Food has featured on and off as a reason to be cheerful in my Blogging from A to Z Challenge and, as I have said earlier, we should all be grateful if we have food to eat. Sometimes we should be just a touch more grateful and definitely cheerful if we have some food that is, as gourmets probably never say, "super yummy".
For that reason, my letter W reason to be cheerful is walnut pie, which in Greece is called καρυδόπιτα. Pie by name, but cake by nature, this is, as the name suggests, made from walnuts. The cake is left to steep in a very sweet syrup. I warn you now, a diet food it is not.
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| Walnut pie with obligatory scoops of vanilla ice cream. |
Sometimes people I am with suggest it might be a good idea to share the walnut pie and ice cream. Well yes, it might be a good idea, but with foods that fall in to the aforementioned super yummy category sharing becomes difficult.
Rest assured that once you have eaten a portion of walnut pie you become like an anaconda that has swallowed a goat and needs to lie still for a few days. Marathon runners load up with carbs on the eve of a race by eating pasta, perhaps they should consider walnut pie instead.
I haven't been able to find any songs specifically about walnut pie and some of the songs I did find about pies seemed to use the word in a rather euphemistic and sexual way. I tell you, some people are obsessed. Anyway, I found a much better compromise, namely The Four Tops singing I Can't Help Myself (Sugar pie, Honey bunch).
- Question: Where do you stand on the issue of sharing desserts? Is it a vile abomination that should be stamped out now or actually a really lovely idea (do you think the people at the next table would mind if we shared their desserts as well?) Answers, as ever, in the comments section.
Hi Mark ... sometimes I'm happy to share - sometimes I'm definitely not!! Love the thought of this gooey rich Walnut dessert .. and I'm sure the brandy does help 'the pudding go down' .. I've never had a walnut pie, but we had a walnut tree when I was growing up .. and walnuts are wonderful ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteWalnut trees are lovely. Their bark is beautiful, there are several on the land here and they are wonderful just to look at.
DeleteWalnut pie sounds divine. Incidentally, I've turned into a domestic goddess since leaving the NDJ and today made lemon drizzle cake and a pie out of the left-over beef from Sunday roast. Sharing desserts is fine if there are two of you and you don't know which to pick. As for altruistically sharing a dessert with someone with nothing to trade - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
ReplyDeleteWalnut pie IS divine. I think the Greek gods handed it down as a reward to mere mortals for occasionally behaving themselves. Mind you, lemon drizzle cake is good, too. I endorse your views on sharing as a transaction where there is something for both parties, otherwise, as you say, NOOOOOOOO!
DeleteYum! Walnut pie sounds fabulous! Now I'm hungry! At first glance it looks like a big slice of deep pecan pie. I wonder if they're similar? I'm in love with pecan pie. It's super sweet and so packed with calories. Re: sharing dessert: nah, each to their own! :)
ReplyDeleteFour Tops: Great choice!!
I've never had pecan pie, but I suspect I'd like it. I think I need to organise some sort of pie taste test with all sorts of pies. Now I feel hungry.
DeleteYes I agree with the comment above that sharing two deserts so you still end up with a whole portion is fine but allowing someone else to have spoonfuls of something they couldn't be bothered to order for themselves is certainly a No No in my book!! Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace
ReplyDeleteYour views on sharing are eminently sensible and, let's face it, what's the point of restaurants etc having lots of puddings if we don't all have one? Or two?
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