sweet dreams are mandarins
plant-based portokalópita and panna cotta recipes to lean into mandarin season
Oh boy do I have some cracking recipes for you this week!! If you’ve been slow to wake up to mandarin season this year, it’s not too late to dive head first into a pool of juicy orange and embrace the race while the season is at large.
I have very very fond thoughts when I think of mandarins.
Mandarins make me think of my Grandma Peg, and how in her later years she would love to recount to my whānau and I, in great detail, the recent home visits she had from her GP at time. For some reason, her regular GP was unavailable one time (or had possibly retired), so she was visited by a doctor whom she said peeled a mandarin for her and fed her segments of the mandarin that were indeed delicious. She thought this doctor was rather marvellous because of this, and it’s amused me ever since.
Mandarins also make me think of Hawke’s Bay, and the citrus trees that explode with colour at this time of year, front yards filled with glorious globes of yellow and orange: Poorman’s grapefruits, oranges, lemons, and of course, mandarins. We used to have a small delicious mandarin tree, which we took with us up to Whangārei and now thrives in Northland soil under someone else’s care. One of the most impressive mandarin trees in our local neighbourhood in Hawke’s Bay was the Taradale Bowling Club tree, tall, broad, and with more orange than green when the mandarin season would strike. I remember during the Covid lockdown of autumn 2020, the club was closed, and no one was eating the mandarins. So one evening we took it upon ourselves to feast on its riches. Mandarins never tasted so good.
The recipes in this week’s newsletter are dedicated to the mandarin.
Did you know that mandarins are actually one of the ‘ancestral’ citrus species? Native to South & East Asia and traced back to over 8 million years ago, mandarins are at the head of the citrus family tree, alongside the pomelo and citron.
So what about mandarins vs satsumas? Or clementines (UK chefs seem to be obsessed with these)? Or tangerines? Are these fruits the same thing or all completely unique? Here’s a useful resource I found online that breaks down their differences:
We all know how much I love to turn a common animal product dessert into something plant-based and slightly more jazzy, and that’s the premise of this week’s recipes. If you find a mandarin that’s easy to peel, bursts with juice from each segment and is sweet but ever so slightly tangy, then it’s probably best to just eat it fresh, but for any mandarin that is middling in quality, they are excellent to cook with. Just like an orange, the zest of mandarins has a beautiful fragrance and flavour), so always try to use this when cooking with mandarins if you can, as well as the segments and juice.
First up, for all subscribers, is my vegan version of the traditional Greek dessert, portokalópita, its literal translation being ‘orange cake’ (portokali = orange; pita = bread or cake). This is a cake unlike any other, unique in that it is made of shredded dried out filo pastry, that is tossed through a custard, baked, then doused in a delicious floral syrup. The filo creates the most incredible texture and flavour that can only be described by taking a bite. While it is usually made with oranges, I’ve subbed in the mandarin, and livened it up with a touch of orange blossom and saffron for a home-run bake.
And for paid subscribers, the most delectably indulgent plant-based chocolate panna cotta (made with coconut milk and agar agar powder) that’s buddied with a runny mandarin chilli caramel that is next-level. If you’re still on the fence about becoming a paid subscriber, this might just get you across the line!
Now, you know I like to keep it real with y’all.
So I thought I should share a recent life update that has developed in the past week. You might remember that at the start of the year I started a new job ~ returning to psychiatry training after an 18-month hiatus ~ and was feeling somewhat apprehensive about this, with lots of self-doubt etc. etc. But I had decided to give mental health doctoring another chance.
Well, after 4 months back in, its actually going pretty well, so well in fact that I’ve decided to just commit to finishing the training (which is another 3 years or so). We have a couple of big exams to pass during the psychiatry training programme, and earlier this week I decided to sit one of these exams at the start of August ~ which is only 2 MONTHS AWAY!! So basically a lot of my time outside of work for the next 2 months is going to need to be channeled into this space.
So what about the newsletter? Where does this fit into everything?
This newsletter is ++++++++ important to me, as are all of you subscribers, whether free or paid, who support my cooking and food writing (some of you having been with me for many many years). I love writing this newsletter, and the recipe is 100% going to continue during these next two busy months. For paid subscribers, you will 100% still be getting your 4 recipes/fortnight.
What I’ve decided though, is that rather than emailing out a newsletter to your inboxes every week, with 2-3 recipes in each edition and all of my musings and other foodie content that comes with this, Eating Who I Want to Be will now be published every second week, with a MEGA 4 recipe newsletter coming in hot to your inbox every fortnight, with all of the other usual content jam-packed in it too.
On average, each week’s newsletter takes me about 10 hours, including time to think of recipe ideas, test recipes, write out recipes, then write the newsletter itself ~ so in creating a fortnightly publication, I’m hoping it’ll be easier for me to fit that in amongst the rest of my schedule. I promise the quality and quantity of the content won’t be changing, you’ll just be hearing from me with extra extra awesomeness slightly less frequently. The next edition will be hitting your inbox in two weeks’ time :) thanks for your understanding. I appreciate you all immensely.
Mandarins, here we come!
Enjoy,
Alby xx
Mandarin portokalópita with saffron & orange blossom syrup
It’s been almost 2 years since I was sitting at a table in Naxos, Greece, and my life was changed forever by portokalópita. It’s a strange concept really: a cake who’s structure is formed by shards of filo pastry suspended in a set custard, then doused liberally in syrup. Especially when you consider that the process of making filo pastry takes some skill and effort to begin with, and then you immediately throw that effort to the wind by scrunching it up and rehydrating it. But honestly, once you try this cake, you’ll understand why the Greeks love it. Traditionally, it is made with oranges, and the custard is made with dairy-based Greek yoghurt and eggs. As I’m often trying to do, this recipe is my attempt at veganising the traditional portokalópita, and I’m very very pleased with the result. I’ve also opted for mandarins, as tis the season, and an addition of orange blossom and saffron in the syrup to make it that little bit special. Dive in.
Hands-on Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
makes one 21cm square cake or 23cm round cake, serves 12
Cost Estimate: $22 (about $1.80 - $2 per serve)
Ingredients
Cake batter
375g vegan filo pastry*
375g Greek-style coconut yoghurt
finely grated zest of 8 firm mandarins
250g caster sugar
30g cornflour
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
250ml canola oil
250ml mandarin juice (from about 10-12 mandarins)
Syrup
finely grated zest and juice of 4 mandarins
1 tbsp orange blossom water
200g caster sugar
generous pinch of saffron threads
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced (or 180°C conventional). Grease with oil and line a 21cm square cake tin or 23cm round springform cake tin with baking paper. Line two rimmed oven trays with baking paper.
First bake the filo. Scrunch up each sheet of filo pastry into a loose ball and place on the two oven trays in a single layer. Bake for 7 minutes until turning lightly golden. Remove from the oven and carefully (the filo will be hot) pull apart each ball, so that the centre (which won’t have dried out yet) is also exposed. Return to the oven and bake for a further 3 minutes, until golden and dried out fully. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
For the cake batter, in a large bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, mandarin zest, sugar, cornflour, baking powder and salt. Stir through the oil and mandarin juice until smooth. In three parts, scrunch the dried filo into small shards over the mandarin mixture, stirring through after each addition until evenly incorporated. Spoon the batter into the lined tin and spread out evenly. If the cake tin is springform or has a loose bottom, make sure you place the tin on a rimmed oven tray. Bake for 60-70 minutes, until beautifully golden brown in colour and set.
Make the syrup as the cake is baking. Place the mandarin zest, mandarin juice and orange blossom water in a medium saucepan set over scales. Add enough water so the total volume of liquid is 200ml. Add the caster sugar and saffron, stirring through. Place over medium-high heat and bring to the boil. Once bubbling away, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 7 minutes to create a thin syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool (you want to pour cold syrup onto hot cake).
To finish the cake, remove from the oven and using a long skewer, immediately poke several holes into the cake. Pour the syrup, including the saffron and mandarin zest, evenly over the cake. Set aside for 1 hour, to allow the syrup to fully absorb, before removing from the tin. Slice with a serrated knife and serve at room temperature or slightly warmed, with yoghurt on the side. It is often even better the following day. Store in an airtight container, either at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Alby’s Advice:
While I’ve opted for mandarins here, you could use orange zest and juice if mandarins are out of season.
While I do think that the addition of orange blossom and saffron in the syrup elevate this cake to something special, you could easily leave these out if desired.
Timos is an excellent NZ filo pastry found at all supermarkets which is vegan and works a treat. It comes in 375g packets, so I have written this recipe specifically for that quantity.
If the recipe does not need to be plant-based, you can use any kind of Greek yoghurt.
Chocolate panna cotta with mandarin chilli caramel
If you’re after a dessert that looks impressive, but actually takes very little effort, welcome panna cotta to your repertoire! This is my plant-based version, which sees coconut milk forming the creamy base (as opposed to milk/cream) and dark chocolate and agar agar powder as setting agents, instead of animal-based gelatine. The star of the show really is the mandarin chilli caramel though ~ sweet and floral with a hint of heat, that truly pairs perfectly with the creamy chocolatey goodness next door. A great make-ahead dessert, with only 6 ingredients!
Hands-on Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes (plus chilling time)
serves 6
Cost Estimate: $12 ($2 per serve)
Ingredients
Panna cotta
canola oil, for greasing
2 x 400ml cans coconut milk*
100g caster sugar
1.5g agar agar powder (about ½ tsp)
peeled skin of 2 mandarins
150g vegan 70% cocoa dark chocolate, finely chopped
Mandarin chilli caramel
5 mandarins
200g caster sugar
¼ tsp chilli flakes
Method
Lightly grease 6 dariole moulds or standard ramekins (approx. 150-200ml) with a little canola oil to coat the base and sides. Arrange the molds on a board.
For the panna cotta, place the coconut milk, caster sugar, agar agar powder and mandarin skins in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Gradually bring the mixture up to a boil, stirring occasionally, then simmer for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately add the chocolate, whisking until melted and smooth. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large pouring bowl or jug. Carefully pour the mixture into the lightly oiled moulds to fill just below the tops. Cover with cling film (ensuring the cling film does not touch the liquid) and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours to set. The panna cottas can be made in advance and kept for up to 3 days before serving.
For the mandarin chilli caramel, cut two mandarins in half and squeeze the juice into a bowl set over scales. Add a little water to make 80ml of liquid; set aside. Peel the remaining 3 mandarins and slice each one horizontally into 4 discs. Place the mandarin slices in a medium bowl. To make the caramel, place the caster sugar and 60ml water in a heavy-based medium saucepan. Over medium-low heat, melt the sugar into the water until fully dissolved, then increase the heat to medium-high. Do NOT stir beyond this point. Bring to the boil and cook until a deep amber colour is reached, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and while stirring, carefully pour in the mandarin water you prepared earlier (stand back as it will bubble like a cauldron). Return over low heat and stir to dissolve any caramel that may have seized. Stir through the chilli flakes, then pour the caramel over the mandarin slices to cover. Toss the mandarin slices through the caramel a little, then set aside to cool. The mandarin caramel can also be made in advance and refrigerated until needed.
When ready to serve, remove the cling film from the panna cottas and dip each mould into a bowl of hot water for about 30 seconds (this will depend on the thickness of the mould/ramekin), ensuring no water gets on the panna cotta. Run the blunt tip of a small butter knife around the top edge of the mould to separate the panna cotta a little. Place a plate on top of each panna cotta and invert the mold onto the plate. Give the mould a reasonable tap/shake and the panna cotta should come out (I tend to put my thumbs on the top of the mould, fingers under the plate and shake to release. If not releasing, it may need some more time in the hot water to loosen). Spoon some of the mandarin slices and caramel onto and around each panna cotta. Serve immediately.
Alby’s Advice:
It’s VERY important that you use canned coconut milk or canned coconut cream that does not separate in the can ~ otherwise your panna cotta are at risk of not setting properly. To check this, shake the can of coconut milk on the supermarket shelf - if you can hear a uniform liquid in the can moving up and down, this is what you want. If you can’t hear anything as you shake it, this suggests there is some separation and solidification of the cream from water in the can, so may not work for the panna cotta. I tested this recipe with Pams Coconut Milk, and it worked perfectly.
Agar agar powder can be a little fickle ~ I initially tested this recipe with 3g (a whole teaspoon) and while it was still delicious the set of the panna cotta was too firm. 1.5g might not seem like a lot but it should be enough, as the chocolate also helps the panna cotta to set. Agar agar is available at most supermarkets in the baking section, next to the gelatine products.
Best of the season this fortnight (NZ):
Autumn fruits - mandarins, lemons, limes, apples, pears, quince
Early persimmons
Leeks
Carrots
Brassicas (broccoli, caulis, cabbages, early Brussels sprouts)
Hardy greens - cavolo nero, silver beet, kale
Early kiwifruit
Celery
Mushrooms
Brain Food:
A 2008 documentary on the truths of the US food industry, still important watching 16 years on (and the sequel is soon to be released)
At the end of June, there are Feast Matariki events happening throughout some parts of the motu
An excellent dissertation, recently completed by a friend of mine, that explores Māori views on kai in relation to health and sustainability in Aotearoa
Support our local mandarin growers
For those needing some savoury mandarin recipe inspiration
