Greekish - Georgina Hayden

I meant to both knit and read today and so far haven't really done either, but it has otherwise been the perfect day off despite being unseasonably cold. I got up early to get to Leicester's The Tiny Bakery to pick up breakfast. It's a 4 mile walk there and back (buses are available) which definitely justifies the epic size of the pastries. I'm very new to the Tiny Bakery (it is indeed tiny) but it's something of a Leicester institution judging by the right down-the-street queue I had to join - apparently a feature of Saturday mornings. Anyway, if you're ever in Leicester and it's open get there early and check it out. 

The bits of the day not spent eating a lemon and poppy seed Danish the size of my face were spent on browsing Georgina Hayden's Greekish, choosing recipes, buying ingredients, and cooking. Lovely, unhurried, weekend, cooking. My Monmouth Street coffee order also arrived so altogether it's been a day of treats.

I loved Hayden's last book, Nistisima - it's mostly vegan recipes based on orthodox Christian festival food, I used it a lot for wedding catering ideas. Greekish is already shaping up to be another favourite. So far I've made the Baklava Buns - a really delicious take on a cinnamon bun with lightly candied walnuts, a more subtle approach to cinnamon, and options for either an orange syrup glaze (preferred) or tahini and cream cheese icing if that's your thing. They are very good and it is my absolute preference for a birthday cake to have something like this. Cake is great, but very little beats a freshly made, still warm, cinnamon bun made just the way you like, so any opportunity with enough people to justify making them should be enthusiastically seized.

I have a lot of other things bookmarked, but tonight's dinner of baked cod with tomatoes and olives was excellent, and a chicken, potato, and pepper dish is in hand for Sunday lunch. The tag line for the book is everyday recipes with Greek roots, hence Greekish but Hayden is taking inspiration from her Greek-Cypriot heritage rather than writing a specifically authentic recipe book.

The whole concept of authenticity around food is one I find troubling anyway. Everyday cooking doesn't work like that - we adapt, borrow, innovate, and appropriate all the time based on what's available to us and what we like. Hayden has a whole collection of Baklava-inspired recipes here - buns, semifreddo, a cake, cheesecake, and French toast, and authenticity be damned, they all sound amazing.

There are other things to like about this book too - the way the recipes are set out feels nice and logical, following what you might want them for - breakfast things, small dishes which work well for lunch, everyday heroes, things on sticks, feasts, and finishing up with some sweet bits. The suggested menus at the back - there are only half a dozen of them, themed around a few likely occasions - it's not prescriptive, but it is helpful.

Altogether it's a treat of a book full of practical recipes that are likely to become integral parts of my repertoire.