Page 24 - Cityview_May_June_2014

From the

Editor

A

dventures in the
an ever-so-delightful British food and wine magazine editor.
Jack Yeats paintings adorned the walls. (his brother, William
gastronomic diary: Butler Yeats, was one of the great poets of the 20th century.)

And the four-hour dinner? Even more than 20 years ago the
The early 1990s
Allens were purveyors of farm-to-table food: neighboring

farmer’s wives brought poultry, recently picked vegetables
and fruits, and free-range eggs. A network of fisheries and were a great time

fisherman supplied fresh fish caught from small boats based in
nearby Ballycotton and shellfish from Kenmare Bay.
to eat. for me. Yessirree.

We started with lettuce and mint soup and then I was pre-
sented with poached salmon with asparagus and hollandaise And Eυχαριστ́ πολ́

sauce. The table was festooned with platters of spring turnips,
buttered courgettes, a green salad, new potatoes, and mush- (Efharist́ poĺ).
rooms a la cr̀me. Not content to rest on their laurels, Bally-

maloe house then wheeled out a cheese cart celebrating the
rebirth of Irish cheeses from small farms all over the country.
great and memorable meals mean fresh and lovingly pre-
(We were told: “Don’t pass on Clare Coogan’s cheese! It’s a pared food in unforgettable settings with people you love. And
new arrival!”) And yes, we still had room for dessert: coffee,
surprises. Always there must be surprises.
tea, petits fours, and a yogurt ring with glazed strawberries. So It was a Saturday night in March 1990, and we were travel-
rich and creamy! We were each 27 Irish pounds lighter, a few
ing through Marṽo, a small but famous medieval fortress
American pounds heavier—and quite content.
town set upon the Serra de S̃o Mamede in Portugal. Kids
And then, in May 1992, we were wandering along the were playing soccer in the dark streets lit only by huge old-

semi-deserted roads of finikia, a tiny village near oia on the fashioned lanterns lining the roads. We were hungry and we
northern tip of the greek island of Santorini. Signs to a restau- stumbled upon an unassuming and unnamed restaurant. The
rant bearing the same name as the village pointed this way and
menu was limited but we knew, instinctively, that we were in
that with no discernible rhyme or reason. We suddenly found good hands.
ourselves off the main road and on a stone path overrun with
We started dinner with great pieces of thick bread ac-
clumps of flowers and weeds, following arrows painted on companied by a cheese spread, butter, and a plate of very
rocks. Wrong turn!!! Double back!!! finally—a split along the
spicy fried sausage. An extraordinarily flavorful bread garlic
path! Where to go? I clambered back to the main road—and soup—ensopado de cabrito—was next, followed by kid casse-
learned we need not have scampered into the brush! There it
role: not the children we saw playing soccer, of course, but
was: the small restaurant we were looking for!
goat from a nearby farm. The kid was presented in a piping
Cooled off and well rested, we started lunch with a simple hot redware casserole dish with quartered potatoes around

greek salad (of course) with special Santorini peas and lettuce the side and fabulous soaked crusty bread underneath. We
(an unusual touch). And then: moussaka presented in a cas- drank a rough and red wine and ended with a special egg
serole with notes of cinnamon and cream. Accompanying the
flan for dessert. The memorable meal cost us only $14 per
delectable dish were the best french fries on the planet.
person. What’s not to love?
Even today, I can still taste the garlic soup, the poached
In May 1991, we found ourselves at Ballymaloe house, a
salmon, and the cinnamon-infused moussaka. Top Chefs country manor house in County Cork in Ireland. The huge
around the world: Thank you.
mansion, its front covered almost completely with wisteria
vines, was owned by Myrtle Allen and her husband Ivan. Mrs.

Allen was considered the doyenne of Irish cooks and has a
world-famous cooking school, to boot, in Shanagarry.
Steven Friedlander
There were 14 of us around the table: the Allens, some of

Editor-in-chief
their family members, couples from georgia and Virginia, and

22 cityviewmag.com may june 2014