Corfu Sofrito

Photo © Rob Jones

So I was told …. if you like Garlic, then you’ll love a uniquely Corfu dish called Sofrito.

Well, that was like waving a sardine at a cat.

After first ordering it in a cafe, and really enjoying its soul food vibe, perfect wintry fayre, even though it was sunny and 19 degrees C. at the time, I went hunting for further details of this wondrous dish and found it actually rather simple to make.

Plus a rather interesting pedigree.

Corfu clearly inherits its Sofrito leanings from its Venetian heritage. You can find some form of it all across the Mediterranean - Italy, Catalonia, Spain all have their versions. The word itself apparently meaning just cutting things up small and frying them in oil.

It’s so old as a recipe that any new fangled ingredients like tomatoes or peppers which come from the New World are not to be found within it. So - pre 1492 (When Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue.)

Some recipes even spurn garlic (shudder).

Right from get-go, I need to announce a slight deviation on my part as regards the recipe which calls for young tender veal. I swapped that for the kind of pork you get from a Gyro or pita here in Corfu. Partly for squeamish reasons and partly because I couldn’t find any veal in the shops, and I don’t (yet) know the Greek for Veal (though everyone here is used to Brits stumbling into their emporia shouting their needs loudly.). Beef is also good.

Apart from that ….

I pre-cooked the pork cuts, and sledged them in some peppered flour with a teensy bit of cayenne, before I sautéed them in butter and little oil till browning a little. Set them aside.

Into the pan goes the Garlic - as much as you can justify. Roughly chopped. Before they brown, splash in some white wine vinegar to deglaze the pan before returning the meat. Cook until seething, and then add about a wine glass of white wine and half a jug of beef stock.

Optionally here, some recipes call for capers, a tablespoon of sugar and some lemon juice.

Certainly add chopped parsley.

Cover and simmer for an eternity - keep checking to make sure it doesn’t dry out.

The result should be a rich brown comforting sauce with soft tender meat.

In the tavernas it’ll come with chips. It’s natural partner I feel is mash.

Greek Lemon Potatoes (recipe to come) is another option.

I opted for gnocchi, carrots and peas. Plus bread and butter to clean the plate afterwards.

You can take the boy out of the Valleys … but you can’t take the Valleys out of … etc etc.

R.