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August 14, 2020

The beautiful Raspberry 4 Lucie!

I love writing when there is a story to tell. Rummaging in my head, digging up some memory, dressing it up in original attire and presenting it to you proud and brilliantly adorned. But I also like cooking when I need to invent a new dish that will delight. I like to think about the best ingredients, the dish’s originality, and of the vital importance of taste, from the first mouthful to the last. Above all, I like the blissful smile of a satisfied customer.

Am I not so abundantly blessed to possess these two great passions of writing and cooking? Both have transformative powers; both conjure a metamorphosis; both need heart and hands of an artisan capable of coaxing the raw materials into a beautiful story or a flavourful delight. This is probably why I found so much enjoyment in my work! Because I always had this passion to improve upon things, to do better, to reach further. Reflecting back, I realize to what point I drove my collaborators mad with my insatiable appetite for more – for a new lunch panini, a surprising sandwich, a new crêpe that would taste out of this world.

I love absolutely everything about cooking. Exploring food fairs, watching TV cooking shows, devouring mountains of recipe books and practising incessantly until a dish is perfect.

                                                                                                                        

These periods of intense work make me think of my own mother. I would watch her, fascinated, as she gutted a chicken, carefully cut off the neck, cleaned the innards, basted its flesh and laid it gently on a bed of sliced onions and celery stalks. “So it tastes better!” she explained each time.

And later, unhappily married, I nonetheless had the great fortune to learn authentic Greek cuisine, with its myriad flavours, from grandmothers in Northern Greece. I loved to stuff fresh tomatoes from the garden, big peppers and large cabbage leaves. I simply followed my mother-in-law’s traditional recipes and each time, without fail, a little miracle would transpire.    

I learned to roll up delicate vine leaves, roast lamb, mix together tzatziki, cook “Imam Bayildi” eggplant and to make pita bread. And, the most sublime of all, I learned how to make the best baklava in all of the Peloponnese (Northern Greece). And when it was time to celebrate: traditional Easter cookies, or loukoumades drizzled with honey, halva and the heavenly galaktoboureko.

You can imagine my happiness, when later, my great passion for cooking became my profession. What luck too to have had the instinct to focus on morning gastronomy and to put my name on the front of a commercial establishment.

All this to finally come to the title of this letter: Raspberry 4 Lucie, a crêpe so delicious that apparently it tastes divine. Let’s see how this gift from Zeus is made.

First cook a large crêpe, about 10 inches in diameter, on both sides. 

Next, mix some beautiful fresh or thawed raspberries together with the custard, a large spoonful of cream cheese and a touch of honey.

Place the mixture on the centre of the crêpe and fold over four sides as if you were covering up the contents of a precious gift.

Spread some English cream on a beautiful plate and arrange the “package” fold side down on the sweet bed of cream.

Decorate it with a generous helping of raspberry sauce.

I promise that Zeus himself would slumber contentedly after tasting this divine creation.

And we called the crêpe Raspberry 4 Lucie, to honour our Lucie, who is crazy about raspberries and has shared our passion for breakfasts for nearly 20 years now. She was the company’s controller for a long time before becoming its Corporate Vice-President. Thank you, Lucie, for inspiring this crêpe fit for the gods!

       ❤️

     Cora

Pssst: In Greek mythology, Zeus is the supreme deity of Olympia, revered above all others. His family story is a gripping adventure for anyone who wants to dive into the founding myths of the great Ancient Greek civilization.

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