"Macedonia" news and stories

This week, the New York Times Magazine's The Way We Eat column is devoted various types of syrup-soaked semolina cakes and pastries. In Macedonia, these desserts are known collectively as siropiasta. Revani and samali, both made with semolina and ground almond, are served drenched in sweet liquid - lemon-sugar, honey, rosewater syrup. In France and Italy, more pudding-like cakes are made with finely ground semolina, also known as farina, and baked in water baths. Served with caramel of fruit, they make fine summer desserts.

The story includes recipes for a French semolina gateau with nutmeg and raisins, a Cognac-soaked revani and a semolina pudding with rhubarb-strawberry sauce.

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You're on vacation in Greece when your stomach gives a sudden lurch and you start to suspect that the grilled lamb you ate the night before might not have been as squeaky clean as you thought (this is not a scenario I've ever found myself in, but hey, it could happen). Instead of running out to a pharmacy for the local equivalent of Pepto-Bismol, head to the local cheese shop for a slab of raw milk feta.

According to Panagiotis Chanos, a researcher from the University of Lincoln, they've been able "to isolate lactic acid bacteria found in raw sheep milk from small farms in Macedonia, northern Greece. Several of these friendly bacteria naturally produce antibiotics that killed off dangerous food-poisoning bacteria like Listeria."

They are hoping to take this research and leverage it into new ways to fight Listeria, as it has been known to cause death in populations who have weakened immune systems.

[via The Grinder]

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