Kiwi Recipe

 This is a question for NZers who read my blog.

Back in the 60s my mother made a marvellous curry.  Chicken, lamb or beef curry?  I can't remember.

She served it with rice of course and side dishes of dessicated coconut and banana.

It must have been quite exotic back then. It was certainly a family favourite.

I have the *Edmonds cookery book and there's a curry recipe there.  My old book, 1982 and falling to pieces, has a recipe for lamb or beef curry.

It has..... 

Meat

Dripping

Onion

Apple chopped 

Flour for thickening 

Curry powder 

Chutney 

OXO beef cube

And I've made it over the years trying to get the right taste by adding

Tomatoes

Marmalade or Apricot jam

Orange rind and

1 tablespoon of vinegar

I've never served it with coconut and banana because I thought my greek family would turn up their noses.  

My brothers Richard, Paul and Tony maybe have something to add.

I have many of her recipes books but none of them have the authentic recipe we all loved.

Nowadays it would be made with coconut milk, tamarind and heavens what else.  We want the old classic.

I'm really interested to see if anyone has something similar.  

*This cookery book was first printed in 1956.  It's still being updated and I now have a newer version. Thanks to kiwi visitors.

It's a favourite kiwi cookery book which I'm sure most NZ cooks will have in their kitchen. 

My daughters have copies too and we all use it. 

Stag Moon Rising

 A full moon party

The grandsons did a change of lock on our car. It's handy having mechanics in the family. The electronic locking system has been faulty for months.  The doors were fixed and we hoped that included the boot. It didn't.  Last week we filled the boot with 6 packs of water, got home and the damn thing would not open. We were in the middle of a heatwave and couldn't leave them there. Down came the back seats and we dragged them out.

K immediately ordered a new lock.  He wasn't going to trust the garage where the other work was done. 

Grandsons climbed in over the back seats and opened the boot, unscrewed, replaced, and sat down for a beer. Problem solved.

Thanks kiddos. 

More grandchildren arrived and Papous began bbqing.  More beers, lots of tzatziki, and Pitta bread. 

Daughter Elli and husband turned up with a bottle of Marlborough Sauv Blanc. 

She's an accountant , a good one. She has most of the island's english expats as clients and they know what to bring her when she sorts out their tax problems.

Elli and I are very happy and toast them as we drink.  This bottle was full of bold fruitiness.

We ate on our terrace, and watched the moon rise above the olive groves around Poseidon's temple 

Full moon rising

I finally remembered to give Jamie the marshmallow easter eggs our kiwi family had brought for him.  Reluctantly he let Elli and I have 1 or 2.  OMG.  The taste of Easter's passed 

They're a NZ speciality and tasted exactly as I remembered them from my childhood.

That's a street light behind him, not the moon

Full moon photos 

The Stag moon high over Poros town

Sunset the following night

2 nights later it was still a full moon and it appeared  a brilliant orange, making a moonlight pathway  over the sea

Thanks everyone for taking and sending me photos. I've trained them well.  Take photos of everything and send them to Nana for her blog.

Clearing the Forest

 A crew of municipal workers have trimmed all the tall tinder-dry grass on road sides.  The grass verges of our road were  so long it had almost narrowed to one way.

This year there is a gang of  eco cleaners cutting low branches up in the forest and clearing all the dry vegetation underneath.  They are always busy as we pass by and it looks as though they're doing a good job, trimming, cutting and hauling it away

The branches are hauled to the side of the road and this tractor comes along with a  chipper attached to its front and chops them all up into chips. The chips are piled up and taken away. 

I wonder what they do with them.  A huge compost pile?  I thought of going up and taking a bag or 2 for my garden but it was just too hot. 

All the undergrowth has been cleared

They've finished our area and are now clearing the top of the island where there's dense pine forest

Fire patrols by the Navy Base and volunteers are being carried out all through the night.  The fire brigade has a fire engine parked in our area during the day and fire trucks patrol  at night. 

On days of searing heat and high winds there is a road block where the fire risk is greater.  People are allowed to go up our mountain as far as the rural Paradise Taverna.. Further out are a few isolated houses, like ours, olive groves, a few rundown sheds for goats and pine forest.  Residents are allowed in and out but names and number plates are noted.

Everyone else, including tourists wanting to go down to the beach are turned back. 

Beside the sea

A social morning after a chance meeting with neighbours in the supermarket.  They were going for a beer and invited us along.   Summertime dining. Simple dishes eaten under shady trees with hopefully a light breeze.  Enough to rustle the leaves and ruffle the dark blue sea.

A long established family taverna

You can still go in and choose your meal from the trays of traditional dishes on display in the kitchen

The setting

Tables right on the sea

K with our neighbours, 86 year old Vaso and her son Vangelis

This is Vaso's favourite place to eat, enjoy a beer and smoke a cigarette or 2

K and I shared grilled sardines

Vaso likes baked aubergine with tomatoes and onion and a pile of fries

Nice and soft on old gums lol

One of the 4 (probably more) taverna cats.  We couldn't feed them because the fish bones, and most leftovers, leave an oily stain on the decking.  The owner looks after them

We take a chilly bin (eskie, ice box) with a couple of ice packs when we do serious shopping in the summer. We never know who we will meet and  shopping does not last long in this heat, and I'm not talking about icecream.   A bag of grated cheese has melted back into a block by the time we reach home. That's without stopping for a coffee or a chat. 

We are in the middle of a heatwave again but it's supposed to be a short one. 3 or 4 days. 

Summer Lunching

A birthday lunch with friends who speak English. Do kiwis speak the King's eengleesh?  Do Americans? 

Mr Google says we both speak an English dialect.  We share a common foundation but each country has it's own unique characteristics.

Anyway, we were an international company for lunch.  England, NZ, USofA and Greece.

The setting

Looking back towards the island

It was a little windy and the sea rather choppy.  The breeze was a welcome relief from the scorching heat of previous days

Plaka beach

Local children enjoying the small waves

Here we are.  Except me.  I forgot to get the young lad who served us to take a photo. I also forgot to take a photo of the 2 pooches Winnie and Choco.   We were too busy eating and talking.

K soon moved over to the table next door to talk with some greek friends.

Our english conversation got a bit too fast and colloquial for him to keep up.

We covered everything from local gossip, what the ex-pat community are up to,  memories from years gone by, buying and building houses, dogs and other animals. 

Tomato and zucchini fritters with a yoghurt dip

Lots of fried potatoes (chips) and the ubiquitous Greek salad

Just a little of the delicious food served here at the Plaka Beach taverna.  Known to locals, not on the tourist map. 

They let K and I choose  plates of different food to share.  Enough to fill  the table, our tummies and some to take home. We finished off with cold karpuzi (watermelon). 

This was the 3rd 'party' to celebrate friend Jan's birthday.  She was working on her birthday this year, helping the Danish vets neuter a hundred stray cats.  That was over a month again.

The, possibly last, celebration for this year's birthday was thanks to good friends Steve and Judy who are far away in England.   A thousand thanks you two.

I always enjoy myself immensely when I'm with a few English speakers, though quite a few times I grasp for the right word. They understand. 

Fava - pureed yellow split peas

Pease pudding (cold) mixed with lots of olive oil and chopped onions. 

You can be sure when you let a greek order that you'll have a good variety of traditional food and lots of it

 

Grand-kids

 We had a night out with some of the family and all the grandkids.  We took them down to the Navy beach taverna/canteen where we can all eat and drink at subsidised prices.

It was a most enjoyable evening.  Naturally enough.  All the 'kids' get on well and there's a lot of laughter.  They're all on the island for the summer but it's difficult getting them together.  Most have summer jobs.  Luli is doing summer lessons to get ready for next years University exams.  

The setting.  Tables beside the sea with a view of the lights of Askeli Bay opposite

The group photo

The aftermath 

We managed to chow through 40 kalamakia, chicken and pork on a skewer, a dozen kebabs (spicy mincemeat on a skewer) a couple of salads and lots of tzatziki and fried potatoes.  Jamie is the tzatziki king, he always manages to finish one bowl of it on his own

The family

Dear Daughter Elli and me (or 'I')

Jamie, the Tzatziki King, with his Mum

In a squirmy moment......but he loves his Mum.  Of course

Best friends

Cousins George and Luli

The oldest and the youngest

George and BF Dimitri enjoying a cold Alpha or 2 or 3 or .....

Kostas and one of my lovely sons-in-law Kyriakos

Poppi and sister Nels

They always have to pull a face

Even though I yell at them and tell them to 'Close your mouth for goodness sake!!!!  The wind will change and you'll stay like that forever'.  

So we were once told by our parents 

Fishin the Med

 Where's the net..... 

The Med is full of fish 

Not just those

 farmed bass and bream

Dip your feet in to get them nibbled

Poros from the mainland 

The wind turbines are on the mainland hills. 

This shows the strait, the small island in front and the bigger island spreading out in the background

The narrow strait which divides Poros island from the Peloponnese

There's a line of water taxis waiting to take you across

Home and Away

Little things in our small world

A tuna

A big one for our seas

We were doing some grocery shopping when K got a phonecall.  'Bring a plastic bag I've got a fish for you'.

The fishing boat couldn't sell all it's catch and was handing some out to friends.

K cleaned it and chopped it up into steaks and we had some fried with a greek salad that day.

We also gave some away .  Give and you shall be given

We were parking our car again under the olive tree out of the sun.

However it gets covered in dry olive leaves and has to be swept and cleaned before we move it.

So it's back up next to the house.  K found a big piece of canvas.  One of those 'treasures'  which he won't let me get rid of.  It covers the roof and windscreen.  At least the paint won't get blistered

Danae opening up the expensive liquor shop.  She may sell, and does sell, 250 euro bottles of gin, but still has to sweep up and clean the loo 

Brother Tony is an artiste.

He made these necklaces from seaglass picked up on a local Maketu beach.  He brought a dozen, at least, for all of us.  Some are made with shells.  These are mine and I love them.  I wear the spirit of a kiwi beach.  I'm polishing them with balsam oil.  Tony says use baby oil.  But balsam oil is what we've got here.  Balsam oil comes from a herb of the same name which is used for skin repair.

   

And here's the boy.  With his eyes closed.

Holding a bottle of coke with his name on it.

For some promotion campaign or other. Coke zero in Greece is putting people's names on the bottles.

This one says

ΑΝΤΩΝΙΣ

Anthony

Our Mayor was talking to a Parliamentary Committee yesterday to put his case against the fishfarms.  He spoke very well and forcefully, we thought.  There were a dozen speakers, some for the Company that owns the Farms, most against them with lots of scientific data, research findings and the like.  The second to last speaker was the UnderSecretary for the Ministry of the Environment.  What an ignoramus.  He tried making a few weak jokes which no-one laughed at and basically put the Company's case across saying that he was sure Poros would benefit from a few more fish farms.  Fortunately our Mayor was able to rebuttal and he put him down quite sharply.  

Now, as all Committees do, they will go away and ponder for a few months, more than a few I would say.  They'll all be away on summer holidays for July and August.  While we all await a verdict or another round of protests and speeches.

For kiwis everywhere!

Mallowpuffs, my all time favourite.  I grew up with these and they're still on the supermarket shelves.

A biscuit base, marshmallow and covered in chocolate!!

Thanks Elli.  She finds these picture of NZ classic edibles and sends them to me to drool over.

Fish Farms? NO

NO

A huge protest took place against turning Poros into an industrial  fishery zone .  The island now has 4 fish farms breeding sea bass and sea bream.  With the new zoning regulations the fish farming industry will increase 28 times bringing tons of pollution from waste food and fish faeces.  

It is estimated that there will be 15 tons of organic waste dumped into the sea daily. Plus a substance called formalin which is used to prevent diseases in the fish cages and has been found to be carcogenic.  77 tons of it has already filtered into the sea surrounding the island  in the last 2.5 years. 

  The peaceful and clean bay below us, our swimming hole in the summertime, could potentially have a fish farm plonked in the middle of it.

Thousands have turned out from the towns and islands in the Saronic Gulf where there are  dozens of already established fish farms.  A small number of  Poros locals are employed by the Company but nothing like the number employed in the tourist business.  

Poros has lived primarily on tourism for the last 60 years, or more.  Over 20,000 yachts pass through the straits and tie up during the summer. Greek visitors come by road.  Poros is only 2 hours from Athens, one hour on the Catamaran.  We complain about the traffic jams these rich Greeks cause with their big flashy cars but they spend money and come all year round. Foreign tourists start arriving around Easter and keep holidaying till late October.

Speeches first

After all the speeches

There was a protest march to the centre of town

All the family were there

Grandaughters Nels and Poppi with their mother Danae and Poppi's goddaughter 

Then they all formed a human chain along the waterfront 

Poppi with her goddaughter. Sound asleep 

A serenade for Poros and it's protesters for Clean Seas and Beaches

WhatsUpp

 WhatsUp or WhatsApp?

I've had this conversation with visitors before.  I'm told it's App with an A.  But we all pronounce it with a U.   Penny dropped this time.  There is no U in greek.  A is pronounced U. So it's whatsUpp to us. OK

Novak Djokovic is apparently buying a house in Greece.

He is surveying property in Athens and looking at schools for his children.

He has been granted a golden visa which allows him residency in Greece.

He already has a house in New York and Miami, a villa in Marbella, a home in Monaco and a penthouse in Belgrade.

So many choices.  Wonder why he's thinking of Athens?

Personally, I'm a Raffa fan

Almora

For hydration in summer heat.  It provides electrolytes and strengthens the immune system.  K takes it because he sweats so much during the summer.  This one also contains magnesium which is supposed to help prevent cramps.

Poppi has just informed me she takes strawberry Almora.

Didn't know they had flavours

The summer cinema has opened

The showings take place on a rooftop near the harbour

5 euros for children

7 euros for adults

Just like a gang of naughty little boys. 

They were only having fun!