Couscousaki!

Sandra barely fits in the underground kitchen!

Someone has to work while the other one dances!

Warning! When cooking in a foreign country, always ask someone to translate the directions on a package of food. Never assume that you know how to prepare anything that comes in a package!!

After a fitful night of sleep that involved many variations on the meal that I would prepare, I was relieved to find packages of couscous at the local market. The fact that it was called couscousaki seemed incidental. I planned to make a toubouli type couscous salad, a cabbage salad and frittata.

5pm: With great confidence I placed the couscousaki in a bowl and poured boiling water over top (just like I have done a hundred times at home). The liquid gradually disappeared. Twenty minutes later I almost broke a tooth when I tested the results. At that moment Kallyroi appeared in the doorway and asked if she could help. I suggested that maybe she could read the directions on the empty packaging. "Oh" she said "you should soak the grains first and then place in boiling water". Again, with slightly less confidence, I decided to boil more water and place the partially cooked grain into the pot.

By this time Sandra had joined me in the miniscule kitchen to prepare a pot of squash soup. She was less confident about the couscousaki results but I was determined to give it a try. Meanwhile I had parboiled some potatoes for the frittata, sliced zuchinni, peppers and onion and placed all the veggies in a large shallow baking pan. We were quickly running out of space!  I placed the pan on a narrow counter behind us.

6pm: Glancing at the stove, I noticed that the couscousaki had turned into a pot of porridge! What could I do now? Sandra and I agreed that it was a disaster...so, into the garbage. I ran to the market for a package of rice. This time I asked Sandra to read the directions. The rice went onto the stove. By this time it was 99 degrees in the kitchen!

I started to chop the cabbage, apple, orange for the other salad while the rice cooked. How would I ever cool the rice in order to make a salad with it? Passing behind Sandra to the sink, I knocked the pan of frittata veggies upside down onto the floor. We looked at each other and wondered what the next disaster would be! "It's okay" she said "I just washed the floor". Choking with laughter, we threw the veggies back into the pan. 

I threw the cooked rice into a metal bowl, sat the bowl in another bowl of ice and gently moved the rice around for half an hour. It was threatening to become another glutinous mass!!

7pm: Sandra abandoned me after preparing a huge pot of delicious soup and a small quiche. I was still struggling while she created culinary delights! I tossed tomato, cucumber, parsley & onion into the rice along with capers, olive oil, lemon juice & curry. With luck it would have an hour to chill in the refrigerator before dinner.

7:30pm: The cabbage salad was tossed in honey, olive oil & lemon with apple, orange sections & raisins. I was fairly confident that it tasted good.

7:45pm: Sixteen eggs, yogurt & oregano were whisked together and poured over the recovered veggies in the pan before being topped with grated cheese that looked and tasted similar to parmesan.

8:00pm: I emerged from the kitchen, absolutely soaked with perspiration and exhausted. At that point, I could only hope that everything tasted okay. Kallyroi offered to clean up the mess and place the frittata in the oven at 8:15pm.

9:00pm: Twenty people started to gather around the tables outside. It was a beautiful night. The quiche was sliced into small pieces and served as an appetizer. We all agreed that the squash soup was a huge success! Very tasty!

Surprisingly, my efforts in the kitchen for the main course (with the exception of the couscousaki) were met with applause. Whew!!