Let's go to Greece

Plus why it's helpful & not lame to spreadsheetify your pantry.

Hello and welcome to… spring? The jasmine is out, blossoms are blooming and it all seems a little bit too early for this. Maybe you agree, or maybe you’re just grateful for the good weather. I oscillate between loving the sunshine and being very concerned about it all.

A short one this fortnight, but as promised we shall continue our kitchen-based journey around the world. Read on for a comforting soup and some cooked reviews.

What’s cooking around the world: Greece

So, funny thing. I was originally planning on making moussaka for the Greek edition of this series. Then I realised moussaka is kinda similar to lasagna, which has definitely been exhausted here on this newsletter… and probably also in the same ballpark as the shepherd’s pie I made in the last edition.

So. In the interest of not appearing to be a one-trick pony, I pivoted. This fortnight, we are instead making kotosoupa avgolemono – lemon chicken soup.

Soup because it’s still technically winter and the nights are cold.

Lemon because my lemon tree is in overdrive and I constantly have an overabundance of lemons.

Chicken because I guess it’s about time I made a protein-y dish and talked about it here? Soz if you’re vego or vegan. Hope you’ve had a good time so far.

I’ve made this from an online recipe – you can check it out for yourself.

A few observations:

• I would have never thought to put eggs in a soup. But they give it a creaminess without having to actually add cream.

• This recipe requires time – you have to make the chicken stock from scratch, you soak the rice, but it comes together fairly quickly in the end. So it’s an excellent one to have going in the background if you’re food prepping or doing other chores. Just make sure you don’t forget to put on the kitchen timer!

• This is a very textured soup. The rice adds an interesting layer, as does the chicken. I normally like my soups quite smooth, but didn’t quite mind the extra chews. Made it feel a bit more filling than some other soups in my repertoire.

• You know the old wives’ tale thing of eating chicken soup when you’re crook? This would be perfect for consuming if you’re a bit sicky. Also, does the old in old wives’ tale refer to the age of these superstitions or the age of the wives who came up with them? Hope it’s the former, as the latter is rather rude.

• I reckon this is best for making and eating on the same day. I popped it into the fridge and the rice soaked up quite a lot of the stock, as expected I guess. I added a bit of boiling water to loosen things up and that seemed to do the job. Yet pipping hot and freshly whisked is delish.

What’s cooking: good reviews

• I’ve had the good fortune to read not one, but TWO very decent books in a row. The kind you resent tearing yourself away from to attend to mundane minutiae of life, like I dunno, work, exercise, feeding yourself. Excellent book number one is The Crossing by Sophie Matterson – a travel/walking memoir detailing the 4750km walk she undertook with five camels, across Australia… during the Covid lockdown years (are we far enough removed now that we can refer to them in this manner?). What a wild adventure. And speaking of wild, excellent book number two has been Rewilding the Urban Soul by Claire Dunn. I’ve been thinking a lot about this very topic, being in a position where my weekends are currently wrapped up in a four month long course, around full-time work. When you’re stuck in an urban/suburban environment, it is pretty easy to forget there is still nature and some pretty wild biodiversity around you. I want to explore this topic a bit more in future newsletters, but we’ll leave it here for now – however, read these books if you’re at all interested!

• My last point kinda carries onto this one. Fittingly! I’ve lived in the same area for almost four years and only today realised there’s a beautiful lilly pilly tree right around the corner. For anyone playing outside Australia, or who simply doesn’t know, lilly pilly varieties grow edible berries you can pickle, pop into salads or eat freshly picked. I was 99% sure I’d identified it correctly, but made my partner stand by, phone in hand, while I ate one to check. I seemingly haven’t poisoned myself, so I’ll be going back to pick more to pickle. They’ll make a lovely edition to summer salads. I do so love to pickle things - it’s a great hack against food waste, too. If you ever plan on doing this, don’t forget to sterilise your jars first.

• Magnolias are also out, so I plan to go beg some off my neighbours to pickle or perhaps make into dumplings. Perhaps I can swap them some for a bag of lemons from my overeager tree?

• I’ve created a spreadsheet for my pantry. A trigger for this was going through it and finding double ups of spices, because I couldn’t remember whether I already had certain things and just bought another jar. I acknowledge that it sounds lame, but it’s been a real lifesaver. Now when I’m looking for something, I can see which shelf it is on, how many doubles I have and its use-by date. Now to keep up the good work and not let the whole thing fall apart!

• It was so good to finally see Barbie after many months (years?) of anticipation. Have you seen it? What did you think? I’ve kinda revised my opinion about Ryan Gosling; I’ve never really been a big fan (don’t get me started on Only God Forgives) but he really did steal every scene he featured in. Also, rollerskates for summer? Maybe?

What’s cooked: bad reviews

• It’s so hard to stay warm in winter, particularly with the rising cost of gas and electricity. I’ve been using end-of-season sales to invest in decent homewares, such as some gorgeous flannel sheets I got for less than half price last year. Very grateful for them at the moment! On one particularly cold night, I got a heater with fake fire, which doesn’t run off gas and is fun to look at. The Boy particularly loves reclining in front of it. I’ve also been waiting for my heated blanket to arrive, but now the weather is getting warmer, I’m not so sure I’ll need it!

• With work, my course and idk, life, I haven’t had time to sit down and properly plan my spring planting. I’m feeling a slight sense of panic regarding this, with the weather turning early. I hope it’s not too late to get stuff into the ground.

Thanks for reading. We’re off to Italy on our next edition of What’s Cooking Around the World, in search of la dolce vita. See you then!

-Celine