Now & Then Cookbook - Author Q&A With Tessa Kiros
Ricotta And Jam Pastries - Exclusive Cookbook Recipe!
My first foray into the world of food and travel writer Tessa Kiros was through her beautiful cookbook Falling Cloudberries in 2009. With a Greek-Cypriot and Finnish heritage, Tessa was born in London and brought up in South Africa. It was a natural progression into the world of food and travel writing as Tessa armed with her rich heritage as an 18-year-old, embarked on a journey of the world to explore cultures and cuisines. On a trip to study Italian food and culture in Italy, she met her husband.
It is truly a gift to live with so many beautiful cultures and cuisines. But it is an even greater gift to bottle up that curiosity and subsequent discoveries into a delicious offering for the whole world to enjoy - in the form of cookbooks. Tessa is perhaps one of the only original food writers who have an eclectic and creative form of storytelling - through recipes, journals, photos and keepsakes. I own six of her cookbooks and each is as poetic and beautiful as the next. They are perfect for curling up on the couch on a Sunday morning and letting your heart wander to faraway places and filling your head with delicious inspiration for your next meal.
Tessa’s latest cookbook is called Now & Then - A Collection of Recipes For Always (Amazon Link to buy). And it reads like a friend’s letter from her overseas holiday. 150 recipes splashed across postcard-perfect pages, a diverse and delicious mix from her home in the Tuscan countryside to her family visits in Thailand and Greece and travels to Mexico and New Orleans. There are recipes from India and South Africa and Middle East, Italy and parts of Europe.
It is a gorgeous cookbook that I have spent the last two weeks of my summer break cooking from - easy, everyday food that is simple yet new and exciting! I have made the Yum Som-O Pomelo Salad (with grapefruit & orange!), the Paneer Pakoras (yum!), Bulgur And Mango Salad (like a tropical Tabbouli!), Chickpea Harira and the Chilli Oil (with some dried Calabrian chillies I sourced last month), Chicken Tinga Tacos, Fish With Lemon & Oranges (such a delicious, briny, quick dinner when you need something in a hurry!) and the Ricotta And Jam Pastries.
It reminds me of my most favourite Tessa Kiros book to date - Province To Pondicherry. I love the variety of cuisines and the little stories behind how the recipes came to be.
I made the Ricotta And Jam Pastries thrice. My boys loved them so much the first time that they kept begging for me to make more. I am making them again tonight for the fourth time and thought it was fitting that I share this recipe with you all (with Tessa’s permission) as they are the most delicious pastries I have ever eaten. A ricotta pastry crust that encases your favourite jam and gets baked to golden perfection. The only change I made was to add ricotta in the filling as well along with the jam.
I was thrilled to connect with Tessa on Instagram late last year and so chuffed that she was on board to be featured on my Cookbook Author Q&A series. So without further ado, I’d love to share some fun questions Tessa answered for you all. Thank you Tessa for the chat!
1. Like all your other beautiful cookbooks “Now & Then” is a tapestry of stories tied together by the beautiful food and memories you have experienced and collected. What makes a memory so poignant and vivid for you? Is it the food it is associated with? Do you have a system of filing away stories along with your recipes?
I think the things that I want to collect are those that hit a personal chord. For me, it’s often a colour, a smell, a taste, a piece of music – something that I want to hold on to & remember - & go back there in my mind. Very often it’s a dish or the way that the dish was prepared, or by whom. For example, from my time in Mexico I will always remember Rosa, the cook in the family where I stayed – the beautiful impression she made from the moment I arrived.
I always save things that I love. And I always carry a notebook with me. I jot things down, & then I elaborate on my memories later– add extra flourishes.
2. I have to ask? Do you scrapbook? The pages in your books are always beautifully and whimsically arranged with vintage treasures, interesting polaroids, pressed flowers and vignettes. How do you decide what photos and objects tell your story?
Yes - I definitely scrapbook in my mind. The photos & objects that I collect are things that resonate with me. I don’t have a method or an agenda. I love whimsy & I think that if you put things together that you love, somehow it just works. I’m quite a mix-and-match kind of person, styles, colours & I adore layers of things. I have a wonderful team that I work with that helps bring my ideas to life.
3. Your most favourite recipe from the book and the story behind it?
It’s hard to choose. One of my most favourite is the Toasted Almond Vanilla & Chocolate ice cream – the ‘Never out of fashion’ I call it. I remember this combination from when I was really young. I looked so forward to going to my favourite ice cream place to have it & would always choose these 2 flavours – a scoop of each.
I also love the lamb chops with lemon & oregano. Reminds me of my mother & a sense of home.
4. A secret kitchen or cooking hack?
I always freeze fresh lime leaves, curry leaves, lemongrass & fresh red & green chillies to have handy when I need them. Certain dishes just cannot be without them.
5. If someone cooked you dinner, what would it be to bring you the most joy?
I love grilled piri piri prawns or a mixed grilled seafood platter with some sort of wonderful citrusy sauce. A big fresh salad, & something soft like a crème caramel or flan for dessert.
6. Favourite vegetable? Why?
Artichokes. I never ever get tired of them. In every single way. It can be the whole meal for me – eg steamed & eaten with a garlic anchovy ‘aioli’. Roast stuffed artichokes. Pan-fried, then settled into lasagna layers. I have several recipes in my new book
7. Food writers that inspire you?
Diana Henry, Alice Waters, Claudia Roden. Georgina Hayden. Gurdeep Loyal. Laurie Colwin, Edna Lewis.
8. What do you enjoy cooking for dinner?
Something like the ‘Paglia & Fieno with Ragu’. Making fresh pasta can be incredibly therapeutic & so satisfying - & I love a long cooking ragu. This is Nonna’s (my mother-in-law) ragu. I know how happy everyone at the table will be when there is something like this - & I just love that.
9. What does an ideal dinner party look like for you?
An ideal dinner party for me is with my close friends & family. Candles lit. A fire. Several dishes on the table where everybody is helping themselves.
10. A cookbook you are loving cooking from and why?
I’m really enjoying Jeremy Lee’s book – ‘Cooking’.
Beautiful, solid recipes - & I think he is wonderful.
Exclusive Cookbook Recipe from Now & Then by Tessa Kiros
Ricotta And Jam Pastries
Makes 9 Pastries
We love these for breakfast with a cappuccino. They're just a whisper of a sweet thing. The pastry for these starts contains no sugar, the sweetness comes from the jam (I like a not-too-sweet one) and a dusting of icing sugar on the top.
Ingredients
about 150g (5 ½ oz) jam (cherry, strawberry, raspberry) one heaped teaspoon in each
Icing (confectioner’s) sugar, to serve
PASTRY
150g (5 ½ oz) fresh ricotta
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
100g (3 ½ oz) butter, softened
150g (5 ½ oz) plain flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
Method
To make the pastry, discard any watery liquid if there is any from around the ricotta, then put it in a bowl with the vanilla and butter. Mash together with the back of a spoon. Sift in the flour, baking powder and two good pinches of salt and mix to a fairly damp rough, turning it around in the bowl and pressing gently to collect the flour and incorporate it all (it will take it all in eventually). Cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour before rolling out.
Preheat the oven to 180°C 350°F and line in a large oven tray with baking paper.
Roll out the pastry on a well-floured surface to a 30 cm (12 in) square about 3 mm (1/8 in) thick. Don't press too hard and pat your hands and dust the pastry top with flour as you go if it needs. Straighten off the edges with a blunt knife and cut into 10 cm (4 in) squares.
Put a heaped teaspoon of the jam (just over 15g/ ½ oz) into the centre of each square. Working one at a time, fold the pastry diagonally corner to corner over the filling to form a triangle, then push the edges firmly together with your fingers to seal them before pressing down with a small folk lightly along the edges in a few places (though it is fine if a little jam oozes out in baking).
Arrange the triangles on the tray and bake for 20 minutes until they're golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly, then dust with icing sugar. These are best served a bit warm but are also good at room temperature.
Over To You!
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This was so enjoyable to read! And those pastries, wow!!
How much ricotta did you add with the jam? I think I would definitely want to try it with the extra ricotta as I often find jam too sweet on its own.