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Moustalevria

Set with flour and nothing else — no gelatine, no cornflour, no egg.

Vegan.

Ingredients

Method

  1. IT IS SET WITH FLOUR AND NOTHING ELSE -- no gelatine, no cornflour, no egg. That constraint is what gives it its particular texture, which is soft and slightly short rather than wobbly or glossy: a cornflour set is clear and bouncy, a gelatine set quivers, and flour gives something closer to a very soft semolina pudding that holds a cut edge. Ten parts must to one of flour by weight. And because flour is the only setting agent, it has to be cooked out properly -- twenty-five minutes, not ten -- or the finished dish tastes of raw flour, which in a dessert with two ingredients is impossible to miss.
  2. THE FLOUR IS SLAKED IN COLD MUST AND POURED IN AS A SLURRY. Three hundred millilitres of the must held back cold, the flour whisked into it until genuinely smooth and pressed through the fingers to check, and then poured in a thin stream into the hot pan with the other hand stirring. Tipped in dry it seizes instantly into lumps that never disperse and will be in every spoonful.
  3. IT IS SKIMMED WHILE IT COOKS AND THE FOAM IS DISCARDED. Grape must throws up a grey-pink foam as it heats, which is protein and tartrates. Lifted off with a spoon two or three times, the finished dish is a clear deep purple-brown. Stirred back in it is cloudy and faintly astringent.
  4. IT IS POURED OUT WHILE STILL CLEARLY POURABLE. It thickens a great deal as it cools, and the pan looks far too loose at the point it should come off the heat -- about the consistency of pouring cream. Cooked until it looks set, it cools to a solid rubbery block that has to be cut with a knife.
  5. THE ALMONDS GO ON TOP AND NOT IN. Chopped, toasted, scattered over the surface while the bowls are still warm enough for them to stick. Stirred through, they sink to the bottom of every bowl within a minute and go soft overnight.
  6. 300 ml of the must held back COLD. The rest brought to a simmer in a heavy pan.
  7. SKIMMED two or three times as the grey-pink foam rises, and the foam DISCARDED.
  8. The flour whisked into the cold must until COMPLETELY SMOOTH, pressed through the fingers to check for lumps.
  9. The slurry poured into the hot pan in a THIN STREAM, stirring constantly with the other hand.
  10. Cooked 25 MINUTES over a medium-low heat, STIRRED CONSTANTLY and the base scraped.
  11. TASTED: it must not taste of raw flour. Another 5 minutes if it does.
  12. The mastic and rose water stirred in off the heat.
  13. TESTED: it should still POUR like thick cream. Taken off at that point, NOT when it looks set.
  14. Poured into bowls or a shallow dish while pourable.
  15. The toasted chopped almonds scattered over while the surface is still warm, so they stick.
  16. Left at room temperature 3 HOURS to set, then dusted with cinnamon.
  17. Served cool. It keeps 3 days and weeps a little after the first.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Cyprus · All recipes