MY HALVA

I call it my Halva as my mother would make this on special occasions. The original recipe called for sugar but for best reasons known only to my my mother she wouldn't allow sugar in the house so would use honey, as a child I never had sugar till I went into Dr Barnaros and I disliked it. We had Halva after dinner on those special days like Christmas! That's the sort of Jewish upbringing I had, foods from around the world. This version is from Turkey and shared on the Island of Cyprus before the invasion from Turkey. One day they will live in peace.

Ingredients

• 250ml milk

• 200g Honey

• 125g sunflower oil

• 250g medium size semolina

• 25g whole hazelnuts, plus about 1 tbsp chopped hazelnuts

• The zest of 1/2 lemon

• 1 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla pod

• A nice Pinch of saffron if you have it.

Method

1. Warm the milk, saffron, split vanilla pod and honey over a medium heat and stir until dissolved, mind you don't boil or burn the mixture. place to one side to cool.

2. In a large deep pan heat the sunflower oil and fry the hazelnuts till lightly brown.

3. Add the semolina with lemon zest, cook off for around 10 minutes, continually stirring until the semolina has also turned golden brown.

4. Add your milky syrup a bit at a time, whilst continually stirring until they're thoroughly combined.

5. Turn the heat down to a low simmer and cook for around 20 minutes, then add the vanilla extract.

6. To make sure its as set as possible it should hold its shape when you draw your spoon through the mixture.

7. Lightly grease a mould or mini moulds and press the mixture into the bowl.

8. When it's cooled, turn it out of the mould.

9. Sprinkle the reserved 1 tbsp chopped hazelnuts on top of your halva.

10. Cut into small servings and Serve with tea or coffee after dinner. Enjoy.