Bread Pudding

I find to my surprise that my bread pudding — not to be confused with bread-and-butter pudding, which is quite different — is popular in this little Greek island. Whenever I make one I take it to one of my two regular evening places — either ‘Aerides’ bar in the main village square, or the bookshop / café opposite — and it is rapidly eaten up.

Bread pudding is one of those tasty foods invented by the poor, wanting to make the most of limited supplies. Here is my recipe; I don’t give quantities as a) they are not critical and b) experiment and variation are usually a good thing. Oh and c) I don’t really know what proportions I use:

Collect all the stale bread together and put it in a bowl with some water; leave it a while to soften, then squidge it around to break it up. Don’t use an electric mixer as that will break it up too small. Squeeze out as much water as you can, empty the water away and put the squeezed-out bread back in the bowl. Add margarine (traditionally one uses beef suet, but I find that rather gross), sugar, currants and sultanas, chopped-up citrus peel if you happen to have any, and – this is very important — lots of ground cinnamon. Mix it all up thoroughly and spread it into a greased baking tray. Put it in the oven and bake it until the top is brown and the inside has lost most of its squidginess. Cut into portions. Eat. (Can be eaten hot, warm, or cold.)