93. ελληνικός καφές

31st October 2010.  I've been drinking Greek coffee for years and yes, I have to say that I'm hooked on a particular Greek Cypriot brand - Charalambous Gold Mocca coffee (below). The problem with getting hooked on Greek or Turkish* coffee is that any other kind seems anaemic and insipid by comparison. I'll refer to it as Greek coffee throughout - hope this doesn't upset anyone - no offence intended.

When some friends from England visited us about a year ago, they were kind enough to bring me some much-needed packs of Charalambous. To my continuing surprise, despite trying every deli and coffee shop in the Pays Basque, I've been unable to find anyone here who stocks it or a similar product. And this in the land where you would expect shops to stock all manner of food items. If anyone reading this knows of a mail order supplier in France, please let me know via a comment at the end of this post.

Charalambous coffee is excellent and it has a rich taste with a hint of cardamom (I think) in there somewhere. It receives a 5* rating from me. However all good things come to an end and a few months ago I finally used up the last of my coffee stocks.

Last week, D, another kind friend in England, sent me some new supplies and all is now well again with the world - for the next few months at least! Loumidis Papagalos is a Greek brand (left) - and it has a slightly different taste to the Greek-Cypriot one. In looking for an image to copy, I discovered that Papagalos is available via the US Amazon site. I suspect it's been slightly de-tuned (unleaded?!) to suit the North American market - I don't think it has quite the same hit as Charalambous. I'll have to try adjusting the mix to see if I can squeeze that 130 octane aviation grade caffeine hit from it. By the way, if this post does whet your appetite for making Greek coffee yourself, don't forget to store your coffee in an airtight jar.

If there's anyone out there who would like to know how to make Greek coffee - then here's how. I thought the quickest & easiest way to explain it would be via YouTube.. but after a quick search for Greek coffee I was surprised at how long-winded some of the explanations were - some of these clips were 6-7 minutes long! If this is the first time you've made it, then I'd suggest using the following measures as a starting point and you can adjust for your own taste the next time. 



a "Bríki"

For one cup of coffee, measure a coffee cupful of cold water and pour into your coffee pan (or bríki). Add 2 heaped teaspoons of coffee and 2 of sugar (or 2 sweeteners). Stir enough to break up any clumps of floating coffee. This next part is subjective but the way I make it is to bring it slowly to the boil & remove from the heat just as it starts to bubble and rise - as in the vid. Pour and serve. Needless to say - obligatory Health & Safety warning follows! - you don't drink the grounds.. By the way, if anyone thinks their method is better, or have any suggestions - then please leave a comment.. 

Now - isn't that the best tasting cup of coffee you've ever had..?

1st November 2010. Cracked it.. all it needed was slightly more coffee in the mix and the result was a satisfying brew of Dr Loumidis' Patent Restorative Mixture.

And now for something completely different.. This is a representation of the workings of a 7 cylinder rotary aircraft engine of WW1 vintage. I can watch this for quite some time - admiring the elegance and simplicity of the crank arrangements and the way that the apparent motion of the pistons is converted to rotary motion - and all without a conventional crankshaft thrashing about.. (you might have to click on the image to see it moving)

2nd November 2010. A propos of nothing, I just thought of Saya, a great Thai restaurant I used to go to in Seattle.. If anyone in Seattle is reading this, or if you're planning to visit, I can't recommend this restaurant highly enough. What to order? During the course of many visits there in the mid 1990s, I worked my way through their entire Thai menu - and while everything was excellent, my favourite was the Gai Yang - barbequed chicken..(beyond delicious) I must add a shout-out to the friendly staff. After not having visited for a year, I walked in and the waitress took one look at me and said, "Gai Yang, yes?" If only they delivered!

And now, duly caffeined-up to the eyeballs, back to the Pays Basque..

92. Indian summer

Click to enlarge!

29th October 2010. Yesterday afternoon we drove down to St Jean de Luz - and according to the car, it was 23.5°C.. (74°F in old money) and the beach was crowded.. It was dazzlingly bright, even with sunglasses, and we had what will probably be the last ice-cream of the year from Glaces Lopez.

They have a concession on the sea front at St Jean de Luz, another at Biarritz and they have a truly astonishing range of flavours. After a great deal of deliberation, Madame decided on a Cointreau Orange and Crème brûlée while I had a Chocolat Noir and Banane. (It's a tough job etc!)

St Jean de Luz (Place Louis XIV centre right)

We wandered through town - getting hotter & hotter - and we headed for the Place Louis XIV where the platanes had already been stripped for winter. It looked quite stark there without the familiar canopy of green overhead. We stopped at the Bar de la Marine for a sangria and, as is his wont, the dog soon introduced us to our charming neighbour and it wasn't long before she was offering him some ice cream..! 

Place Louis XIV, Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Following my painful introduction to surf rowing last weekend, you might have noticed that there's been no mention of rowing so far this week.. I probably would have been OK to start again tomorrow (Saturday) but I've got to stay at the house all day as we're having the garage rewired. I'm sure it still has the original wiring from when it was built c1930 - and the 80 year old wiring is crumbling. I'm also thinking about painting the inside of the garage - having first disposed of the numerous spiders in there - some of which look big enough to tackle a medium sized goat. Might have to send Madame in first!

91. All you ever wanted to know about chrysanths but were afraid to ask..

27th October 2010. Walking into town this morning to pick up the bread from our current baker of choice, I noticed that our local florist had a larger than usual display of flowers and potted plants outside. The star of the show was clearly the colourful presentation of beautifully trimmed chrysanthemums in pots - and that reminded me that this weekend is a good one to avoid on France's road network. this weekend is Toussaint (All Saints - 1st November) - a public holiday. On this day, it's customary to visit the family tombs and graves, wherever they may be. Chrysanthemums are the traditional offering at the graveside. Toussaint conveniently falls on Monday this year and, like so many salmon returning to their natal stream to spawn, many will be making, or at least trying to make, a long week-end out of it - notwithstanding shortages of petrol..

Normalement at this time of the year, the autoroutes and routes nationales across the country are heavy with traffic as Mamy et Papy return to their ancestral village d'enfance to pay their respects at the family tomb. Unfortunately, this mass migration brings with it a heavy toll of road accidents as septuagénaires and octogénaires, unaccustomed to driving long distances, take to the highways in droves. Be warned.. 

It should now be obvious why it's not advisable to offer French friends chrysanthemums..

Cazenave

I've just returned from a late afternoon walk with the pooch around town. It's thronged with tourists - mostly French - as it's half term and Toussaint all in one. Lots of white-faced black-clad Parisians (black being the new black) were much in evidence, bumbling about and swamping the chocolatiers as they indulge in the heady delights of a chocolat à l’ancienne or a  tasse de chocolat à boire moussé à la main (below) at Cazenave.

Hot chocolate as you've never had it..

Just as the carpet of yellow leaves underfoot signifies the approaching cold days of winter, the arrival in town of the hot chestnut man with his "little locomotive" with its blue mist of smoke rising from the smokestack is another sure sign that winter's here. There's nothing quite like a paper cone of marrons chauds to warm the hands on a cold evening. 

Finally, my answer to those who would argue that Man has no soul, that we are just an accident of nature, that we are just a "billion to one shot" anomaly that crawled out of the primeval sludge..

Further proof - if further proof be needed - here:

This final piece of evidence - Exhibit C your honour - by Rachmaninoff is something my father would play. I think Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No 2 (with Geza Anda) was the first classical record he bought in the fifties. Despite it being played to death on Classic FM, it still retains the ability to hypnotise by its sheer lyrical quality. However, Yuja Wang's interpretation of the concerto takes the honours in my view: 

Watch on YouTube.

QED.