Lense Fare: Asparagus Feta Filo Fucker

I've nearly been in Berlin two months already, when you have all the time in the world, it still seems like not enough time to do the things one would like to. I think as humans, we are mislead to believe that we should be exceptional at everything. Renaissance people; capable of indulging all of our ambitions, mastering every one of our crafts, excelling in all hobbies, being more incredible than our neighbours, and still having time to spare for a normal life. Bigger, better, faster, stronger, more efficient, higher yields, greater income etc etc. I'm not saying that it's impossible to juggle loads, or that ambition is at all a bad thing. On the contrary, I think ambition is one of the most venerable human qualities; I'm just trying not to beat myself up about not being a Master of the Universe (yet).

On the other hand, I realise I do have to try harder, set goals, make deadlines and stick to them in order to get the most out of life. I also am trying to be less passive, chasing things that make me happy, and trying to dial down my empathy for others a bit, because sometimes I put other people's feelings too far ahead of my own, & am not honest about my own thoughts or feelings. Let's call this a mid year resolution. I need to get over the idea that I'm forever letting people down or hurting their feelings...unless of course it's true...

There has been so much change in the air, forks in the road, forks in my heart, forks in my mind; my life sometimes feels like a cutlery drawer falling from a second story window, fucking forks everywhere! Right now I'm sitting by the window of my third story room in a quiet North Friedrichshain apartment. It's a very quiet back street location in the former GDR of East Berlin. It's a very peaceful & unassuming neighbourhood; not at all touristy. I'm looking at two new green friends I bought for my window sill. Yep, living and breathing plants. I love green space, and living things. I was pretty excited in May when Berlin was flooded with an influx of grün Spargel, or "green asparagus" as we say in English. I fucking love asparagus (someone once told me it's an aphrodisiac, but I never checked the legitimacy of that fact). I wish I'd taken advantage of it more while it was readily available, as it was only €1 a bunch! Phenomenal, when in London it was usually about £3.50. Berlin is good like that, really close to Brandenburg where there are many farms and orchards bringing in fresh seasonal produce.

Before all of the asparagus disappeared, I managed to try something new with it. I thought with all of the filo pastry floating around Berlin (in the Turkish neighbourhoods at least) and that I could try a twist on the typical spinach & feta filo - instead trying an asparagus/spinach, nutmeg, feta & lemon filo pie. I was surprised that this isn't a common dish, because it's a really good filling for filo. The only problem with it was that I par boiled the asparagus & then soaked it in lemon juice before I put it in the pie. This is a great way to soak up the flavour, but obviously you're soaking up the juice as well, which isn't great for your pastry which needs to crisp up. I made the rookie mistake of forgetting to cook the base of the pie on the stovetop first, so the bottom was a bit soggy and fell out in places. I tried it a second time cooking the base, and it worked better with a few extra leaves of filo on the base as well as COOKING IT OVER THE STOVE. I think If I were to try it again, I might just use lemon zest and a little bit of lemon juice.

I won't bother including a recipe because it's basically the same as any other spinach filo pie. Time for a cup of tea I think :)