✮ The Food Dictator ✮

Παγωτό Καϊμάκι Image Used Under Creative Commons License From sweetly.gr

My Citizens, your well-connected and sought-after Leader – the Dionysian epicure that alone is TFD! – was invited to a very special event put on in San Francisco solely for the top food bloggers and writers about Mastiha by the Chios Gum Mastic Growers Association! This amazing gum resin has an intense taste and is incredibly healthful as well! Mastic gum has been used for millennia to improve well-being – it is so chewy that it is the origin of the English “masticate” – to chew!

While there, I sampled amazing Greek-influenced foods using Mastiha and came away with some amazing samples of top-quality Mastic. To thank the Association for their largesse, I will now share with you a classic Greek ice cream, flavored by the piney essence of Mastiha and deliciously chewy thanks to the further addition of Salep (a very rare powder made from an Aegean orchid used throughout the region to give ice cream a unique stretchiness and immunity from rapid melting!

παγωτό καϊμάκι, pronounced pah-ghoh-TOH kah-ee-MAH-kee is both fascinating and delicious, and the history of Greek ice cream is quite interesting as well!

Ice cream in its modern form, or pagotó (Greek: παγωτό), was introduced in Greece along its development in Europe in the beginning of the 20th century. Earlier than that, ice treats have been enjoyed in the country since ancient times.

During the 5th century BC, ancient Greeks ate snow mixed with honey and fruit in the markets of Athens. The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, encouraged his Ancient Greek patients to eat ice “as it livens the lifejuices and increases the well-being.”

In the 4th century BC, it was well known that a favorite treat of Alexander the Great was snow ice mixed with honey and nectar. In the modern Day Greek ice cream has been heavily influenced by Turkish Ice cream Dondurma thus the name used to be called Dudurmas but, because of very poor Greco-Turkish relations, most Turkish related foods are coined a more Greek idiom.

Greek ice cream recipes have some unique flavours such as Pagoto Kaimaki (Greek: Παγωτό Καϊμάκι), made from mastic-resin which gives it an almost chewy texture, and Salepi, used as a thickening agent to increase resistance to melting, both giving a unique taste to the ice cream; Pagoto Elaeolado me syko (Greek: Ελαιόλαδο με σύκο), made of olive oil and figs; Pagoto Kataifi cocoa (Greek: Παγωτό Καταΐφι κακάο), made from the shredded filo dough pastry that resembles angel’s hair pasta, similar to vermicelli but much thinner; and Pagoto Mavrodaphne (Greek: Μαυροδάφνη Παγωτό), made from a Greek dessert wine.

Fruity Greek jams or syrups are usually served as toppings with Greek-inspired ice cream flavors. TFD also prefers to sprinkle his mastic ice cream with chopped pistachio nuts and to serve with sour cherry preserves on the side.

As to the history of mastic, greece-is.com has this to say:

Every autumn in the mastichochoria (‘mastic villages’) of Chios, women can be seen sitting on benches in front of the tightly packed stone houses for a task inextricably linked with life on the island’s southern slopes.

They are cleaning mastic, an aromatic resin obtained from the Lentisk tree and the life-blood of these villages since the Middle Ages.

Strong bonds are forged during the cleaning process as women move from house to house helping each other with the work that takes until January to complete. It is a delicate task as each ‘tear’ of mastic must be cleaned individually by hand. The purity of the mastic each producer delivers to the Chios Gum Mastic Growers Association will determine how much they are paid.

While lentisk trees grow in many areas in Greece, it is only on Chios that there is a large-scale production of mastic. The lentisks here are unique, belonging to a strain that is endemic to the island (Pistacia lentiscus var. Chia). For millenia these trees have shaped the domestic, residential and economic structures of the mastichohoria, and they continue to do so today.

Mastic cleaning is a painstaking process that is done by hand

THE HISTORY OF MASTIC:

It was under the rule of the Genoese (1304–1566) that the production of mastic was first systematized. They provided the native Chiots with protection from pirates in exchange for a monopoly on the mastic trade. The densely populated villages were surrounded by walls with gates that would open in the morning to allow villagers to head to the fields and close again at night.

In the center of every village stood a stone tower that was the central storehouse for the mastic as well as the main administrative building. The basic units of production were the homes of the villagers themselves: on the ground floor animals were kept that were used mainly for transport. Above was a floor on which family life played out, while the roof was used for the drying of grain and other agricultural products that formed the basis of the villagers’ diet.

Life was not easy and space was at a premium: every home housed more than one family and there were no courtyards and few free spaces. Every aspect of life revolved around the production of mastic.

In the 16th century Chios passed under Ottoman control. The new rulers kept a monopoly on the trade of mastic until 1840 when Chiots were permitted to sell mastic themselves with the Ottomans collecting a tax on the trade. The 19th century was a particularly difficult period as the value of mastic fell, threatening the industry. As a result Chios Gum Mastic Growers Association was established in 1938 for growers to pool resources. To this day it is the sole body managing the Chios mastic trade.

The mastic gum is produced by the lentisk tree as a defence mechanism. The sub-type of lentisk trees cultivated on Chios are endemic to the island

The method of mastic production has changed little since the Middle Ages, a fact which contributed to UNESCO’s 2014 decision to include Chios’s knowledge of mastic cultivation in its ‘List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity‘.

To collect the valuable resin, growers scar the bark of the tree at specific times and using a specific method. In response the tree produces the resin in an effort to heal the wound. The resulting ‘tears’ are collected in the early morning cool before the heat of the day softens them. The ‘tears’ are then transported to the village where they are processed and cleaned before being delivered to the association.

Citizens, my version of this delectable treat is based very closely to one I found on the fantastic website thespruceeats.com. The toppings are all mine, however! You can buy 100% pure salep from here. Top-quality Mastiha from the Isle of Chios may be found here. Greek sour cherry preserves are here and excellent unsalted and shelled pistachios may be purchased here.

Battle on – The Generalissimo

Æbleskiver Image Used Under Creative Commons License From twitter.com

My Citizens, your supreme Sovereign of sweetness – the mighty TFD! – has a great, unplumbed depth of delight when it comes to pancakes! Make them spherical and Scandinavian and you will discover the toothsome joy of Danish æbleskiver!

Æbleskiver are Danish snacks that are – as just noted – spherical in shape.They were traditionally cooked with apple (æble) slices (skiver) but apples are now sadly very rarely included in modern Danish forms of the dish.

Somewhat similar in texture to European pancakes crossed with a popover or Yorkshire pudding, æbleskiver are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover. The English language spelling is usually aebleskiver or ebleskiver.

One story about the origins of æbelskiver is that during the time of the Vikings, when they roamed the coastal waters of England and the Atlantic, one band of these rough Vikings was hard-hit in battle. As they returned to their ship with dented horn helmets and shields, they made pancakes to regain their strength. They didn’t have proper cookware so they greased their dented shields and poured the batter on them over a fire. The first aebleskivers were born.

Æbleskiver are today cooked on the stove top by baking in a special pan with several hemispherical indentations. The pan exists in versions for gas and electrical stoves (the latter with a plain bottom). Pans are usually made of cast iron, allowing good heat retention. Traditional models in hammered copper plate exist but are today used primarily for decoration.

The batter for æbleskiver usually includes wheat flour, which is mixed with buttermilk, milk or cream, eggs, sugar and a pinch of salt (some recipes also include fat (usually butter), cardamom and lemon zest) and a leavening agent, most often baking powder, but sometimes yeast, to aerate the batter.

Batter is poured into the oiled indentations and as the æbleskiver begin to cook, they are turned with a knitting needle, wooden skewer or fork to give the cakes their characteristic spherical shape. Æbleskiver are not sweet themselves but are traditionally served dipped in raspberry, strawberry, black currant or blackberry jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

In Denmark, æbleskivers are traditionally eaten during the Christmas season and are often served with gløgg, Scandinavian mulled wine. They are often sold at Christmas markets, charity markets, Scouting functions, local sports gatherings and similar.

They are also served at children’s birthday parties, due to their popularity and easy preparation. Voluntary associations gain profit from preparing them from the pre-fried, frozen stage and selling them, usually three at a time, with the usual condiments.

In North America there are several annual events that celebrate æbleskiver and Danish culture, with churches and museums holding “Æbleskiver Suppers” and similar events.

TFD endorses only cast iron, proper æbelskiver pans – this one fits the bill nicely: Cast Iron Danish Aebleskiver Pan, Preseasoned Cast Iron Cookware for Pancake Puffs, Makes 7 Pancake Balls by Commercial Chef 

A pair of wooden chopsticks are the best tool for turning in cast iron, as anything metal or too hard will scrape up the patina in your cast iron pan – this is to be avoided at all costs! Also to be avoided are non-stick coated pans or God help us, aluminum – they never hear evenly and will result in burned golf balls, trust me.

My version of these descendants of Vikings past takes a distinctly southern detour to the spice islands while still remaining totally true to the origins of the recipe. Unlike modern recipes, I have put back in the original apple filling, albeit seasoned to my taste with cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom instead of the classic cinnamon alone. I also have them in bit form as opposed to slices, as I think it improves the flavor and texture of the final product.

I also use the original yeasted batter, as opposed to baking powder, as it gives a better lift and taste to the spheres. Lastly, another trip to the heady islands of spice is made by calling for powdered vanilla sugar instead of just regular powdered sugar and using coconut oil to grease the pan indentations instead of butter. By all means, use butter if you prefer not to have a slight taste of coconut – I happen to love it.

Don’t worry if the first batch or two didn’t turn out and flip all the way or if it doesn’t look quite “right” because they’ll still taste wonderful! You’ll quickly get the hang of it, never fear!

I know you will love these delights, my Citizens! 😀

Battle on – The Generalissimo