June 14th 2014
I’ve
just eaten the cerebellum are not the words you particularly want to hear
as you pick up your knife and fork to start your own meal. But they were the
words I heard last night. Next to me, an otherwise kind and caring doctor
looked gleefully down at the half a lamb’s head (kefalaki to Cypriots), split
on the sagittal plane and continued to eat the rest of the brain and bits with
relish. More disconcerting was the pile of denuded jawbones replete with teeth littering the plates. Two lambs’ heads together with
rosemary, rigani and thyme, a slather of golden green olive oil and lemon, had
been lovingly wrapped greaseproof paper and string and slow cooked in my oven –
not by me, by my husband.
Food and friends last night started with a miserable defeat
by the Greek team at the hands of Colombia (3-0) and ended with a Mastika
fuelled after-dinner couple of hours of singing along to all the old Cypriot
songs pulled up with glee by my husband on his IPad.
The menu – As mentioned kefalakia,
souvla (chunks of lamb on the spit),
tumeric roasted potatoes, oyster and portobello mushrooms with Marsala and
cream, asparagus with lemon and parmesan, salmon and shrimps in herb butter
with spinach, tagliatelle, tomato, green pepper, cucumber and fresh coriander
salad, caper leaves and olives. Lashings of wine and beer. The dessert of fresh
apricots cooked with cinnamon, honey, saffron and star anise served with
‘Arabian’ pancakes (pikelets to you and me with a dash of ground cardamom)
dripping with orange-water syrup and pistachios and a scoop of vanilla ice
cream, and a platter of sweet melon and water melon was served with a bottle of
Malvasia http://www.spectus.com.cy/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=486&category_id=43&vmcchk=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=836 – one of the most ancient grape varieties and reputed to be the
sexiest wine in the world, although I didn’t see any such effect last night.
All rounded off by coffee and Mastika (mastiha) and song. Neither of the dogs was over impressed by
anything.
Hey ho and we have a month of the World Cup to get through.
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