‘If you truly hold a stone, you can feel the mountain it came from’
People have always saved scrapes of their experience to help remind them of the forces of life that can’t always be seen. Filled with the timeless rhythm of the ocean, we pocket a shell and carry it thousands of miles to know the presence of the ocean when we are hours from the sea.
The day I found out I was pregnant I searched for something connected to my grandma, to wear. To me it symbolised her looking over me with protection. I was lucky enough to find a necklace with a picture of her guru, a little key and a small anchor. In moments of sadness or anxiety they serve as a deeper sense of love and support and contain a plenitude of messages and memories for me that I can draw upon when needed.
Food is also a form of symbolism. Specific recipes are linked to childhood memories, to first dates, destinations and conversations. The soothing salve of my grandma’s Kitchuri will also evoke the feeling of being given a hug for example.
I love reading books weaved together with food memories. For me it is like stepping into another world transported by ingredients and aromas that are mentioned. The covenant of water was a beautiful example of such a book, based in Kerela, with mentions of coconut, rice and jaggery ladened dishes.
Currently I am reading, ‘the queens cook’ a book based on queen Esther’s court of biblical times. The main heroine Roxanna loves to cook, she notes it as a taste of control in a chaotic world. As she talks about the dishes, she weaves in her childhood memories and this Persian love cake caught my imagination. It contains saffron and cardamom, two of my favourite spices known for calming the nervous system. In her recipe she used freshly milled wheat, making a denser cake with a syrup over the top to moisten it. I wanted to make gluten free high protein version, so I used almond flour as the base and eggs to lift it.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, separated
- 2 tbsp. lemon zest
- ½ cup honey
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup ground pistachios
- 2 tbsp. coconut flour
- 1 tsp. ground cardamom
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp. cream of tartar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Grease a 9-inch cake pan. Set aside
- Grind ½ cup pistachios to a course flour. I ground more than I needed and used the rest in oatmeal
- Next, separate your eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and whites in another
- Add the lemon zest and honey to the bowl with the egg yolks. Beat with a whisk until smooth and set aside
- In a second bowl, combine the almond flour, ground pistachios, coconut flour, cardamom, saffron and baking powder. Mix well then pour the egg yolk mixture and combine well. If the mixture is thick, add a whole egg to loosen the mixture
- Now beat the egg whites until bubbles start to appear. Add the vinegar and cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.
- Fold the egg whites carefully into the pistachio-yolk mixture in several additions, handling the batter as little as possible to keep the mixture inflated
- Scrape batter into the pan and bake until the top is golden brown and the middle no longer jiggles, c. 25-35 minutes
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely in the pan
- Decorate with a little light icing sugar or a rose water cream
