I’m late posting this, and
I’m under the gun, because I leave in a few hours to catch a plane to Istanbul,
and then a connection on to Erbil, in (Iraqi) Kurdistan. I am so pleased to be
able to go. It’s part of the research for my Persian World book.
I had hoped to travel to
Azerbaijan for the book, leaving in late March, and then to go to Kurdistan.
But the Azeri visa application process just got more and more complicated. I
felt as if the embassy people were moving the goalposts, asking for more and more documents
from the friend (a generous-minded American woman who is working in Baku) who
had invited me. The Azeri visa process has been famously difficult for a long
time, the government being paranoid, they say.
But with current events, who can
blame them? Azerbaijan, like Georgia, is a small country which borders on
Russia. The events in Crimea were unfolding as I was applying for my visa…. And so I withdrew my
application (rather than risk having it refused).
It’s always good to
remember that we do not have the “right” to travel to other countries. It is a
privilege. And so I am feeling very privileged to be setting out on this trip. I am due to land in Erbil, and then I will
head to Sulaimaniya and Halabja. I don’t like racing around, so I
don’t expect I’ll get further north to Dohuk and the region near the Turkish
border. I’m just hoping to get a glimpse of home-cooking, and some glimmers of
understanding about Kurdish and Assyrian food traditions.
A good friend here in
Toronto spent time in Kurdistan two years ago and has passed along the names
and info of some of her contacts. She was talking to women about their lives… I am grateful to have my passage eased.
And a friend of hers who lives here, who is Kurdish, has also connected me with
a couple of people, including his mother and sisters. I can’t wait!
Meantime, after a long
delay, spring has truly sprung today, just as I am leaving. On Sunday too it was
sunny and mild. A bunch of us who do shape-note singing got together to sing
out of the Northern Harmony book. We were at my place, with the back doors open
and the sun streaming in, just glorious.
I had a little food for
singers to snack on, including bread from Woodlot, hummous from Evelyn’s
Crackers, cheese from Cheese Magic and some pate from Sanagan’s. But I’d also
put a little effort of my own into the food: I’d made skillet cake, a medium
and a small one, using my usual somewhat casual approach. But the cake has
evolved, as all recipes tend to do. I now use all whole wheat flour: Red Fife
with a little La Milanaise whole wheat pastry flour, and my toppings in this
season of little fruit are usally frozen cranberries, or other frozen berries
(raspberries and/or blueberries).
Because some of the singers
asked for the recipe, I’m putting recipe notes here, so everyone can have
access:
You’ll want to have two
bowls for mixing, and a ten- or eleven- inch cast-iron or other heavy skillet,
or two smaller ones (I use an 8 and a 6) or you can use a cakepan that gives
about the same area – about 80 square inches.
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
And heat the skillet on the
stove-top, add oil and spread it well. Remove from heat. Make sure your butter
is at room temp.
The proportions are simple:
In one bowl put 1 ½ cups
whole wheat red fife flour, and ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour; or all Red
Fife; or use all-purpose and pastry flour 50-50, as you please. Add 1 teaspoon
baking powder and ½ teaspoon baking soda, and a ¼ teaspoon salt.
Spices I use are cinnamon,
cloves, dried ginger… you could try a little nutmeg…
In the other bowl cream ¼
pound butter and 1 cup (I use brown) sugar, and then add 1 cup full fat plain
yogurt. Add ½ teaspoon good vanilla if you wish. Whisk 4 eggs briefly and add
them and mix well, then add the wets to the dries.
Stir just enough to mix
them so that the flour is all wet.
Pour the heavy gloopy
batter into the ready skillet(s)
Sprinkle on cranberries or
other frozen fruit, or sliced apple or whatever pleases you. I sprinkle on a
little extra sugar if using cranberries.
Bake at 400 (in the middle
of the oven) for 15 minutes then lower heat to 385 until done (a skewer comes
out clean), about another 30 minutes.
Let stand for five minutes
to let the starches firm up, then turn onto a plate, (fruit side will be down)
then place another plate on the under side and flip it back so it’s fruit side
up.
Cake is better the day
after it’s baked, but usually no-one waits around to test that assertion!
I hope this becomes an easy-to-remember
staple in your house, just as it is in mine.
