Hellas! Tragœdia

It would be quite hard to see the effect of the Greek collapse (and resulting Depression) in the canyons of Wall St. but it can easily be seen in the Greek stores in Astoria.

There is a wonderful store called Titan Foods. It's one of the largest Greek supermarkets in New York.

The collapse of the Greek economy has taken out a large portion of their supply chain. The CC having gone to this store for more than ten years can easily see the impact that it is having on the market.

Normally, the store would be groaning under the weight of all kinds of Greek goodies but you can see the strain.

Still the CC came back with some anchovies packed in salt, spanakopita, karidopita (walnut cake), taramosalata, yogurt, sheep-milk feta, and other assorted ingredients.

Ginataang Hipon

This is a superb Filipino dish. The CC has already written about it before.

Like all cuisines, it lives and dies upon the excellence of its ingredients.


Ingredients

2 fresh bamboo shoots
1/2 lb long beans (chopped into 2" segments)
1 cup corn
1/4 cup chilli leaves

2 cups coconut milk
2 tbsp patis

16 fresh shrimp (peeled)

Notes about ingredients

You can find fresh bamboo shoots and long beans at any Chinese grocery store. You can find the chilli leaves at a Filipino store or you can just pick your own if you have a chilli plant.

Patis is Filipino-style fish sauce. Use the Thai nahm pla as a substitute but be warned that they are similar but not the same. (The CC can effortlessly tell the difference in a recipe!) If all fails, bung in a crushed salted anchovy because that's what the fish sauce is actually doing.

Use frozen corn if it's not summer. These days coconut milk comes from a can. The CC would rather you make your own but do what you have to.

Fresh shrimp is non-negotiable.

Recipe

NOTE: You don't need salt in this recipe because of the patis. Just taste it and add some if needed.

The bamboo shoots must be sliced really thin using a mandoline.

Combine the shoots, long beans, corn and coconut milk and heat gently for about 10-12 minutes. Be careful because if you boil the coconut milk it will curdle.

Add the shrimp and chilli leaves and cook for just under a minute.

Serve with rice.

Little House on the Prairie

It's that time of the year again.

Thirty-five pounds of tomatoes (!) slowly cooking down to make tomato paste and sauce.

February holds no terrors any more.