Greek scrambled eggs or strapatsada

Two weeks in Corfu without my father: what was the unimaginable is happening anyway. His ashes are currently in the drinks cupboard; we like the idea he has good spirits for company. Just below the garden wall is a young walnut tree, next to where the old footpath to the sea zig zags across the hillside. It has the most marvellous views of headlands fading into infinity and the plan is to bury his ashes there, and build a stone bench so family – and passers-by – can spend time with their memories of him while contemplating myriad distant blues.

My father was particularly fond of Tomas at O Foros Taverna – he had a thoroughly social time nattering the afternoons away with him when it wasn’t the tourist season. In fact it’s worth phoning ahead if you planning a visit in early Spring: Tomas last Sunday decided it was too darn cold to open up for the evening shift and we ended up having no choice but to try Ognistra, which we’d so far avoided as the owner also runs the Chinese in Acharavi, our nearest resort, and somehow the connection isn’t encouraging.

But hey, the place isn’t bad at all: crisp courgette balls and an egg dish I hadn’t come across before called strapatsada, which loosely translates as messed up or tangled. It’s a cross between scrambled eggs and a frittata, a kind of failed omelette.

Vassilis the cook explained in general terms how to make it “you put oil, you put eggs and you beat everything” and this is my interpretation:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely sliced

1 long yellow/orange pepper, finely sliced

1 long red pepper, finely sliced

1 large meaty tomato

salt, black pepper

6 free range eggs, beaten

50g feta cheese, crumbled

Greek basil leaves or chopped parsley to garnish

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and sauté the onion and peppers until soft and starting to caramelise just a little; this will take at least 10 minutes. Dice the tomato, removing the pippy bits as you don’t want a sloppy vegetable mixture. Stir in the pieces, season with a little salt and pepper, and continue to fry for another 5 minutes or so until the tomato is cooked but not dissolved into a sauce.

Add the eggs and let them set for 30 seconds before stirring the mixture. Repeat. Don’t stir the eggs continuously the way one does for scrambled eggs. Scatter over the feta and the herbs and serve immediately.

This is an excellent brunch dish and will feed 2 ravenous people or 4 if there is something else happening like grilled sausages