Back in the old days when countries were secluded from each other, cooking and baking were more traditional. Each country had a specific range of savory and sweet dishes.
Today, with the increased penetration of the media in our lives and the technologically advanced and faster transportation means, people have adopted other countries’ culinary customs. Food has become international and there is no better place to realize this than here in our blogging community.
To just change this a little bit and because this month’s theme for World on a Plate was a fruity dessert, I decided to present a sweet that for years used to be the predominant treat in all formal and informal occasions here in Greece. Before the invasion of crème patisserie, croissant, profiterole, cakes, tarts etc., people offered spoon sweets to celebrations, marriages, engagements, birthdays etc.
It is a very basic sweet and resembles a lot to jam. Only here, the fruit remains either whole or is cut in pieces. We do not mash it like we do in jam.
The spoon sweet goes perfectly with Greek yogurt. Do try it and you will see that beauty, most of the times, hides in pure and simple things.
World on a plate is a blogging cultural exchange invented by Pola. On the last Sunday of the month, bloggers from all over the world get together to interpret a food through the lens of their home country cooking. Each blogger will produce a wonderful dish featuring the food chosen that is typical of her/his home country and will tell us a bit about the dish.
Peach Spoon Sweet (Gliko Koutaliou Rodakino)
Ingredients
650 gr. / 23 oz. firm peaches peeled and cut in quarters
650 gr. / 23 oz. sugar
250 gr. / 9 oz. water
1 tbsp lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
In a pot pour the sugar and the water.
Bring to boil in high and add the peaches.
Lower the fire to medium/low and let it boil until the peaches are transparent and soft and the sugar and water have become syrup about 45 minutes.
Remove from fire and pour the lemon and vanilla.
If you are going to use it in the next 10 days just let it cool, put it in a glass vase and store it in the fridge.
If you want to store it for a longer period of time, then you will have to use sterilized vases.
Tips: Sometimes the syrup may become very thick and sugary or very runny. In both cases, don’t worry, we can correct it.
If it is thick, we add about ½ cup water and put it to fire again for about 5 minutes. Just before the end we add another tsp of lemon.
If it is runny we boil it more until the syrup becomes thicker.
Serve either alone or over Greek yogurt.
By the moment you’ll be reading this post, I will be travelling to my father’s village in the mainland Greece. I will be back in a week with many photographs to share with you!
- 650 gr. / 23 oz. firm peaches peeled and cut in quarters
- 650 gr. / 23 oz. sugar
- 250 gr. / 9 oz. water
- 1 tbsp lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- In a pot pour the sugar and the water.
- Bring to boil in high and add the peaches.
- Lower the fire to medium/low and let it boil until the peaches are transparent and soft and the sugar and water have become syrup about 45 minutes.
- Remove from fire and pour the lemon and vanilla.
- If you are going to use it in the next 10 days just let it cool, put it in a glass vase and store it in the fridge.
- If you want to store it for a longer period of time then you will have to use sterilized vases.
