The Filo Cookbook

The Filo Cookbook

My mom (God rest her soul) made the most amazing strudel. With
its buttery flaky pastry and sweet fruit filling it was heavenly. I'm
a big time fan of baklava too. I thought that was all there was to
know about filo. So when I saw Marti Sousanis' The Art of FILO
Cookbook I was intrigued.
I was happy to be wrong. There is a whole world of filo cookery
in this book. I mean world literally. Recipes come from Greece,
France, China, Mexico, Hawaii... In addition to the sweets that
probably first come to mind there are appetizers and entrees, some
with very surprising ingredients.
If you're like me you feel a little like the proverbial bull in
the china shop even contemplating working with such delicate pastry.
You're contented to leave that to the more talented folks. Reading
the book will take that fear/excuse away. The first section is for
total newbies. There's everything from getting the right ingredients
to shaping the dough. There are plenty of pictures.
I am going to bake up a streudal in memory and honor of the best
mom ever. If I can do it just about anyone can. Probably you! :)
I had an amazing filo experience the night of Artsapalooza. It was
getting quite late. I didn't really feel like walking back to
Veazie. I went to my friend Claudia's house to see if I could crash.
Was that ever a good idea. Claudia who is very much Greek had made
amazing spinach and cheese pie. Sitting on her porch that runs along
her garden eating spinach pie, drinking white wine with a fresh
strawberry, singing oldies with guitar accompaniment...all under the
light of the full moon. Doesn't get much better than that.
A great big shout out goes out to my Greek Orthodox permaculturist
friend Claudia.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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