Something Savory For The Weekend

My first encounter with a savoury snack was in a bag of Crips and I literally mean in the crisp packet. This savoury addition came in the form of a little blue twist of greaseproof paper. Inside this twist of paper was a mysterious seasoning that would transform the flavour of the crisp from plain potato flavour to, wait for it, salted potato flavour. The mysterious seasoning in that little blue twist of paper was none other than a humble pinch of salt. In 1960 Golden Wonder was the first company to introduce ready salted onto the crisp market. It was around this time at a kitchen table in Dublin that Joe “The Spud” Murphy the founder of Tayto developed cheese and onion flavour crisps. It wasn’t until a few years later in the mid-sixties that cheese and onion as savoury option made its way into my school snack box. This exotic savoury mix was followed by a plethora of flavours like smoky bacon, salt and vinegar until we arrive at what we have today ,over one thousand flavours of potato crisp worldwide.

Pastry

The early Egyptians, Sumerians and Greeks all had some form of savoury pastry; even if they did resemble more a course oatcake biscuit than a mouth-watering flaky treat. It was the Romans who got savoury pastry on the march but not as we know pastry today with all its sweet and savoury options The Romans used pastry as a way of encasing meat to keep it moist and most likely feed the pasty to their animals when they were ready to eat the meat.

In the mid-seventies savour got a whole lot hotter and a whole lot spicier with the explosion of Chinese’s takeaways into the culinary landscape of every town, village and cul-de-sac in Ireland. This cultural food shift meant that savoury and spicy became the new fish and chips and with up to 100 items on the menu it was hard to see how the traditional Chip Shops with their minimal menu of Fish Supper, Sausage Supper, Meat Roll Supper ,Burger and chips complimented by a pint glass of cold milk could compete. Those who survived did so by adopting and adding new and savoury options to their menu while still maintaining the traditional ethos of the local chipper. What any of this has got to do with today’s savoury snack I’m not quite sure other than to remind us that the landscape of food is ever shifting and evolving and what is todays sought after savoury dish may be tomorrows pet food.

Kiflice

This is my take on the Serbian staple Kiflice. You will find them on every kitchen table and on the menu of any decent restaurant throughout the western Balkans.  It is basically a roll with a soft cheese filling.

Ingredients

The Pastry

225g/8oz/2 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp baking power

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

150g natural yogurt

2-3 tbsp milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 230c/450F/ Gas 8

Lightly oil a baking sheet

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter

Mix in the yogurt, add just enough milk to make a soft dough

Roll into a ball or two depending on how many Kiflice you want

Roll out onto a floured surface (quite thinly)

Use a pizza cutter to cut into triangles

Filling

100g/4oz Feta Cheese

100g/4oz Soft cream cheese

Garlic bulb (Optional)

Chilli pepper (Optional )

Method

Combine the cheese in a bowl

Add Garlic, or Chilli or both or none at all depending on your taste

Spoon onto the pastry triangles (See Pic) then roll into a parcel and nip at both ends.

Bake for about 12 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack.

Serve while still warm

TIPS

Brush egg white over the pastry

Sprinkle with sesame seeds