Royal Culture Clash

Photo © Rob Jones

So, with the tastes of Greece still calling me . I find myself in Cumbria, watching the Queen’s Jubilee concert on the tele (iPad), eating a Pastitsio and drinking a local beer. How mixed up is it possible to be!

Very.

I was struck while I was in Corfu that the ‘go-to’ comfort dish wasn’t actually Moussaka. During one of my ‘amblings through the streets and casually looking at what the Greeks are actually eating themselves in cafés’ moments ... I could see that the favourite seemed to be a dish called Pastitsio, which is a sort of Lasagne. Now … maybe this is just a Corfu thing - given that it’s actually pretty close to Italy and was ruled over by the Venetians for a while - maybe it’s more widespread. I do not know.

Anyhow, I tried it and loved it.

I’m quite suspicious of ‘local delicacies’ as I am convinced that in many places, when the tourists have left the building, the locals tuck into a plate of Jam Sandwiches and Stout.

I remember watching a little Welsh lady once, at a tourist attraction which shall remain namelsss, all dressed up in tall black hat, red tweed skirt and pinny, smiling to all the tourists, and the moment they were gone, she pulled out a bag of crisps and a can of a popular drink invented in America, and the smile became a grimace.

Anyway …

Saturday night. Appointment to view was the Jubilee Concert … a home cooked Pastitsio and a bottle of Ennerdale Ironmaster furnished by the local shop. (Only shop in the village.)

It was all good.

But given that the late Duke of Edinburgh was born on Corfu, maybe this wasn’t such a culture clash at all?

Pastitsio

Fry off some onions and garlic till soft. Add some tomoto puree, some (lamb) mince and ground cinnamon. Give this a good cooking. Add a bay leaf and wine and boil till the juice is reduced. Add chopped tomatoes and reduce again, but not so that it’s unspreadable.

Source some tubular pasta, cook, drain and then add some chopped boiled egg, grated cheese and parsley.

Make a Bechamel sauce - Make a roux, then add cheese and a lot of nutmeg. Whisk in some eggs at the last mo.

Then comes the assembly phase: Ragu first, then half the pasta, then ragu again, then pasta. Pour the sauce on top, sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake for 45 mins. Let it stand for half an hour. Slice and serve. Better next day - obvs.

I made a tomato sauce, and mopped it all up with some white bread and butter.

Bet HM Queen would have loved it.

R