The Greek Easter Bread Tsoureki, 2007



Pretty, isn't it? It's the traditional Greek Easter bread tsoureki, using the little known spices mastic and mechlebe/mahlepi (you can see them both here) and usually garnished with red eggs*. I've made tsoureki before (twice, actually), to a great acclaim from a number of Greeks, and it has become a regular feature at my Easter table.

The recipe I've used on the previous occasions was an adapted from Paul Hollywood's book 100 Great Breads, and it (the adapted version, that is) worked just well. But as a kind friend had sent me a copy of Theodore Kyriakou's widely acclaimed book, The Real Greek at Home: Dishes from the Heart of the Greek Kitchen, then I decided to test another recipe for tsoureki instead this year. After all, Kyriakou is the Chef of the The Real Greek restaurant in London and hailed as the Greek chef and expert on the Hellenic cuisine in the UK. So his recipe should definitely please, no?

Well, it failed to do that. I should have got suspicious about the amount of spices. Whereas Hollywood used two pieces of mastic and a pinch of mahlepi per half a kilogram of flour, then Kyriakou used 3 pieces of mastic (that's fine), but a whopping 1.5 tsp of mahlepi - that's quite a difference from a pinch! This meant that these spices (plus the addition of star anise infusion) didn't just give a hint of musky spiciness to the bread, but utterly and totally hijacked the flavour, especially mahlepi. And whereas I love the subtle hint of mastic and mahlepi, then too much is simply too much. Also, Kyriakou's version asked for the inclusion of six whole eggs in the pastry, which may have explained the toughness of the resulting bread. Ok, I may have slightly over-kneaded the pastry, which explains why the bread looks a bit stretched on the photo above, but believe me, this was the least of the problems. It was just, blah, as some foodbloggers would say..

The moral of the story? Well, when something doesn't need fixing, then leave it alone. As simple as that.. Next year I'll try my old and trusted (that is, tested) recipe again :-)

The read egg on the photo was provided by the 5-year old Gretel. See here for more details.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

North meets South: Lingonberry and Coconut Friands

Image
Friands again. I wrote about these dainty Australian cakes just a short time ago when posting a recipe for blueberry and lemon friands . This is the same basic recipe, but I wanted to use coconut this time and paired the pure white coconut with bright red  lingonberries . The combination worked like a dream! I am pretty sure that lingonberries - while widely available and used here in Estonia - are hard to come buy Down Under, so in a way it's a North-meets-South fusion recipe :) Again, it's an excellent recipe for using up those egg whites, when you're tired of making meringues and mini-Pavlovas. Coconut and Lingonberry Friands ( Pohla-kookosefriandid ) Makes 8 regular-sized friands 100 g unsalted butter, melted 125 g icing sugar/confectioner's sugar 30 g plain flour/all-purpose flour (50 ml or 3 Tbsp + 1 tsp) 50 g finely ground almonds 50 g grated/desiccated coconut 3 medium-sized egg whites a very generous handful of lingonberries Preheat the oven to 200C. Generously...
Read more

Kammadhenu, Newtown

Egg hopper $3 The crispy bits are always the best part. That's what makes the hopper — a popular Sri Lankan breakfast or dinner — so delicious. It's nothing but crunch, a thin batter that is delicately lacy around the edges. The batter is fermented from rice flour and coconut milk, giving a slightly sour taste similar to sourdough. Hoppers can be cooked as plain or sweet, but we like ours with
Read more

Meatless Monday: Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Pimentón

Image
I needed to look up some Portuguese recipes for a friend last weekend and obviously I turned to the very helpful Leite's Culinaria website. I did find the recipes I was looking for, plus a lot more. One of them was this simple, yet delicious soup recipe, originally from Tamasin Day-Lewis's book "Supper for a Song: Creative Comfort Food for the Resourceful Cook" . I've adapted the recipe a little to suit our tastes, and we'll be definitely making this again. Puréeing some of the chickpeas/garbanzos to thicken the soup was a neat idea, and you can add more or less pimentón (aka smoked paprika) depending on the freshness and strength of your paprika powder. While it's filling, it's also gluten-free and vegan, so perfect recipe for a Meatless Monday . Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika ( Kikerherne-tomatisupp, kergelt suitsune ) Serves four 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 red onion, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 celery sticks,...
Read more