Hectic Host: Greek Island Life

I will never forget Christmas 1987. I was buying for the Covent Garden General Store and one book title in particular was proving so popular there was not room to store it. Boxes of it were crammed into the buying office. I was just recovering at my desk, having hauled two enormous loads down onto the shop floor, when the phone rang ‘we need more books!’

‘Blinking woman’ I thought as I hung up the phone.

The book was ‘The Top 100 Pasta Sauces’ and the ‘blinking woman’ was Diane Seed. The book proved to be one of the best selling non-fiction books of the 80’s. I couldn’t imagine that 20 years later the author would have become my friend and we would be sitting together on a balcony, above a bakers, in the tiny Greek fishing village of Vathi talking about our favourite black and white movies!

Having visited Diane at her cookery school in Rome I jumped at the opportunity to join her on one or her ‘Gourmet Adventures’ to Sifnos. This idyllic island is famed for its food and pottery, a destination combining two of my greatest passions; eating and shopping! The promise of a week with the intrepid and entertaining Diane and her engaging anecdotes was far more than I could resist.

Although life in Sifnos is far from hectic, the heat prevents the islanders from going to too much effort, hence we were taught to make delicious, simple dishes that hardly take any preparation at all.

Bram. Take equal quantities of courgettes, aubergine, potatoes, green peppers and onion and cut into slices. Place in a baking tray, into which you have poured a little olive oil, add garlic. Pour over a can of tomatoes, fill the empty tin with water and pour this over too. Add salt, pepper and oregano and bake in180 degree oven for one hour.

Chickpea soup. Sifnos’ traditional Sunday lunch, which is more of a stew really and nothing could be simpler. Soak a bag of chickpeas over night. Wash and place in a large casserole filled two thirds with water, add three thinly sliced onions, some garlic, a splash of olive oil, salt and a bay leaf. Bake slowly in a medium oven for around two hours. Squeeze in some lemon juice before serving.  Don’t worry if you make too much, as in Sifnos Monday’s traditional meal is leftover Chickpea soup, with rice!

Fish Soup. There is no road through Vathi to get anywhere one must walk along the beach. When the tide is in one must paddle from the bakers to the taverna where we learned to make this delicious fish soup. In a large pan of water, and a little olive oil, simmer chunks of carrot, tomato, potato and a few bay leafs for about an hour. Add any cleaned and gutted fish of your choice and simmer for a further half an hour. Onto one plate serve the fish and vegetables pouring the soup into a separate bowl.

To find out more about Diane’s school and culinary adventures visit www.dianeseed.com