Green Olive, Garlic & Rosemary Pancakes and a Giveaway

I was recently gifted a lovely selection of olives from Fragata. Some black, some green and some stuffed with garlic. There was also a jar of hot peppers which I am longing to try out with some houmous and falafels. Fragata specialise in Spanish olives and other mediterranean products. 

I love olives, in sandwiches, on pizza, or munched on their own, but rather than just eating them in their natural form, I wanted to try something a little different. After a short ponder between scones, muffins or pancakes, I settled on pancakes. Having pancakes for a lunch is a weekend treat of mine that I hadn’t yet done this year, so pancakes it was to be. I usually make sweet pancakes, so the idea of savoury salty olive pancakes intrigued me.

The green olives stuffed with garlic sounded particularly good and I decided to pair it with fresh rosemary as olive, garlic and rosemary sounded a great flavour combination. I made the batter for the pancakes using brown rice and chickpea flour, the latter having a very savoury taste and slightly dense texture. This seemed fitting for savoury pancakes and I thought its earthy flavour would be lifted by the salty tang from the olives.

To accompany my pancakes I wanted something light and fresh and went with a fresh milky ricotta cheese that I flavoured with fresh rosemary and lemon zest. This worked really well, its light fresh flavour adding a delicious contrast to the savoury salty pancakes. 

I loved the flavour the green olives gave to the pancakes. Unless you look closely you can’t really tell they are there, as they hide camouflaged in the batter, but when you bite into one, a sharp salty tang and that wonderful fresh olive flavour fills your mouth in a most satisfying way. The garlic wasn’t too pungent (as I feared it might be) and gave a subtle hint of flavour. The ricotta then neutralises the saltiness from the olive, getting you ready for the next bite. Simply delicious. 

Giveaway

The lovely people at Fragata are also offering one of you the change to win a sample of some of their products. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what your favourite olive is and how you like to eat them. Competition open to UK residents only. Only one entry per person. Competition closes at midnight on Saturday 8^th February. The winner will be chosen at random. Please leave a way for me to contact you should you win. Good luck!

Green Olive, Garlic & Rosemary Pancakes and a Giveaway

Ingredients

50g chickpea/gram/besan flour

30g brown rice flour

1 tsp baking powder

115ml milk

10 garlic stuffed green olives

10 leaves fresh rosemary

¼ tsp dried oregano

Freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp oil

To Serve

100g ricotta

Zest of ¼ lemon

7 leaves fresh rosemary

6 cherry tomatoes

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Cut the tomatoes in half and place cut side up on a foil lined baking tray. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then turn off the oven and place two serving plates into the oven to warm. Also put in another place topped with a sheet of kitchen roll to hold the pancakes and keep them warm as you make them.

Spoon the ricotta into a small bowl and add the lemon zest. Finely chop the rosemary, add to the ricotta and mix together well. Store in the fridge until required.

To make the pancakes, weigh the flours and baking powder into a bowl and mix together. Chop the rosemary and add to the flour along with the oregano and a few twists of black pepper. Don’t add salt as the olives are salty enough.

Slowly add the milk, whisking well to remove any small lumps of flour. You should end up with quite a thick batter.

Chop the olives into rounds so you have a ring of olive filled with a small piece of garlic in each slice. Fold the olives into the batter.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Drop level tablespoonfuls of the batter into the pan, trying to get a few bits of olive in each one. (It’s best to do this in small batches) Cook for 1 minute before flipping over and cooking on the other side until lightly golden brown. Remove the pancakes from the pan and transfer them to the plate lined with kitchen roll that’s keeping warm in the oven. Repeat with the leftover batter. You should get around 6 pancakes from the mix.

To serve, divide the pancakes between the two serving plates. Place a couple of spoonfuls of the herby ricotta onto each plate, you can quenelle them by shaping it between two spoons if you want to be fancy. Scatter around some of the roasted tomatoes and finish with a little fresh sprinkling of lemon zest and rosemary if desired.

Eat and enjoy. Makes 6 pancakes

Serves 2 as a light lunch, or mini ones could be used as canapés. 

Note: Fragata did not pay me for reviewing their products and I was under no obligation to give them a positive review. These thoughts and comments are my own.

The Cochin Indian Restaurant, Bedford

This weekend I have been down south visiting my family. It was my sister’s birthday last week and my mothers this coming week. Yesterday all the family gathered together to celebrate. In the evening we went out for an Indian meal at a restaurant I’d read about called The Cochin.

It’s a little different to your typical curry house in that all the food has some southern India influence, Kerala specifically, and includes special dishes like Dosa, Thali and a range of Indian Keralan tea shop style snacks as starters. Another thing I liked it that all the dishes were particular in what they included, there was no list of curries, Bhuna, Balti, Masala etc, that you then picked your meat, fish or veg to go with, each dish on the menu was made a particular way and called after its traditional Indian name. Everything is cooked fresh to order meaning you could really see and taste the different ingredients and spices.

Upon arrival, I mentioned I couldn’t eat anything containing wheat or gluten and before I had even finished speaking the waiter said “oh you’re gluten free, that’s not a problem. You can have this, this or these dishes from the menu” I found this very reassuring and trusted they knew what they were talking about. Thankfully a lot of Indian food is naturally gluten free, so I had a fantastic selection of dishes to choose from.

We decided to share a couple of starts between 4 of us. We selected Idly a rice flour based steamed little cake that came served with 2 chutneys and a savoury sambar for dipping. The Idly themselves were bland (not dull, just unspiced) and soft, but were great for absorbing all the spices in the chutneys. Not something I’ve tried before.

The other starter was a very intriguing sounding Banana Boli, (banana fritters) – yes on the starters! They were large sliced of banana dipped in a thick spiced batter of sesame, fennel, cardamom and turmeric and deep fried. These sadly weren’t gluten free, but everyone else pronounced them delicious. We suspect they may have been plantain rather than banana, as they were definitely savoury rather than sweet and were served with a red onion pickle and a spicy dip.

For mains I selected a potato masala dosa. I had my first dosa in a Sheffield restaurant last year and have been longing for another one ever since. They are a paper thin crisp pancake made from fermented rice and lentil flour. They are cooked on an enormous flat hot plate before being topped with your filling of choice and skillfully rolled. The middle part softens around the filling, while the two hollow parts either side stay wonderfully crisp. They are served with a selection of chutneys and sambar. You typically eat them with your hands, tearing off a bit of the crisp pancake, scooping up a bit of filling and dipping it in the chutney.

When my dosa arrived I couldn’t believe my eyes. They are traditionally long, but this one was simply enormous, it was about a meter long and stretched over the edge of the tray and even over the edge of the table, it must have been about a meter in diameter before it was rolled! It had a wonderful flavour, the dosa itself being quite plain, the mildly spiced potato filling adding substance and texture and the chutneys or sambars adding heat, savoriness or creamy coconut depending on which one you dipped. It was delicious and I somehow polished off the lot!

The rest of the part shared a lamb & spinach curry, a chicken stew (which was actually mildly spiced with nuts and coconut) and a lamb & caramelised onion dish. They were all pronounced delicious and full of flavour.

Another thing I loved about the restaurant is that they also offered two rice based, naturally gluten free breads – thick fluffy rice based pancake-style looking Appam or Kallappam, which is the same bread mixed with cumin and shallot. This is such a nice change to the usual offer of naan, of which that wasn’t even an option, Chapattis and flaky Parathas or Poori being the wheaty bread choices.

Overall it was a fabulous meal and wonderful to spend some time with my family. If you’re ever in the Bedford area (or Hemel Hempstead where they have a sister restaurant) and fancy some traditional authentic Indian food then head straight for The Cochin.

Note: I want to state that this review is purely my own. This was a family meal out that I enjoyed and decided to write about. The restaurant does not know I have written about my experience and I have received no incentive to visit or review them.

The Crooked Spire, Chesterfield

Yesterday A and I decided to visit Chesterfield. This is a nearby town on the outskirts of Sheffield. I have driven through it often but never actually visited it. It is most well known and famous for its Crooked Spire church, which can be seen rising high above the town from the surrounding areas. I’ve never seen it up close and so A and I decided to pay it a visit. I often think we should play tourist more often in the places we live. We often travel to London or places abroad and make sure to take in the local history but very rarely do it where we actually live.

Once arriving in Chesterfield we had a wander round the local shops and market. It was a mix of traditional high street shop chains and then a few local bakeries and book shops nestled in amongst them. I love looking round special independent shops, they have their own rustic charm that you just don’t get from chains. One local shop, Jackson’s The Bakers seemed quite popular and had a lovely traditional display of breads and cakes in the window. They were proudly displaying a photo of the Hairy Bikers visiting the shop, so it must be quite well known.

 

As we drew closer to the Spire, I was surprised at how large the church was. I’ve only ever seen glimpses of the spire in the past and never actually stopped to think about the church it is attached to. In my mind it was quite a small church, but in reality it’s actually quite a large and grand affaire. It is in fact the largest church in Derbyshire.

 

The church was open to visitors so we got to have a look around inside. It was very impressive with tall columns, a vaulted ceiling and some original stained glass windows. The hushed reverence inside was very peaceful. You can even take trips up the tower if you visit between Easter and Christmas. I bet the views are spectacular.

 

The church itself is called The Church of St Mary’s and All Saints and its now famous Crooked Spire came about completely by accident. When it was being constructed in the late 13^th Century, young green timber was used, meaning it was still soft and subtle. This was a mistake and meant when the heavy cladding and tiles went on top it twisted and warped into the Crooked Spire it has now become famous for. It actually leans 9 foot, 5 inches from its true centre, and in some ways I’m amazed it’s still standing.

Before we left we had a light lunch in a little café we happened across called Organic Kitchen. It was a fairly simple café serving a selection of hot and cold sandwiches, soup and omlettes. Nothing fancy, but nice freshly prepared lunchtime faire. They had a small selection of gluten free items listed on the menu which always pleases me and I enjoyed a tasty mushroom omlette with a side of beans. I don’t know why more places don’t offer omlettes, when cooked fresh they are delicious.

 

I’m pleased I finally went to Chesterfield and visited the Crooked Spire after only seeing it from a distance for so long. Anyone got any other suggestions of local Yorkshire places I should visit?

Choc Shot: A Review & A Giveaway

Choc Shot is a new liquid chocolate product developed by Sweet Freedom. They are well known for their ‘Sweet Freedom syrup’ products, which are made with natural fruit extracts giving them a lower GI compared to other sugar/syrup products. When they contacted me to ask if I would be interested in trying their new chocolate version I was more than happy to accept.

The product is described as liquid chocolate, but it’s more like a thick chocolate sauce. It comes in a handy squeezy bottle and is quite thick, yet soft and wonderfully dark and glossy. As the product is described as liquid chocolate and had a hot chocolate image on the front of the bottle, this seemed a good place to start the taste testing.

I heated some milk and stirred it into about 2 teaspoons of the Choc Shot sauce. This produced a wonderfully dark milky drink that smelt rich and inviting. I took a sip and found it was sweet but not in a sickly way, and the rich cocoa flavour really came through. It reminded me of a traditional hot chocolate made with cocoa, rather than the sugary, milk powder, slightly fake hot chocolates you often encounter these days. It was very comforting, a nice reward after putting up my Christmas tree.

 

Next I tried using the Choc Shot on some toast, in a chocolate spread style. It’s quite thick when you squeeze it out of the bottle, but on the warm toast it soon melted into a dark glossy spread. I found eating it this way was too intense. It was too sweet to use in such concentrated quantities and it reminded me of chocolate fudge sundae sauce, nice but not something you would normally spread on your toast.

 

Finally I tried it on some rice pudding. This worked well as even though it was still quite concentrated, the milky creaminess of the pudding helped tone it down and it was a delicious treat.

 

I think it would be fantastic drizzled over pancakes or ice cream but I most enjoyed it as hot chocolate. Having the sauce ready in the squeezy bottle meant it was super quick to make and very convenient. I love how its gluten free, suitable for vegans and low GI, meaning you don’t get a sugar rush/crash from eating it. Even though it’s sweet, the rich dark cocoa balances this out nicely and makes it taste indulgent without tasting cheap or sickly.

Oh and if you needed even more of an excuse to indulge, it has 85% less fat and only around 15kcal per teaspoon. The perfect rationale for hot chocolates all round this Christmas!

 

Now the Giveaway!

The lovely people at Sweet Freedom have agreed to send a bottle of Choc Shot to one lucky person. All you have to do if leave a comment below telling me how you would most like to try using the Choc Shot. Please make sure to leave a way for me to contact you should you win. The competition runs until 12 noon on Friday 20^th December. Open to UK residents only, only one entry per person. The winner will be chosen at random from the list of entries. Good Luck!

The New Moor Market, Sheffield

Last weekend was the grand opening of the much anticipated Indoor Moor Market in Sheffield. This 18 million pound project takes the place of the old famous Castle Market which, after 54 years of trading, had become a bit rundown. Despite that, I used to love popping into the Castle Market in my lunch hour and picking up a bit of fruit and veg for dinner, where else could you get 8 nectarines for £1. I’m going to miss doing this, but agree the building itself had certainly seen better days.

Yesterday I decided to go and investigate the new Moor Market, placed down the far end of the Moor (what a surprise) to see the improvements for myself. As you get closer a large glass fronted building comes into view, with a sweeping curved wooden entrance that reminded my strongly of Sheffield’s Winter Gardens entrance. I liked that this was in keeping with the current architecture designs within the city.

 

The building was certainly impressive from the outside and stretched quite a long way down, making it seem very large, and yet it didn’t look out of place. Just very sleek.

Once inside it opens up into a very high roofed space, dotted with a wide variety of stalls arranged rather haphazardly in diagonal lines. I wasn’t too sure what the large yellow pipes were for, or why they had drawn your attention to them by painting them yellow. I suppose they were meant to be part of the architecture, but they reminded my strongly of those tunnel slides you used to get at swimming pools.

 

The stalls themselves were a wide variety of new and past traders from Castle Market. Wandering around I encountered shoes, fruit & veg, butchers, bakers, a nail salon and a book store. There were also some new highlights for me – all foodie things of course – were:

Make or Bake: A cake decorating shop – something previously missing from Sheffield to my knowledge.

 

CakeLicious: A fancy pastry counter serving delicious looking French tarts and desserts. I loved the choux swans, but my eyes were drawn to the caramel and pear mousse dessert. Sadly nothing gluten free, but it was nice to look.

 

The big thing I was/am most excited about is near the main entrance where they have made a little square for pop-up producers. The idea is each week 2-3 local businesses can have the stall to show their wares, then the following week it will be someone new. I think this is a brilliant idea as not only will it give local producers a chance to make us aware of who they are and what they make, but it will keep people coming back to see what that weeks special pop-up stand is. When I visited yesterday there was a Brazilian stall (I think) selling flavoured honeys and little pastries and #Brownies, who I have vaguely heard of.

 

Their stall looked so tempting with a delicious array of brownies and layers cakes. I had a chat to the friendly guy manning the stall who said their brownies were flourless but he couldn’t call them gluten free as they did use flour in other cakes and bakes. The brownies all sounded amazing, chili & lime, snickers, Turkish delight and cherry & bourbon.

Set across one wall was a little café area with a variety of tables and 5 or 6 little serving stations selling teas, coffee, cakes and a similar assortment of jacket potatoes etc. It would have been nice to see a deli or something selling gourmet salads, something a bit different/more interesting and healthy than the usual café food, but its only week one after opening so one may turn up.

My only criticism of the market is that the stalls didn’t seem to be arranged in any sort of order, it was more luck than planning what you stumbled across next. Some of stalls were down quite narrow lanes, which meant it got a bit crowded with so many people milling around, not that it being popular is a bad thing.

Overall I think the new market is very impressive and with the new addition of a few different stalls and the local producers pop up section it should persuade more people to visit. If this encourages more people to start buying local produce and supporting local businesses then I’m all for it!

The Red Deer, Sheffield Review

The Red Deer is located just off West Street in Sheffield City Centre. My boyfriend A and I were trying to think of somewhere new to try for dinner and a quick internet hunt revealed the Red Deer as a good place to try.

The pub is quite traditional and olde-worlde inside, a wooden bar, little stools nestled around wooden tables and a range of local ales. Instead of feeling dated, this gave it a relaxed and cozy atmosphere.

The menu consists of a range of classics – fish & chips, sausage & mash and burgers, but with a few more modern dishes thrown in – sweetcorn fritters and crab linguine. Their menu mentioned gluten free bread, so I was sure they would have some awareness of coeliac disease. I talked through the menu with the bar staff who checked with the chef what could be made gluten free. I was thrilled to discover that their chips/fries were gluten free as they had their own separate fryer! I knew instantly I wanted some, as it’d been months since I’d had proper chips. The lighter bite options included nachos topped with a bean chili, which always used to be a favourite of mine. Sadly the nacho chips themselves weren’t GF, but they were more than happy for me to have the bean chili with chips instead of nachos.

While we waited for the food I noticed they had a stack of board games set to one side, which people could help themselves too if they wished. Indeed, a group of students behind us were enjoying a heated game of Risk, stopping only for beer refills and extra chips. I thought this was a lovely idea.

When our food arrived I was delighted to see that they had layered the chips with the bean chili, cheese and spicy jalapenos just as if they were nachos. I was expecting chips, on one side and chili on the other but this was much better. It also came with all the usual accompaniments of sour cream, salsa and guacamole. I was one happy girl and the chips were lovely. I admit not a patricianly healthy meal, but for a treat it was delicious. I mentioned to the staff when he came to collect they plates that they should offer chip nachos on their menu, and he said the chef had said the same!

 

My boyfriend A had chosen a burger, topped with a large field mushroom. He too was pleased with his freshly cooked chips and bowl of chunky coleslaw. He was also highly impressed with the bun the burger in; it was a slightly toasted good quality white roll, rather than the usual pappy sugary burger bun.

 

We stayed chatting for over 2 hours and at the end of the night we agreed we’d be making many a return visit. The food, like the surroundings, is simple and rustic but simple things done well are always highly enjoyable.

(Apologies for the quality of the photos, it was dark and they were taken on my phone)

And Now For Something Completely Different

* It’s Stir Up Sunday – Christmas Pudding making day on Sunday 24^th November, so get preparing! Here is a link to my GF ChristmasPudding that I make every year.
* Also, don’t forget to feed your Christmas cake with a bit of booze and tuck it away again for another fortnight.

Sites of Santorini, Greece

I’ve just returned from a stunningly beautiful small island in Greece called Santorini, where I holidayed with my sister. The island itself is relatively small and yet holds a good variety of shops, restaurants, beaches and site-seeing possibilities.

I took along some Greek translation cards explaining I had coeliac disease and couldn’t eat wheat, bread etc. This helped a lot in restaurants, although the waiters still seemed to insist on bringing bread to the table. I even had one who insisted that some seeded bread was different to the normal bread, so I don’t think it was always fully understood. I also had to watch enviously as my sister tucked into the most delicious looking cakes, baklava, spanakopita, waffles, stuffed pitta bread on offer. Thankfully the islands fruit and yoghurt was amazing, so I didn’t go hungry.

On our first day we visited Oia. This town is located at the top of the island and is a bit more up-market than the rest of the island. We had a lovely time exploring the cobbled streets and admiring the truly spectacular views. All the buildings are painted white and the churches have matching blue painted roofs, which make a great contrast to the dark rocky cliff they are set into. Being built into the cliff means everything is very steep so we both developed some good walking legs by the end of the holiday, but it’s worth the climb for the wonderful views over the sea.

In Oia we found a lovely taverna to eat lunch in, which had the most spectacular views. I sat gazing out at the view, almost not believing I was really there.

I sampled my first traditional Greek salad. I was amazed at the enormous wedge of feta they placed on top, but it was very creamy and nicely salty, which you need in such hot weather. The base was very chunky cut tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and green pepper. The side of the plate was smeared with a black olive puree and everything was sprinkled in oregano and capers. It was so fresh and tasty, and even though it was swimming in a pool of olive oil it didn’t taste greasy at all. Just what you need on a hot day.

Another town, Perissa, had a beach famous for its black sands. We spent a very relaxing day swimming in the sea and reading in the shade of the palm parasols.

I enjoyed a dish of Greek yoghurt, honey and walnuts. The yogurt is Greece is amazing!! Its so thick and creamy, it’s almost like clotted cream, and yet a lot fresher tasting. The walnuts were crisp and almost had an oven baked flavour, but I think this is due to their freshness and the heat from the sun. I usually had honey and fruit for breakfast but did have it as a dessert a couple of times. The restaurants were exceedingly generous with the honey. It was almost too much, very sweet and slightly floral tasting.

My sister enjoyed a delicious looking waffle with ice cream and fresh fruits.

For dinner I had one of my favourite meals on the island in a restaurant called Stani in the main town of Fira, where we were staying. It was baked stuffed tomatoes and green pepper which had been filled with a creamy herby rice filling. I think the main herb was dill, which was a surprising choice but worked really well. Santorini is famous for its tomatoes, which are large, plump and full of flavour. You can see them growing amongst grape vines in the land surrounding the villages as you travel around.

The restaurants table clothes had been printed with a map of the island which was a great idea as it meant we could point and talk about where we wanted to visit next and how to get there.

In Akrotiri we visited its famous red sands beach which involved a perilous clamber over the rocky cliff to the beach below. Sadly it was a scorching hot day and there was not the merest hint of shade so we didn’t stay too long. We walked along the base of the coast to a lovely restaurant that had a short walkway stretching out into the sea which had the perfect lunch spot.

I sampled another local dish I’d been longing to try, Fava Beans, which are a chunky puree of yellow split peas. This was topped with fresh and sundried tomatoes, red onion and caper leaves, another Santorini specialty. These are the leaves of the caper plant which have been pickled and brined in the same way capers are. They added a great salty tang and the fava beans were creamy and similar to a milder version of houmous. I couldn’t eat the bread it came with so had some fried potatoes instead.

My sister tried Tomato Balls, which actually turned out to be thick tomato fritters served with a cheesy, yoghurty dip. Anyone know what this dip is? It wasn’t tzatziki. I tasted a bit and it was delicious and not something I've come across before.

Dinner was back in Fira at a wonderful restaurant we happened to stumble across. It was an open air courtyard set back from the road, filled with plants and wicker tables and chairs which gave it a nice secluded feel. They even had vines complete with large bunches of dark purple grapes growing from the overhead trellis.

I had a green salad which comprised of green apple, avocado, lettuce, green pepper and spring onions in a citrus and herby dressing that had an aniseed tang to it.

Afterwards we both treated ourselves to some gelato from the market square. Dark chocolate for my sister and I couldn’t resist the pistachio. So creamy and full of flavour. I think Greece is a great place is you like nuts, they are so fresh and seem to be in abundance.

Fira has an old port that you can book boat trips from to either visit nearby islands or explore the sea. We walked down the 600 steps, yes 600! that snaked down the cliff to get to the port. You can get a donkey ride down if you wish, but we decided to walk it. At the port we caught a very pirate-esque looking ship and set sail. 

After a short sail we stopped a short distance from a cove where we were informed there were hot springs to bathe in. We had to jump overboard into the sea – so much fun – and swim to the cove. The water started out freezing cold and then slowly got warmer the warmer the nearer we got. The worst bit was having to swim back again when the water got colder and colder, but once back on board we soon warmed up again. The springs themselves are muddy and sulphurous, the heat coming from the nearby volcano. This gave the water a brown hue and stained us and our swimming costumes a murky brown colour. (The stains in our swim wear didn’t come out in the wash, so don’t wear your best bikini)!

We then sailed to a nearby island which had a large volcano in the centre. We were dropped off to climb up the steep rocky slopes to the crater top. It is apparently an active volcano, but thankfully there were no trembles while we were there. The views again were spectacular.

Once back in Fira we treated ourselves to a sunset cocktail, which was lovely and refreshing, but probably not the best idea when you are hungry and a bit dehydrated. I don’t drink much and really felt its effects, thankfully it was only a short wavering walk to dinner. We ate in a taverna overlooking the sea and were treated to the most spectacular sunset. The sun looking stunning sinking below the small island opposite. Simply amazing.

Our final excursion was a visit to Kamari. We’d hired a quad bike and drove up a perilously steep and windy road to the very top of the island where the old ruined town of Old Thira resides. I’d recommend hiring a quad to get up here, it’s very steep and winding and even on the bike it took us nearly half an hour to get up there. I wouldn’t want to walk it. There was one hairy moment where we got stuck on a very steep bend after stopping to let a lorry pass us, we then didn’t have enough momentum to get up the slope and I had to hop off quickly (my sister was driving). As there are no barriers or walls of any of the roads and we were on the edge of a cliff this was a bit hair rising.

Thankfully we made it to the top and explored the old ruins. It was again quite a steep winding walk up along the cliff top and no fencing to stop you plumping off the edge, so not the best idea for young children. The views once again were stunning.

Once back on steadier ground we spent the rest of the day relaxing on Kamari beach before returning to Fira for dinner. I had another classic Greek dish of Dolmades, which are wine/vine leaves wrapped around rice. These came drizzled with a herby lemon sauce and were delicious. Salty, savoury creamy all at once.

I had an amazing time in Greece and was sad to say goodbye to it. The weather, views, sunsets and buildings were beautiful. I was a little sad about all the food I wasn’t able to eat, and it did make choosing places for meals a little more difficult, as they don’t seem to have any gluten free alternatives, even in the supermarkets, but the food I did have was delicious. I’m so jealous of their thick Greek yogurt, here even the expensive stuff doesn’t compare. It’s a holiday I’ll remember forever.