Tea Time at Eumelia

Roosters are impatient. The stars are still twinkling softly, but every five beats or so they cry out, sweet and melancholic like a muezzin, so it must be tea time, whatever the sky says. 

I have no tea.

This is my first morning at Eumelia, a bio-dynamic, organic paradise that combines farming with philosophy (and fine living), one of those philosophies being that the earth is burgeoning with a wealth of beauty and of food, and it's often best to accept what it has decided to give us, and sometimes, to let ourselves be surprised.

A pre-dawn frolic

I'm greeted at the door by a bevy of dogs, and the roosters are still at it. The cicadas won't be singing for another hour or two, but there are swallows and sparrows. The sun is not up, but it seem like everyone else is. We make our way to the herb spiral under a pale cool sky to find something to make tea with. 

And we all find everything we need- some rough mint, lavender blossoms, wild fennel fronds for me, and my camera for the dog - he thinks I will chase him for it, and he's right. 

The sky is gold but the sun hasn't cleared the hill. It is around 6:30. Before making tea I want to see the roosters (they're not at all hard to find - they're still at it).

They're indoors. They must have an internal clock - there would be no ebbing of night to be seen from in here. (If you are an urban person like me, you may be surprised by their size- nothing to do with a dressed supermarket chicken, plus feathers. You could hold but one of them cradled in both arms, and if you needed to hold two, you would have to hang them from their feet. I would do neither- they look redoubtable.) I also see someone else in the barnyard- someone fabulous. I am saving him for another post.

There's a weathered table in front of the bungalow- I toss the herbs here and put the water on to boil. Then I give them a rinse (they are organic but there is still dust, and dogs) and crush them gently to free up the aroma. The scent is so fresh and so strong I'm afraid it will wake up my friend Janet. Just as I pour the water over them, the first rays of dawn hit the trees.

An olive tree behind our bungalow has seen over a millenium of sunrises. I want to see how it likes this one-

The tree, majestic at any hour, glows in the first rays of dawn.

The tea is perfect.

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More Experiences at Eumelia:

Five things I learned at the most delightful wine tasting ever.

A glamorous drive to Gytheio








A completely different tea experience:

Drinking Chai on Evripidou.

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Prunes with Walnuts for Tea Time

An upcoming trip to Istanbul (tomorrow!) has put us in a more exotic frame of mind. Also, we are busy packing. But nothing keeps us from a pretty tea-time. These are simple and beautiful and made really with just two things- the prunes and the walnuts, plus tea and sugar which you already have for tea anyway.

We will need:

As many pitted prunes as you like

As many walnut halves as prunes

Brewed tea to cover the prunes- we used Earl Grey

A little sugar

First, a really good trick:

Check the walnuts- are they sweet and fresh, or a little stale? If they could use refreshing, boil some water, put the walnuts in, remove them immediately with a fine-mesh strainer, give them a shake, and dry them in the oven- ten minutes with a fan should do it, and crisp them a little. The water will have turned reddish-brown with tannins, now leached from the nuts, which will be sweet and fresh tasting (though not have the strong rich flavor of a perfect fresh nut). 

All we do now is cover the prunes with tea and simmer until they swell. The tea will become dark and thick with the juice of the prunes. Remove the prunes with a slotted spoon to a platter. Stuff each one with a walnut half, pretty side out.

To the dark prune-infused tea, add a spoonful or two of sugar. It doesn't need any sweetness, but the sugar will add body and gloss as we cook it down. Boil rapidly until it becomes a thin syrup. This should  only take a moment or two.

Pour the syrup over the prunes for serving. If you have it and want a little more exotic fragrance, spritz them with some orange flower water:

And to keep the motif, and also because the colors go so nicely, slice a peeled orange and dust it with cinnamon. Some strained yogurt, clotted cream, or labneh are just the thing if you want something more filling for tea-time.

When we are having these, we usually use our Turkish tea glasses rather than cups and saucers. 

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Double Greek Coffee Meringues- for International Coffee Day.

Actually, every day is coffee day in Greece. Ours is happily a nation of delicious and inventive coffee drinks. As in so many other nations, the word is nearly synonymous with socializing.

But two iconic coffee drinks differentiate Greek coffee drinking from that of European neighbors. The first is, of course, Greek coffee- finely ground to a powder that is blended together with the water and what in every household is understood by the word "coffee." This is what is known more commonly throughout the world as (sorry) Turkish coffee. 

Greek coffee has a lot going for it:

skill- preparing it well and giving it the characteristic dense and subtly grainy head of kaimaki ("cream") takes a practiced hand. There is precision to the heat and the timing.

rustic, minimal equipment- a simple portable mini camping gas burner is part of every household;

craftsmanship- you can buy a selection varying sizes of beautiful specially designed brewing pots with a long handles, hand made by metal smiths.

ritual and lore:  In all other types of coffee extraction methods, the grains just go to waste. In Greek coffee, they foretell the future: looking for signs and symbols in the patterns left by residual thick grains in the overturned coffee cup is a traditional skill so back in vogue that many coffee shops advertise the service. (Also, a little coffee accidentally splashed on the saucer? - Good luck- money is coming to you.)

There is an elegance in this elemental drink- coffee, water, heat- to which is added only craftsmanship. There are no filters, no percolators, no steam extractors. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum of tradition and craftsmanship is the other main coffee of Greece: instant coffee- Frappe if cold, "Nes" (short for the most popular instant coffee brand) if hot. This is served everywhere- elegant cafes have "Nes" on the coffee menu, right next to the cappuccino and the cafe au lait, and they bring it, whipped into a froth, in fine china cups with a tray of biscuits on the side. Every kiosk sells the makings of frappe- a bag containing a plastic cup with a shaker top, an individual serving envelope of nescafe, and 2 sugars. You can get a high-end Frappe too- it is even on the menu of the legendary and splendid Hotel Grande Bretagne (really- I just checked). Instant coffee granules whipped into a froth with cold water and some sugar and canned (never fresh!) milk added is surprisingly tasty.

These super-easy Baroquely gorgeous meringues pay tribute to Greece's two most popular coffees. There is no getting around the high sugar content of a meringue- it is what stabilizes them and gives them their lasting structure. The rich aromatic bitterness of coffee in these goes a long way to cutting the sweetness. You will never have had a meringue with a more balanced flavor or elegant appearance, free of the sugary bam and the blinding whiteness (nothing against weddings and baptisms....).

These will take you about 15 minutes, cost you about 75 cents, and for that will cause all kinds of fuss piled high on a pretty tray. 

We will need:

4 egg whites
200 g/ 1 C white sugar
a dash of salt
2 tsp. of instant coffee dissolved in 1 tsp. of vanilla extract (homemade here) or whiskey or rum (or water if it must be)
2 tsp. of Greek coffee

1. Beat the whites with a dash of salt until frothy and begin adding the sugar, spoonful by spoonful so that it has a chance to dissolve, beating all the while. A dense, glossy meringue will form in about 5 - 8 minutes.

When they whip up to a stiff peak they will hold their shape beautifully.
 Keep checking so as to not over beat- they could toughen.

2. Add the diluted instant coffee and blend:

3. If you have a pastry bag and a tip, pipe them into decorative swirls onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper. Otherwise shape them as you like with a spoon- they will hold their form beautifully(!). Keep in mind that they will swell a little in the oven. Dust them with the powdered Greek coffee:

4. Bake them in a very slow oven, 100 C/ 215 F - 120 C/ 250 F- check them- if they oven is too warm they will take on color, which we don't want. They dry as much as bake, and will take at least an hour to do so. We need them dry only on the outside, such that they can be easily and cleanly lifted from the paper. A little melting softness on the inside is nice. 

Success is assured on a dry day, but making them in the heavy rain could try your patience. They would be excellent sandwiched together with whipped cream (not very sweet).

(Ironically, we serve them with tea):

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