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My mother loves to talk about food as much as she loves food. When I chat to her on the phone her choice of subject reveals her mood. Food talking is good talking. She tells me about the Sunday roast she is having with sauce and trimmings or the meatballs she eats on her bread for supper. This is how meet – over a conversation about food on the phone. And this time she also sent a sms. My cake on her coffee table. I felt proud and happy.

Sending a cake by mail is taking a chance. A good choice is Bakewell tart – an English cake that is moist and can wait a few days without turning bad. Bakewell tart resembles the Norwegian fyrstekake, a cake with a rich almond layer and lattice top, but Bakewell also has a layer of jam. I use a little glass of slightly sour homemade blackcurrant jam. It is a gem.

For Easter, when many Norwegians venture to the woods and mountains and their huts, Bakewell tart is a nice treat to put in the rucksack.

Pie crust, almond filling and jam.

Bakewell tart is the English version of Norwegian fyrstekake.

Use your best homemade jam for the tart.

Bakewell tart

Pastry:
150 g plain flour (gluten-free works fine)
75 g cold, cubed butter
zest of 1/2 organic lemon
1 egg

Filling:
150 g softened butter
150 g sugar
1 egg
250 g nuts (hazelnuts or almonds or a combination)
zest of 1/2 organic lemon
1 little glass of jam
confectionary sugar for icing

THE PASTRY
1. With your hands crumble the flour and butter. Add the zest of the lemon and egg and mix it together into a dough by using a spatula. Wrap in plastic and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Lightly dust a baking table with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling-pin. Transfer to a pie tin and prick the whole pie shell with a fork. Let rest in the freezer for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/Gas 4. Bake the pie for 15 minutes and allow to cool slightly.

THE FILLING
4. Blitz the nuts in a food processor until fine.
5. Cream the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Add the egg until well incorporated.
6. Add the nuts and zest of the remaining lemon and stir until combined.
7. Spread the jam over the base of your pastry case, then spoon the almond filling on top.
8. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes until golden and set. Allow to cool.
9. Mix confectionary sugar with a few drops of lemon juice and drizzle over the tart.

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The Chinese kitchen is not one kitchen, but many. Still, some ingredients are more often found in Chinese dishes: Garlic, ginger, chili, spring onion and soy sauce. Add to that the liquorice-flavour of star anise. A dish that soaks up all these flavours, except garlic, is a dish from Hunan, the home province of Mao. It is said to be his favorite dish, hence it is often called Chairman Mao’s red-braised pork.

Red-braised pork, Mao shi hong shao rou, is one of the lovliest and easiest Chinese dishes. It is pork in a sauce with soy and Christmas spices. The original is made with slow-cooked pork belly, but I use leftover pork from Christmas Eve. For Christmas Eve I always make roasted pork belly with sweet and sour cabbage, a traditional Norwegian Christmas dish.

All the ingredients for red-braised pork.

Red-braised pork (makes 4)

The recipe is based on Gordon Ramsey’s World Kitchen and contains more soy sauce than the original. He uses both light and dark soy sauce and boils the meat in the soy sauce, instead of adding it towards the end, as in the original recipe. Light soy sauce is the soy sauce we all kno;, it is saltier than dark soy sauce, which is thicker and sweeter and resembles ketchap manis. If you cannot find dark soy sauce, simply add 1 tbsp extra sugar and 100 ml extra water.

4 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp light soy sauce
6 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 cm knob of fresch ginger, peeled and sliced
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2–3 dried chilis (or fresh), split
400 ml water
about 600–800 g leftover pork belly
a bunch of spring onions, sliced

1. Start by melting the sugar to make caramel. Add the rest of the ingredients except the pork and spring onions. Boil for 45 minutes until the sauce has reduced into a thin syrup.

2. Cut the pork belly into squares and add to the sauce. Continue boiling for 5–10 minutes. Increase the temperature if the sauce is too thin. The sauce is finished when it is thick enough to cling to the pork but still has a running consistency.

3. Add finely sliced spring onions and serve with sticky rice.

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Moqueca, fish stew from Brazil.

Moqueca is a Brazilian fish stew from Bahia, a place where Africa meets South America.

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While the Peruvian and Mexican kitchens are well-known to many of us, the Brazilian kitchen is to a greater extent unchartered terrain. Until recently I had only heard of caipirinha and bolinhos. But then I watched Masterchef Australia where one chef made an orange fish stew he called moqueca. I googled and found the recipe of a delicious fish stew with a strong cultural significance.

Moqueca turned out to be one of the most loved Brazilian dishes, particularly in the historic state of Bahia in the northeast. According to Lonely Planet Bahia is a state where South America meets Africa. Brazil is the story of slavery, sugar slavery. About 4 million Africans were deported to Brazil, mostly to Bahia, during the Transatlantic slave trade which lasted from the 16th century to the 19th century. Brazil was the last area in South America to abolish slavery as late as 1888. The African slaves impacted strongly on Brazilian society, from samba and capoeira to moqueca.

Rice is integral to moqueca. It was the slaves who brought rice to North America and Brazil. In Bahia slaves were allowed to grow rice on plantation land. Moreover, the use of red palm oil (dendê), okra, bananas and coconut milk is also due to the African heritage.

To make moqueca your first mariate the fish in lime.

With a large coastline, Bahia offers fish and seafood in abundance. If you visit a market in the biggest city in Bahia, Salvador, you will find bags of prepared fish and seafood ready to be marinated in lime. This is the beginning of moqueca. Add to this tomatoes, pepper, coriander, palm oil and coconut milk.

Moqueca is more than a fish stew – it is also a marker of identity. There are two competing versions of moqueca in Brazil. Moqueca baiana from Bahia and moqueca capixaba from Espírito Santo. The Bahia version differs by using coconut milk and red palm oil and showcases its African heritage. Moqueca capixaba on the other hand enhances, according to social anthropologist Jane Fajans, its white and European history.

Here I use coconut milk, but omit palm oil as it is hard to come by. I substitute fresh fish with salted cod. After all, Brazil and Portugal are two countries with a strong love for salted cod, a love that makes salted cod from Norway a staple at Christmas. If you cannot find salt cod, do try it with fresh fish as the Brazilians do.

Makes 4.

Brazilian fish stew (moqueca)

A very simple shellfish stock:
300 g prawns
500 ml water
1/2 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stick

500 g salt cod
juice of 1 lime
4 tbsp cooking oil
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
1 red chili
2 big tomatoes
250 ml shellfish stock
300 ml coconut milk
a small thumb fresh ginger
1 red pepper
coriander

1. Soak the salt cod according to package instructions, usually about two days with exchange of water twice a day. Saveur has described the process more closely.
2. Shellfish stock: Peel and cut the vegetables. Peel the prawns and place the shells in a pan with the vegetables and water. Place the prawns in the fridge for later. Let the stock simmer for an hour, until reduced. Press through a sieve.
3. Meanwhile, cut the fish in small filets and toss with the lime juice in a bowl. Refrigerate for an hour.
4. Finely chop the garlic, onion and chilli. Add the oil to a wide frying pan and gently fry for 10 minutes.
5. Add chopped tomatoes, stock, grated ginger and coconut milk and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add the salt cod and continue boiling for 15 minutes.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and add the prawns. Adjust the seasoning with pepper and scatter chopped coriander. Serve with rice.

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Eton mess with raspberries.

August marks the zenith for berries with my local fruit store offering gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries and currants. August is also the last of summer months in Norway. So the best one can do is cherish August and make the most of it. Squeeze the last bits of summer. Light the barbecue. Go to the beach. Eat seafood. Stay up late. Wear sandals. Inhale the smell of cut grass. Fill your mouth with berries.

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When the Norwegian strawberry season withers in late July, raspberries come to the rescue and prolong the feeling of summer. Raspberries are perfect in the British dessert Eton mess.

Eton mess is named after the public boarding school Eton and has traditionally been served at the annual cricket match between Eton and their archenemy, Harrow. The name also describes the way it is made, namely cream, berries and meringue messed together. The most traditional type of berries are strawberries, but raspberries are just as lovely and easier to mess up with just a fork.

Moreover, Eton mess is a handy dessert when you have leftover egg whites, which is the case if you happen to make ice cream, custard, béarnaise, mayonnaise or spaghetti carbonara. The meringue will keep in a box for at least a month.

Do allow the Eton mess to rest for an hour or two, letting the berries infuse the cream. But do not wait to much making the dessert. Before you know it you are sitting there sipping hot cocoa wondering how the summer days went by so fast.

Eton mess with raspberries (makes 3–4)

300 ml / 10 oz double or heavy cream
200 + 50 g raspberries
20 g sugar
6 big meringues

Meringue (makes 6 big meringues):
2 egg whites
90 g / 3,5 oz sugar

1. Start with the meringue. Preheat the oven to 130C/260F/Gas 1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Tip the egg whites in a clean bowl. Beat them on medium speed with an electric whisk for about a minute. Then continue whisking while you add the sugar, a spoon at a time, incorporating the sugar before you add the next spoon. Do not over-beat. When finished the mixture should be stiff enough to make “soft peaks”.

2. Scoop of a heaped spoon and with another spoon place the meringue on the baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. The meringues should be chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. They will keep in an airtight tin for several weeks.

3. Wash the raspberries and smash 200 g roughly with a fork together with the sugar. The remaining raspberries should be used as garnish so cut them in half.

4. Break the meringue into large pieces, but reserve one for garnish.

5. Whip the double cream and fold the smashed berries carefully into the cream to make a marbled effect. Allow to set for an hour or two. This is not necessary, but it enhances the berry flavour.

6. Mix carefully the meringue into the berry cream. Spoon in individual serving bowls or one big serving bowl. Divide the halved berries on top and the last meringue smashed into dust.

Hungry for more berry desserts?

Eton mess with strawberries and more about boarding schools
Cherry pie from Moldova
Strawberry pavlova
Raspberries with cookies and custard

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Gooseberries, redcurrants and strawberries.

Sometimes a recipe is a tried and true family recipe. And sometimes it is caused by mere coincidence.

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Like yesterday. After a summer where there has been no organic berries to be found, I came upon the first organic berries in my local store. The most exquisite and elusive of them all, gooseberries.

I wanted to make something easy and delicious, in between busy weekends spent bicycling and playing with my 3-year old son. It had to be crumble, but with a twist.

When it comes to garden berries, no one beats the British. After all, this is the kitchen of Eton Mess, Strawberries and cream, Gooseberry fool and Summer pudding.

Gooseberry crumble with ice cream.

The British and Scandinavian kitchen are quite similar in climate and share many of the same produce. The most notable exceptions are cloudberries and lingonberries.

On the web site ”Great British Chefs” I found a recipe for gooseberry crumble with a nutty topping. And because gooseberries are bland in colour when cooked, I added some redcurrants and a couple of strawberries.

I served it with ice cream. And licked the plate.

Visiting wasp.

Gooseberry crumble (makes 3)

300 g gooseberries
4–5 stalks of redcurrants
3 big strawberries
50 g sugar

Topping:
50 g sugar
50 g cold butter
50 g flour (gluten-free is fine)
40 g almond flour
30 g flaked almonds
20 g hazelnuts
½ tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Wash and rinse the berries. Top and tail the gooseberries. Rinse the currants and strawberries. Mix in a bowl with the sugar and place in a tart tin.
3. Place sugar, flour and almond flour in a bowl. Cut the butter in cubes and rub into the flour with your hands until it looks like rough breadcrumbs. Add cinnamon, flaked almonds and roughly chopped hazelnuts. Cover the berries with the crumble, but not the edges.
4. Bake in the middle of the oven (with parchment paper underneath as the juice may run down the sides) for about 20 minutes until bubbly and golden. The juice should be quite thick and syrupy when finished.

Hungry for more berry desserts?

Eton Mess
Pavlova with strawberries

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Strawberry pavlova with yogurt and lime.

What would strawberries and cream be like without strawberries? What would pavlova be like without summer berries? What should we do without the world’s most important work force, the bees and bumblebees?

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This summer I spent my vacation in Italy, at a resort at the Lake Garda. The resort was filled with rose bushes and tidy hedges and lawns. The scent of roses was wonderful, but something was missing. It was mostly quiet, no buzzing insects, only the sound of a lone blackbird. The only bumblebee I found was dead. At the luscious resort there were no bees, bumblebees or other insects. But I did see gardeners using pesticides, making sure the landscape would be “pretty”.

To bee or not to bee?

A third of the world’s food production depends on pollination from insects. Not only bees and bumblebees are pollinators, but also butterflies, beetles and flower flies. The urban landscape of asphalt deserts, golf gardens and massive industrial and monotonous fields make it difficult for the insects to find a home or food. In addition the pesticides we rely on for our crops kill bees and lead to learning disabilities (and probably in us too).

The historically high death rates of the bees pose a threat to our food production. Already in parts of China they have for decades hand-pollinated fruit orchards. In the US millions of bees are transported each spring to the giant almond orchards of California to pollinate the trees, before they are off to the apple orchards of Washington, the blueberry bushes of New England or the watermelon fields of Texas.

Bumblebee from Oslo. A bumblebee works 18 hours on a sunny day.

A meadow of ox-eye daisies is a favourite of the bees.

Herligheten allotment garden in down-town Oslo is part of the Pollinator passage.

Herligheten allotment garden consists of 100 allotments and has their own beekeepers.

Oslo – the place to bee

So far the bees in Norway have not suffered a collapse but the situation is severe; of our 206 species of bees, 12 have vanished. Several campaigns have been instigated to preserve the bees. Oslo, along with other cities in the world, has seen the rise of urban beekeeping. On the rooftop next to the Food Hall in Oslo, two architectural gems designed by Snøhetta houses two queens and their colony of bees. The Palace Park, which surrounds the Royal Palace, is home to queen Ella and her honeybees, and 20 % of the royal park area has been turned into meadows instead of tidy lawns.

Recently the Pollinator passage was launched by the Norwegian government and ByBI, an oslobased and urban beekeeping organization. The Guardian characterizes the project as “the world’s first ‘highway’ to protect endangered bees”. The project is about making green passages throughout all of Oslo, offering food stations and homes to pollinating insects. Every new bee-friendly home or food supply, e.g. flowers rich in nectar on a balcony or in a park, is then visible on a map with photos and decription about the initiative. Hence at Herligheten allotment garden on a traffic island in the midst of Oslo, they cultivate pollinated potatoes and at the University at Blindern there is a there a runway consisting of crocus flowers. They are all part of a unique and strongly awaited visitor’s guide to Oslo for bees.

Strawberry pavlova.

Strawberry pavlova (makes 4–5)

Strawberry pavlova is the perfect summer cake. Utterly delicious and easy, the perfect mix between sweet and sour, all because of the beautiful strawberries. This pavlova is a little bit healthier than other pavlovas, because the whipped cream is substituted with Greek yogurt. The strawberries are matched with lime zest, making it both tangy and sweet. The meringue can be made several days in advance, but once you decorate it, it must be used within an hour. There are two types of finished meringue; crisp meringue and chewy meringue. This one is chewy and in order to do so, I add maizena and increase the oven-temperature.

3 organic eggs
140 g caster sugar
1 tsp maizena
1 tsp vinegar

1 punnet strawberries
1 lime
1 tbsp sugar
400 ml Greek yogurt
2 tbsp confectionary sugar
½ vanilla pod

Meringue:
1. Preheat the oven to 120°C/250°F. Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Do use the yolks for custard or pastry cream.
2. Put your egg whites into a clean bowl and whisk until they start to form soft firm peaks, about 1 minute. With your mixer still running, gradually add the sugar, a spoon at a time, making sure the sugar is fully incorporated before adding the next spoon. When the sugar is incorporated, continue mixing for another minute until the meringue is white, glossy and smooth.
3. Add the maizena and vinegar and whisk until just combined.
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place a plate about 20 cm (7 inches) in diameter on the paper and trace a circle with a pencil. Spoon the meringue into the circle.
5. Bake for 2 hours, then turn off the temperature and leave the meringue inside with the door ajar until cold.

Filling:
1. Wash the lime. Wash and hull the strawberries and divide into two. Mix carefully the strawberries with the sugar and grated zest of 3/4 lime.
2. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla pod and mix with the confectionary sugar and yogurt.

Hungry for more berry deserts?

Lime panna cotta with strawberries
Danish berry pudding with cream
Cherry pie from Moldova
Strawberries with raw meringue and wild strawberries

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Asparagus with cured ham and mayo.

Boiled asparagus wrapped in cured ham is a classic. Grilling them is even better.

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But whereas grown-ups may consider the asparagus king of vegetables, this fact does not impress kids. I have read books on the subject, discussed and pondered, tried several different methods. But I still have not found an easy solution. How to get kids to eat vegetables?

Kids and vegs

We have always served our son Loukas from the onset nutritious food with lots of vegetables. From he was 4 months old we have served him new types of food, making sure his taste buds would be challenged. We have always been positive about food, telling him how lovely broccoli is or what wonders the walnut is to his brain. We have made food together in the kitchen and been food shopping together. And we have followed the tapas principle, serving different types of food for him to choose. Still, vegetables have been the least desirable elements on his plate. Instead he has reached for the meat or fish.

Popeye sticks and London ketchup

The closest we have come to unveiling the mystery of kids and vegs, has been serving a little green amuse-bouche while waiting for dinner. Small sticks of carrot or kale chips. The other succesful thing has been calling food names. Instead of serving Loukas ketchup, we rather use HP-sauce. We call it London-ketchup, and Loukas adores the sweet and sour sauce like he adores London. Hence the name. The first time Loukas ate asparagus, was dinner at his grandmother when the asparagus were disguised as Popeye sticks! I am sure not only spinach but also asparagus would have caused the giant muscles of Popeye.

I wrap the Popeye sticks with cured ham, such as parma ham, and serve them with another thing Loukas loves, mayonnaise. Grilled asparagus with cured ham is lovely as a starter or as a side order with grilled salmon. This is also easy breezy summer food. The mayo is easily prepared in advance, and you can grill the Popeye sticks and just reheat them afterwards.

Lemon mayonnaise

1 organic egg yolk
1/3 lemon
1 tsp mustard
salt and pepper
100 ml oil (it should be a neutral oil)

1. Mix the yolk, juice from 1/3 lemon, salt and pepper and the mustard in a bowl.
2. Add the oil, drop by drop, while continuously whisking. Make sure the oil is fully incorporated before adding more, hence just adding a little at a time.

Grilled asparagus in parma

1 bunch of asparagus
dry-cured ham, such as parma
½ lemon
oil

1. First, grill the halved lemon (cut side down).
2. Break the asparagus at the lower part, where the woody part ends and the tender part begins. Discard the base. Brush with a little oil and grill until charred and slightly tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Wrap the cured ham around the asparagus and grill for another minute until the ham is starts to crisp up.
4. Before serving, add a little pepper and a squeeze of the lemon.

Hungry for more summer food?

Mountain trout with potato salad
Salmon with paradise butter
Pasta salad with roasted vegetables

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Homemade lasagna, lasagne alla bolognese.

To many lasagna is comfort food, but it is also healthy and nutritious.

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Some vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes contain a type of antioxidant that is more easily absorbed by your body than its crunchy raw counterpart. Both carrots and tomatoes are highly welcome in a lasagna, in addition to onion and garlic. The latter being described as natural antibiotics.

The meat sauce in lasagna is the same sauce as in spaghetthi bolognese. A rather meaty affair with a little bit tomato and carrots. What I like to do with the lasagna is use more carrots and grate them. Originally a teqnique to make children eat more vegetables, it is also a way to make a more integrated and greener sauce, which also reduces the cooking time. Do put cherry tomatoes on top to make the lasagna greener.

The main difference between lasagne and spaghetti bolognese, two classic Italian dishes from the ”Italian heartland” of Emilia-Romagna north in Italy, is the type of pasta and the making of a white sauce with cheese. The type of cheese depends on geography. Lasagna is made with parmesan in the north and mozarella or ricotta in the south. And did you know, in Italy lasagna is served at Christmas?

Lasagna is delicious, but it is easy to mess up. It should keep its shape, but still be succulent. Make sure your white sauce is quite thick and bake it long enough. And do the same as with a good steak. Let the lasagna rest, for at least 10 minutes, in order for it to absorb liquid. Also, make a double portion and freeze the rest, as it is freezing well.

Homemade lasagna

Lasagne alla Bolognese (4–5 porsjoner)

Note: If you are using gluten-free pasta sheets, they must be pre-cooked.

Meat sauce:
50 ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 big onion
2 carrots
400 g organic minced beef
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 can chopped tomatoes
100 ml water

White sauce:
50 g butter
50 g flour (or gluten-free flour)
550 ml milk
½ tsp grated nutmeg
75 g jarlsberg/gruyère/cheddar
75 gr parmesan

about 6–7 pasta sheets
cherry tomatoes (optional)

Meat sauce:
1. Fry the onion and garlic gently for 10 minutes until softened.
2. Grate the carrots and continue frying for 10 minutes.
3. Season the meat and add to the pan. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon and fry until the meat has changed colour, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste and fry for a minute.
5. Add the canned tomatoes and water (fill the can with water to get hold of the remains of the tomato), and let simmer for at 20–30 minutes.
6. When finished, taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Béchamel sauce:
1. Melt the butter in a pan. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the flour with a whisk. Stir in some of the milk while constantly stirring. Make sure there is no lumps.
2. Place back on the heat and add gradually the rest of the milk while constantly stirring.
3. Leave to boil, while still stirring. Let boil for a couple of minutes.
4. Add half the grated cheese and grated nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble:
1. Spoon half the meat sauce into the bottom of an ovenproof dish, about 20 cm x 40 cm. Add a little of the white sauce and a layer of pasta sheet.
2. Add second layer of meat sauce and a second layer of pasta sheet.
3. Finish with the white sauce and the rest of the grated cheese.
4. If you are using cherry tomatoes, divide into two and put down in the top.
5. Bake in the middle of the oven at 175C for about 30–40 minutes until golden. Allow the dish to rest for at least 10 minutes for the lasagne to absorb the liquid. Drizzle with extra olive oil and serve with a salad of your choice.

More Italian?

Pasta bolognese
Tiramisu with chocolate

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French onion pie with thyme.

The English serve their bangers and mash with onion gravy, the Americans love their fried onion rings, the Danish cherish their bløde løg and Norwegian serve caramelized onions with coalfish. However it is the French who bring the onion to the fore with their onion soup and onion pie.

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I have always loved onions, and so does my mother. But my brother hated onions, so my mother had to hide the onion by grating it when making meatballs. She did this to enhance the flavour, but recent studies reveal how healthy this is. All types of onions have great health benefits related to both cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Of all positive effects, maybe the most fascinating is this: Onions are anti-bacterial and a natural antibiotics!

There is also another reason why I love onions. The onion is a magician being able to transform itself from sharp and pungent to sweet and caramelized if you cook it slowly. The key to both French onion soup and onion pie is slow cooking the onions, and this may take some time: First the onions begin sweating, a process where the water in the onion evaporates. After the water has evaporated caramelization starts and the flavour becomes sweeter. The final phase is the changing of colours into brown, which starts after half an hour or more.

Caramelizing may be tricky and it is important to use the correct temperature (medium-low) and pan (wide frying pan). Use a (wide) frying pan, instead of a small pan. Stacking too many onions of top of each other will cause more steam and inhibit the process of caramelization.

Green salad with walnuts and red onions.

French onion pie (makes 3–4)

Pastry:
160 g flour (gluten-free flour works fine)
1 egg, lightly whisked
75 g cold butter in cubes

Filling:
50 g butter
1 garlic clove
500 g brown onion
2 tbsp thyme (the leaves)
3 eggs
275 ml milk and cream (half and half)
75 g grated cheese (e.g. Gryère or Jarlsberg)
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

1. With your hands crumble the flour and butter. Add the egg and mix it together into a dough by using a spatula. Wrap in plastic and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Lightly dust a baking table with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling-pin. Transfer to a pie tin and prick the whole pie shell with a fork. Let rest in the freezer for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F.
4. Slice the onions thinly. (Save a few onion circles for garnish). Gently fry on medium-low heat for about 45 minutes. Stir about every 5 minute. Add the thyme leaves the last 15 minutes of the caramelization.
5. Remove the pie crust from the freezer and prebake for 10 minutes until slightly golden.
6. Whisk the egg and cream in a bowl. Add grated nutmeg and cheese and season with salt and pepper.
7. Take out the pie crust from the oven and add the onion, then the egg filling. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until the pie is golden.

Salad with onion, walnuts and honey

Lettuce
½ red onion
1 cucumber
a handful of walnuts
1 tsp honey
1 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

Wash the lettuce and tear roughly apart with your hands. Finely slice the onions into rings. Slice the cucumber lengthwise, scrape out the center with a spoon and cut into chunks. Mix everything in a bowl with the walnuts. Mix honey, vinegar and olive oil and add to the salad right before serving.

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Homemade marzipan stars for Easter.

What I find fascinating about French cuisine is not the cooking but the food culture. At lunch time the country stops to sit down at the same table. To eat a common meal, to share the same experience.

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Instead of sharing the same experience we live in a culture a media analyst called ”me-time”. We are occupied by our smartphones checking the latest updates, eating our lunch in front of the computer or while we are on our way to the next meeting.

To gather around the table

I believe in sharing the same experiences. I believe in sitting down watching the same film. Sitting down to enjoy the same meal no matter how busy we are. How can we get to know each other if we do not share the same experiences? If we do not walk in each other’s shoes?

Food is a sharing experience to me. Food is the tie that binds us together. The break where we unplug. Food is love and the way I show my love to other people. I cook for them.

Or we cook together. This Christmas my better half arranged a family workshop with Loukas of three. The idea was simple. Roll out marzipan using a rolling-pin. Cut out stars with Christmas cutters. Chop and melt chocolate and paint the marzipan stars. Top with sprinkles. Let Loukas serve his homemade confectionary to his grandparents on Christmas Eve. A recipe for a stress-free celebration. Chocolate to melt your heart.

I could not wait until next Christmas. We had to arrange a family workshop this Easter. The only thing we needed was the colour yellow. So we mixed desicciated coconut with orange juice and turmeric. Now Easter can come to town.

Marzipan stars

Good quality marzipan
rolling-pin
kitchen brush
cutters (stars or other shapes)
an espresso cup with desiccated coconut
1 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp turmeric
50 g / 1,8 oz dark chocolate

Stir the turmeric in the orange juice and mix with the coconut. Chop the chocolate and melt over a hot-water bath. Now your are ready for your Easter workshop!

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