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Home is where my kitchen is, where I can create what ever I want to try. The kitchen where I would spend hours pouring into cookbooks, or sitting with close friends having a pot of tea and of course some dessert.

I was home for 3 days, two weeks ago. While I was still in London I called my friend in Athens what to shop and asked her if we can make a cassava cake (is it a pie or a cake?)
I was hoping we could do it together but when I opened my door, the aroma of the cake just made me drop my bags. I ran to the kitchen and there inside my oven a dish cassava and macapuno cake was in the process of baking.

Years back this was a dream, able to bake Filipino desserts using cassava and macapuno. The excitement way back then was when someone arrives from the Philippines and bring “illicit food” tucked nicely inside the luggage. However, the Asian stores in Athens are increasing and now able to stock fruits and vegetables, the Greeks never ever heard before.

This recipe is not mine but from a friend who hails from Bacolod. Sadly this time due to short notice she could not drop by at my place to cook for me. Do I sound so spoiled?
When I go back to Athens, I normally would ask her for some food I crave for and I do love watching her peel, chop, cook and I set the table and we catch up with our lives.

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Since Aida had other agenda, it was Bonnie a dear friend who took care of me when I was not well, did all the work. I only tested when it was ready to take the dish out of the oven.

Aida recipe calls for 2 jars of macapuno but I love to tweak recipes to suit my taste. I think by adding 2 jars ,the macapuno overwhelms the cassava. So I had asked Bonnie to add just one.

This recipe is so easy to follow.

1 kl cassava fresh and grated
1 tin condensed milk
1 tin coconut milk
1 bottle of macapuno strings
Mix it all.
Bake in a preheated oven 180C for an hr.

Macapuno is a variety of Philippine coconut palm and the meat inside is like a jelly.

The day after I visited a Greek Egyptian friend together with her husband who hails from Scotland and another dear friend visiting from Sweden, I brought this dessert over. They all asked me what’s a cassava?

I tried to explain that its called yuca etc but still they could not picture it, next time I visit them I will just bring a cassava, easier to explain using a visual aid isn’t it.
But they all enjoyed it.

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Few days in Athens is not complete without sitting down in one of the cafes for my Greek coffee…. This time I did not have the chance to take photos of the market and eat a lot of Greek food, but this cassava cake made my stay comforting.