Greetings from beautifully sunny Crete, guys! We arrived here on Sunday morning and immediately upon landing had a strange mix of feelings. On the one hand, coming back to Greece feels like a homecoming, on the other it feels like we are just tourists on a holiday again. We like to think of ourselves as Greece aficionados.
All the familiar smells – jasmine flowers on the way to our apartment, mountain tea that our hosts left for us to enjoy and cooking smells from the nearby tavernas – immediately bring us back to our 4 years on Paros. As well as local colours and textures, people’s mannerisms and familiar Greek phrases, which are slowly coming back. All the sights are different, yet familiar at the same time. It’s a strange yet enjoyable feeling and we are glad to be back. We are staying near Chania for the first 4 days, then renting a car and driving south and staying in a coastal beach town. For the time being, we are very excited at the prospect of eating sun-ripened tomatoes, plump and salty olives and capers, sweet peppers and juicy peaches. I have a feeling that after 2 weeks, I will be craving Asian flavours, but for now, I’m having fun improvising some super simple meals using minimal kitchen equipment and simple local produce. Tomorrow, we plan on exploring what Chania has to offer. Cannot wait! Meanwhile, here are some warm weather appropriate (aptly named) summer rolls filled with all the green (and a bit of yellow) produce I could find and dipped in a mango miso dipping sauce. They aren’t difficult to make, if a little time consuming, and make for delicious picnic (or beach) food.
200 g / 7 oz ripe mango cubes about 2 tbsp lime juice, adjust to taste about 2 tbsp shiro / white miso, adjust to taste 1-2 tsp soy sauce or tamari, adjust to tase 1-2 tsp maple syrup, adjust to taste 1 tsp toasted sesame oil 1 tsp chilli sauce (I used sambal oelek) 2 tsp grated ginger, grated finely
