to make a cinnamon and olive pasta sauce. We ate this with χυλοπιτες (hilopites) , short tagliatelle-like greek pasta flavored with saffron and paprika. I got very tipsy on chilled local rose table wine (non pretentious nectar-god I ve missed Greece and how it does not need to feign gourmet grandeur to offer you its delights).
And this morning our landlord , Rony from Tel Aviv, offered us γλυκο σύκο (fig sweet) which we spread on maize flour bread with yoghurt butter for breakfast.
To this day in Pelion these are my humble food highlights together with the salad of κριταμα (kreetama) , coastal greens, and κανάτι (kanati which means jug), slow cooked pork and beef in a light lemon and tomato sauce.
But as I am setting off to new coves and hills who knows what awaits me.
I am just so happy to be home.
- ← Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next →
Lia's Kitchen 
Waste Not Cakes! Carrot & Banana sweetness and pumpkin & mushroom savoury delight
Posted on Updated on
This year our dream team consisting of Green City Events, Cynefin Cardiff and Lia’s Kitchen will be organising more food waste reduction events in Cardiff’s Roath/Penylan, Splott and Adamsdown areas. Our first Love Food Hate Waste Roadshow on 21 November 2015 kicked off a series of roadshows and workshops to follow in 2016. We cannot explain how much we believe in what we do so we hope that our enthusiasm and dedication is contagious. Now is a great time to think about reducing your food waste and to join the fight to help do something about this ever increasing problem.
At our November 2015 roadshow we provided advice and tips on how to use our imagination to cook with what we have at home. Our savoury and sweet cake samples inspired many of you to be creative in the kitchen. So here are the recipes below. Remember don’t be afraid to replace an ingredient you are missing with another. The cake recipes were inspired by ingredients most us of are likely to waste and seasonal, affordable ingredients such as squash.
The sweet cake recipe is based on a similar recipe shared with me by a dear friend Wendy Twell about ten years ago. Whilst the savoury cake is inspired by pumpkin and winter squash which is abundant at the moment – it is designed to help people not waste some of the larger pumpkins/squash they get hold off. For more inspiration on pumpkin see here.
Follow @greencityevens, @liaskitchen, @cynefincardiff for information on upcoming events.
Thanks to www.dangreenphotography.com and Luke From Cynefin for the snaps today.
Sweet Carrot & Banana Cake
Ingredients (8-10 portions)
Preparation (1.5 hours)
Lia’s tips:
Savoury pumpkin and mushroom cake
Ingredients (8-10 portions)
Preparation (1.5hr)
Lia’s tips:
Share this:
This entry was posted in Comment, Recipes, Vegetarian and tagged banana cake, carrot and banana cake, carrot cake, cornmeal cake, liaskitchen, Love Food Hate Waste, polenta, pumpkin, pumpkinrecipe, savoury cake, waronwaste, wastenot.