eau de nil

A sweet, yeast-free 'bread' enjoyed yesterday, 'Green Monday', when Greeks everywhere mark the beginning of Lent by flying kites and eating greens in the open air.

The recipe is by Evi Voutsina, unrivalled doyenne of Greek traditional cuisine, tinkered only slightly by me. Minimum labour, maximum pleasure.

Krasata

300ml olive oil (I use half olive oil, half corn oil for a lighter version)

180ml fresh orange juice

150ml red wine

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

750g plain flour (I use 1/3 wholemeal)

3 tbsp sesame seeds

For the syrup:

½ kg sugar

1 ½ cups water

(I use 250g sugar : 1 cup water)

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Mix all ingredients except sesame seeds together in a bowl to amalgamate. Press ‘dough’ down into a rectangular baking tin that has been oiled and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Even the surface out and sprinkle with more sesame seeds.
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
• When the ‘bread’ has cooled completely, boil the syrup ingredients for a few minutes until sugar has dissolved and pour over the bread. Cover with a tea towel and leave to cool. Cut into pieces.