Lifestyle

Party Time

As the temperature rises here on Crete, the outdoor party season really comes into its own. Throughout the summer months many villages in the region will be hosting impromptu fiestas and / or a ‘Πανηγύρη’. In the dictionary, ‘Πανηγύρη’ translates as ‘Religious Festival’ generally applied to describe celebrations to mark a saint’s name day, but it is also the generic term for partying and merry making…. With plenty of roast meat, pilafi, wine, raki, traditional music and dancing, a ‘Πανηγύρη’ is a truly joyful occasion. Everyone relaxes and lets their hair down. All guests - whether they be locals or visitors Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - Agio Pnevma celebrations are welcome, as long as they get into the spirit of things! In the photo to the left you can see the festivities for Agio Pnevma (‘The Holy Spirit’) which took place in June under the trees in a valley close to Spili. As an indication of just how important this celebration is considered to be, the party area, including benches and tables, is a permanent fixture, remaining in place all year round (a great place to have a summer picnic in the shade, too)! At the time of going to press, the Bugle team had no hard and fast details of when and where the biggest parties were going to be this month - though villages called Agia Paraskevi are likely contenders for celebrations on the 26th July. As ever, though, we will keep you updated online as and when we hear more! Enjoy yourselves!

Recipe: Shredded Duck or Chicken Salad, Chinese Style

If you have access to lots of ducks, then duck is great for this recipe. But as getting hold of duck in Rethymnon is often difficult (cuddling ducks anywhere isn’t always easy, but that’s by the by), then substituting a chicken will be just fine.

Ingredients

Chicken (obviously)
Salad vegetables - carrot, cucumber, cabbage are recommended, crispy lettuce also works.
For the dressing - the original source that this came from, which is almost certainly out of print by now (The Complete Encyclopedia of Chinese Cooking, edited by Kenneth Lo, Treasure Press, too ancient for an ISBN number) recommended the following:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons sesame seed oil, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon mustard AND ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons sugar. BUT I would leave out the salt altogether (you’ll get enough from the soy sauce) and go very easy on the sugar. If you want some additional excitement in your life, you can always try adding a bit of chilli sauce and some garlic, too.

Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - Chicken Method:

This dish is a party piece that you can show off to your friends - so start by organizing a dinner party! A summer barbeque with salad buffet works well (see our May issue for ‘helpful’ barbeque hints). Or why not go all out and have an oriental themed evening? If you are going down this route, you may want to think about noodles. Whatever the case, you will need to set a date for your ‘do’ and invite some guests. I can see we’re getting side-tracked here. Back to the chicken. Cook it in a style that pleases you. Let it cool and strip it from the bone. Prepare the dressing. Then it’s shred, shred, shred! Shred the chicken, shred the salad vegetables and, above all else, don’t forget to shred those incriminating documents you happen to have lying around the house. Make a pretty ‘salad bed’ on a serving dish (concentric rings of the carrot, cabbage, cucumber etc. look good) and arrange the chicken on top in an artistic fashion. Just before you are ready for the off, pour over the dressing. Sprinkle on a few sesame seeds (if you have any) for a little extra pizzazz. Delicious!

Cocktails of the Month: ‘Round the World’ and ‘Mallorca’

Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle After the tried and tested formula we gave you for a ‘Bucket of Punch’ in June, this month we bring you two, er, cosmopolitan cocktails. We haven’t tried either of them (now why might that be?!), but would welcome any tasting notes and comments (that are printable) from any of you intrepid travelling connoisseurs out there.

First up is a cocktail called ‘Round the World’. When we looked at the ingredients, we thought that ‘Round the Bend’ might actually be a better name for this one, but there you go.

Here’s the recipe: 1½ oz Green Crème de Menthe, 1oz Gin, Pineapple Juice, Ice, Fresh Pineapple. Shake the ingredients over ice and strain into a suitable glass. The recommended garnish is ‘A piece of pineapple on a stick if practicable’. No alternative given, but a green cherry would probably work just as well (let’s face it, the only way is up).

Where to drink this? On a ferry across the Mersey, skiing down Everest and in bed (if it’s going to flatten you, get ahead of the game by adopting the horizontal position in the first instance).

Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle The second cocktail we bring you is called ‘Mallorca’. Not wishing to be rude, but when we saw this recipe, we thanked our lucky stars that we live on Crete. Still, you shouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it….

For a Mallorca you will need: 1 part Drambuie, 1 part Crème de Banane, 1 part Dry Vermouth, 3 parts White Rum. The instructions in the manual just say ‘stir’. We think that adding ice can only help to dull the pain.

Where to drink this? Well apart from the obvious, try Malta, Manchester or Mars.

Contents

Party Time

Recipe: Shredded Duck or Chicken Salad, Chinese Style

Cocktails of the Month: ‘Round the World’ and ‘Mallorca’