Serves six 250g sheep’s milk feta cheese, cubed 50g shelled whole almonds, toasted and slightly crushed 1 tbsp ground almonds 1 tsp caster sugar 12 large fresh or preserved vine leaves Seeds of 1 large pomegranate For the orange and rosewater syrup 50g caster sugar 1 cinnamon stick 1 orange, thickly sliced 2 tsp rosewater
To make the orange and rosewater syrup, place all the ingredients except the rosewater in a saucepan together with 400ml water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes until the liquid has thickened and its texture has become syrupy. Cool and then stir in the rosewater. In a medium bowl, place the feta, ground almonds, most of the crushed almonds and the sugar and mix well with a fork. If using fresh vine leaves, blanch in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Place a vine leaf flat on a work surface in front of you and scoop a large tablespoon of the feta mixture into the centre, folding the leaf over the bottom and sides to cover the feta. Repeat with the rest of the leaves and feta mixture. Place all the vine parcels in a shallow dish, and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds. Pour in the syrup generously, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Recipe taken from Silvena Rowe’s new book entitled Feasts – foods for sharing from central and Eastern Europe This recipe originally appeared in the Food Development Association’s fd magazine For more information on the FDA, go to www.fooddev.co.uk