The enchanted woods with the golden treasure. Or what happens when you eat onion pancakes!

Any resemblance to any real person or place is just coincidental.

Once upon a time, at dark and turbulent ages, there were three women and three men who set off for the nearest mountain.

Clouds in the sky,  covered the few rays of the sun which fought for their way out. However, there was a sweet calmness in the air that made that sudden walk just perfect.

The three women and men walked on and on, passed away small and big paths, roads and streets until they make it to the mountain.

And there was magic; fir trees, lillies, fresh and cool smells that caress their chicks, invade into their noses, come across their spine and end to their lungs which are about to burst from joy!

They keep walking and after a while, they reach at the entrance of a secret path.

They decide to cross through it.

They walk close to each other. Really close.

Until a sudden move through the thick leaves of the trees make them stop and look.

The most courageous one decides to step forward and go closer to the edge of the path. The rest follow behind him.

They see nothing. They look around. Noone.

Just high, up to the sky trees that have surrounded them!

Or did they entered their mysterious circle without noticing?

They look above their heads and the peaks of the trees have come closer leaving just a tiny hole allowing just only a few rays of sun to come through.

Silence. Silence everywhere.

They all move quickly back to the centre of the path and they start walking with slightly bigger steps until they reach a glade.

Theere is an old, neglected, fenced house. Closed windows and doors, ivied “chocked” walls, seems like it hasn’t been inhabited for many years now.

At the front of the house a big empty pool, fretted and rotten.

This is where the inhabitants would probably spend the endless hot days of the summer.

Silence everywhere. Again.

Τhey keep walking, passing by a series of trees with strange shapes, colours and textures.

Why do our fellows feel like that they move?

Do they?

Everytime they look at these strange trees, seems like they are frozen to an unconvient position for them!

Well, what they didn’t also know was that they would freeze themselves a few seconds later when they would bump into a wooden table loaded with all the goodies of the world! Goodies that they could never imagine!

A great and delicious variety of food, yummy desserts, fresh fruits, chilled wine, heavenly chocolates!

As if they had entered the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale, they felt exactly the same! The smells dragged them from their nose without leaving them to make a single move other than heading quickly towards the loaded wooden table!

Enchanted, they quickly sit to the benches, they fill up their glasses with wine, they grab their forks and they start a non stop forking, spooning, knifing, biting, chopping, gulping, moaning, laughing, teeth grinding!

They ate everything.

Everything except for only one thing.

The golden onion pancakes.

As if they knew that they were to be eaten last.

One of the women, grabs her fork and gets one. She brings it slowly towards her mouth and suddently, she swallows it at one gulp.

She closes her eyes. She doesn’t move. She doesn’t speak.

And then, suddently, with her eyes wide open, she starts laughing loudly with such a joy!

Everyone else grabs forks and vanishes the golden onion pancakes at a glimpse of an eye!

Laughs again!

After that, they barely managed to dip some sweet buns into the melted chocolate praline and they fell asleep so deeply for hours, days, months, years…

Noone knows.

The only thing I know, is that the six of them, woke up the other day, took their car, went to the nearest mountain in Athens, called Parnitha and made a sudden pic nic that they enjoyed so much that promised to do it again to some other magical place like that!

And they lived happily ever after!

A recipe by Vagelis Karatzas, slightly adapted

By Gastronomer Magazine

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 big dry onions ground
• 1 cup self rising flour
• 1 tsp carry
• 3-4 tbsp ground kefalotyri (any kind of hard cheese)
• salt -or not
• olive oil for the frying

DIRECTIONS

1. In a big bowl pour all the ingredients, except for salt and olive oil of course.
2. Stir them well until you get a thick pulp. Try it and if the cheese you use isn’t very salty, pour some salt -beware.
3. If the pulp is too thick (doesn’t drops off the spoon), add some water in order it thins a little bit.
4. Heat the olive oil into a pan very well. Pour some spoons of pulp into the hot oil and make small round pancakes.
5. When they become gold from one side, turn them around. They are ready very soon.
6. Eat them hot or cold. Drind whatever you find in front of you. And then sleep. Sweet and enchanted.

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