Greek Sweetmeat Overload

Photo © Rob Jones

Uuuuurrrgh! ….Ufffff …. Errrrr (sometimes prologued for a minute or so) Ufuffuffuf.

These are the noises I make after discovering a couple of packets of Greek sweetmeats, and eating my way through half the contents. I would have gone for gold and eaten the rest, but guilt and stomach pangs prevented me.

Sugar overload. And that’s putting it mildly.

Baklava with Almonds, Walnuts, and Honey.

Kataifi with Pistachios.

Loukoumi Mix (Greek Turkish Delight) flavoured with Ouzo, Mastic (Plant Resin) and some more pistachios.

One would have been enough.

But did I stop?

No

I only have myself to blame.

I knew it was wrong while I was doing it. I have a very sweet tooth. There is a cupboard in the kitchen which is cordoned off with police incident tape. It’s full of chocolate, biscuits… all the bad things. So bad… they are good.

Even for me the Greek Sweetmeats were …. sweet. Very sweet.

Alarmingly easy to make at home too.

Baklava Recipe

There are three main parts … The Filo Pastry, the Nut Filling and the Honey Syrup.

In principal/theory … best to find a recipe you like. This was dicated to me by a Greek.

Grease a square oven dish, and lay in a couple of layers of Filo pastry. Brush with melted butter. Chop some walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts in a blender with some cinnamon, cloves and sugar. Add a layer to your dish. Another couple of Filo layers. Butter the top again. Another layer of nuts. Final layer of Filo. Butter the top. Cut into squares. Into the oven. On liberation, allow to cool, and then drench liberally with honey syrup - water, sugar, honey and lemon juice. Allow to infiltrate as it cools. Youo can play around with the nut combos, and flavours. It’s not written in stone.

Best to bring out at parties or when friends are about to stop you making your way through the batch in one go.

RJ