Loukoumades, Part I
Loukoumades, or Greek doughnut holes, are supposed to be light and flavorful and explode with flavor. That’s what they are supposed to do but, not everyone knows how to make them correctly in my humble opinion. Handouts describe loukoumades such as ‘mouth-watering, delicious, puffs’ when they are prepared correctly. Festival workers often aren't the best at making these delicious treats. I feel sorry for people who pay five dollars for a dozen and expect to get a treat. Loukoumades are easy to make but many festivals just haven't mastered the technique or just don’t know how to make them.
One particular church. which shall remain nameless, asked me for help a few years ago. I volunteered to make loukoumades with another more experienced fellow. After a half day of trying, something was definitely wrong. The loukoumades were not normal looking, white in color with irregular shapes and gooey insides. The whole weekend was spent experimenting with batter and technique only to discover it the machine that was at fault. It couldn’t keep a constant temperature. I wondered why and with a little bit of prodding I finally learned of its demise.
Let's say about ten years ago, one Sunday night cleaning after a festival a worker went to bring the machine inside the church only to discover it was missing. A group was spotted in the alley stealing the machine. It was perched high on a shopping cart rolling down a bumpy alley. It was spotted and a chase soon ensued. The group ran off leaving the machine unattended and perched high, the machine eventually fell and crashed down to the ground. It was enough of a blow to dislodge its temperature gauge and bend the arm that holds the bucket along with other scratches and bumps.
To be continued...
UPDATE
If you read my blogs you may find out what church it was. Fast forward to the year 2017, our family visited that church and to my utter dis-belief that same machine was parked in its' usual space out of order and looking so sad.