We test out recipes from Yiayia Next Door
Recently we tested out a selection of recipes from Yiayia Next Door, the cookbook put together by brothers Luke and Daniel Mancuso, their favourite Yiayia next door, and other yiayias from around Australia. This cookbook is about the powerful connections we forge when we share a meal with someone across the table - or even over the fence.
Lucky for us, Luke and Daniel Manusco stopped by to select the best re-creation of a recipe from their book. Below are the results…
Rosalind McClintock made Rizogalo me raventi
Look, it seems I am cursed with these cook offs. Rhubarb was not to be found in any of my local shops, despite being the peak season! So, I turned to my trusty friend (actually foe) the quince to make this rizogalo sing. It was a risky move, it probably didn’t fully pay off - I mean my competition gently urged me not to enter my substandard dish. But the subtle taste of cardamon in the pudding was delightful, and I had spent time cooking this with an extra three kids in the house. You get what you get etc. etc.
I think next time I’d be bolder with my simmer to reduce a bit of bite in the rice. It was an easy dish to make and I’ll definitely try again in the winter months.
Luke: It’s delicious; I didn’t get to try the rice pudding on shoot day. I like the texture.
Daniel: Yum! It all works together.
Angela Crocombe made Piperies tis skaras for a garden salad
Simple and healthy was my go-to. I knew it was all about the produce, so I had great ambitions of picking up some amazing tomatoes and bullhorn peppers at the Farmer’s Market the weekend before. Sadly, it was Easter, the Farmer’s Market was not on, and with one thing and another it was a last-minute dash to the supermarket the night before, where they did not have Bullhorn peppers! But I soldiered on with capsicum and supermarket tomatoes, focusing instead on my presentation. This salad is super easy, and with tomatoes and peppers fresh from the garden would be even more amazing.
Luke: We’re a bit weird, we’re salad fiends. This is great, the best salads are simple salads.
Daniel: I’m a sucker for salads, I love that you didn’t hold back on the oil. We did a lot of football as kids. We had to go to training shortly after school so we’d get home and Mum would ask if we wanted a snack before training and we’d always ask for salad; we’d dump balsamic on it. Mum though it was great but eventually she’d say ‘I can’t keep going to Coles to get lettuce every two days! Have a pack of chips!’
Lucie Dess made Fassas fasolia sto fourno
As a vegan, I knew I’d have to be strategic when selecting my – hopefully winning – recipe! I chose the fassas fasolia sto fourno as it was easy to veganify and also sounded completely delicious. I was not wrong! The recipe was super simple (especially when cooking at 9pm the night before … I left it ‘till last minute) and the Mancuso boys didn’t even notice I used vegan feta (Biocheese)!
Luke: I love this; anything you mop up with bread is all fine by me–a meal that keeps giving… This reminds me of Nonna’s.
Daniel: Close-to as good as Yiayia’s for me, I could eat a whole bowl!
Natasha Theoharous made Galaktoboureko
The stakes were high here as I had my aunt – who is renowned for her own galaktoboureko recipe and pastry skills – looking over my shoulder as I made this. I powered through the recipe despite protests ranging from how I was tempering the custard (normally, but somehow wrong) to how I was layering the filo pastry (as directed, but also somehow wrong). However, after taking it out of the oven and pouring over the syrup, I was rewarded with an elusive ‘oh, that looks good Nat!’. A win in and of itself.
Luke: I like cakes that are cool like this, not warm out of the oven. They’re refreshing like a salad.
Daniel: This is less diabetic than Yiayia’s, they love to go to town on the syrup…delicious. The cinnamon in the cake is great too.
Megan Wood made Karitha & lemoni gliko
For the first time in my life, I decided to do a trial run of a recipe. I am so glad I did, simply because I got to eat this cake twice in one week. Coconut and lemon is always a winning combination, and this cake pairs them beautifully. The recipe was easy to follow, and now that I’ve made it multiple times, I know the first time wasn’t a fluke. This is the perfect morning tea, afternoon tea, dessert…basically any-time treat.
Luke: Bang on. Really well balanced. This is Val’s recipe, one of Mum’s best friends.
Daniel: Exactly the same crumbling texture as Val’s. Awesome.
The final verdict?
After much pressing that they really did need to choose a winner each the judges concluded that there was a definite tie between Natasha’s aunt-approved Galaktoboureko and Megan’s twice-in-one-week Karitha & lemoni gliko!
