PAGOTO TRIANDAFILLO
Παγωτών τριαντάφυλλο
Loulla’s recipes
Toffye, that was the ice cream man’s name, use to pass on our street in Avgorou, in our village in Cyprus, on his old battered bicycle, ringing his bell and calling in a loud voice, Τριαντάφυλλο -Παγωτό, Triandafilo- Pagoto , Φρέσκα Κρέμα ,Fresca Crema ke Mahalepi, come and get it before it all goes! He didn’t always have Krema, (custard ) but When he did, it was a treat for us , it was always topped with lots of ground cinnamon. We had to provide bowls for the ice-cream, but the the custard was put straight into our dirty palm of our hands, and we eat it right there, yuck! The Cypriots call this ice cream but it is really a ‘Sorbet’ or ‘Granita’, however it is also made with milk and cream, which I suppose it makes it an ice cream, I must confess i proffer the old fashion sorbet.
I didn’t have a recipe,but l experimented until it I got the Pagoto Just right, too much sugar and it becomes icy, too much water becomes slushy- too much cordial and it’s too sweet and syrupy. The rose cordial has been made in Cyprus for many years and it’s loved by everyone, young and old and me of Course, I just love it!Triandafilo, means “rose” in Greek but literally translates as thirty petals and this aromatic rose is grown in the village of ‘Agros’ Cyprus, which lies in a valley between Nicosia and Limassol, near Trodos mountains. I visited the pictures Village in May 2018, it was the festival of the Rose, but unfortunately it rain all day!
In the summertime, they serve Triandafillo ice cream with ‘Mahallepi’ (Corn flour pudding) a very refreshing summer pudding.
(Serves 6)
For the syrup
200g caster sugar
250ml water
Juice 1/2 large lemon
1/2 tsp. ground mastic-gum
For the sorbet
200ml 1 cup Cypriot rose cordial
450ml cold water
Method
Make the syrup, place the sugar and water and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Take it off the heat , cool a little and stir in the ground masticha,mastic/gum and allow to cool completely.
Stir in the Rose cordial and the cold water.
If you have an ice cream maker, follow the manufactures instructions and it will be ready in 60minutes.
Or pour the triandafilo mixture into a large deep metal tray, cover with cling wrapped and place in the back of the freezer until ¾ set , aprox 3 hours.
Remove from the freezer and tip into a food processor, and process for few seconds to break it up. A a potato masher will do the job.
Return to the freezer and repeat the process 2 more times at intervals of 2- 3 hours, this is done so you could introduce air into the mix and break up the ice crystals.
Transfer final mix in to a plastic container with a lid and freeze until firm, it will keep for a month.
Serve in tall glasses or ice cream cones or served with vanilla ice-cream, also fabulous with Mahalepi or served with cold milk.
Good Luck!
