My apple and berries pie. My uncle George, a great loss

I would like you to meet my uncle George, or tio Jorge, as he is well known. I think you will like him. It is hard not to.

My uncle was born in Spain and was one of my mother's siblings. They both shared the same day of birth but  with 10 years difference, being my mum older than him. My mum and tio Jorge had many other things in common and that's why this post is dedicated to him. Perhaps a bit long for you to read but too short for me to write about him.

Sadly, I have to refer to him in past tense since a couple of days ago. He had a pleasant way of "going to Heaven" - as my daughter Aurelia believes he is right now-.

Why do we tend to remember people particularly when they have gone from this world and not while they are still alive? I don't have the answer but perhaps we are so focused in own our life that we forget what and who is around you.

When my parents were divorced I was only 8 years old, I think. Anyway, I was still a little girl, the fourth of six children, five girls and one boy. My dad moved out from home. However, my mum found a great   support from my uncle Jorge - who was studying in the Seminar to become a jesuit-. What better person to give her the emotional strength she needed than him? My grandma and all my mum's siblings did, in lots of ways, I must say, but tio Jorge was special to my mum. 

Since the day my parents had separated lives, my uncle spent every Sunday lunch with us. He told us lots of stories about his adventures in South America. He amused us with a reality away from the problems every family had. He became our dear tio Jorge, our confident, our friend.

Nick, my parents and sister in-law actually met him on a cold Christmas Eve at my house. Tio Jorge used to bring 1kg of good Spanish Jamon Serrano that we all gobbled it up in 5 minutes. It was one of those nights when the food, the company and the ambience were memorable. I wish I could reproduce that night every Christmas Eve.

One day, he came to our house and said to me: "Esther, I am going to take you out for lunch to a very special restaurant where grown ups have a chat, a glass of wine and enjoy a beautiful meal. What do you think? ". I was 13 years old and I didn't think twice: "Ok!! I will put on my best dress !!". I didn't have one so I went to my sister's room- she had the best outfits of all of us, and still does!- and chose a very cute dress, although I had no idea I was going to go on a motorbike.  

We had an unforgettable lunch together at "La Brasserie". It was the first time in my life I enjoyed an exquisite - and probably expensive- menu de degustation.  I felt like a princess and was treated like a real grown-up…I had so much to learn about life, about him; I thought I could eat the world being a teenager and full of  unrealistic dreams. 

I can clearly picture him next to his vespa, with the helmet resting on his arm, a beige jacket and a black leather bag with the stripe across his thin chest. I can even smell the cologne he used. 

I could tell you more things about him because I know I have woken up your curiosity. You see, that's the effect he had on people. Children or adults wanted to be around him and not only because he had a funny and intelligent sense of humour. 

On the other hand, he could be very serious in his profession: 21 years of being a well respected professor of Mathematics at the Technical University of Madrid. 

He was awarded by the Arequipa Regional Government (Peru) in 2013 with a Gold Medal and Honorary Diploma for Education for his work as Director of the NGO Cooperacion Universitaria Espanola. This is him in Arequipa:

http://www.caminos.upm.es/Noticias%5CDocumentos%5Cadmin%5Ctexto_foto_jrp.pdf

I wish I had  the chance to go back in time. I could change things from my past. I could have spent more hours with him, I could have given him more affection, we could have had more meals together.

But I don't have that time machine to make things different. What I can do is to bring those fond memories to my cooking and create delicious l dishes, meals that remind me of him.This is the beauty of cooking. It gives you the serenity you need when your world has been upside down by sad news. 

Comfort food is my security blanket. My children have one each- Aurelia has a lion, Gabriel a pillow case and Juanan a little white rabitt-. I have my apple and berries pie. Why? Because life is like this pie,  beautiful looking dish, but underneath it has a mix of  sweetness and tanginess. As a cook, you should find the right balance.

I came up with this pie after mixing up some left over berries I got from the market and a few green apples. - I used the pastry recipe from Nigel Slater though,  but I added vanilla paste-. My method is simple and easy to follow, so have a go. It is a great dessert for a dinner party too.

My apple and berries pie for tio Jorge

Serves 6-8 people

For the pastry:

• 140g unsalted butter, cold
• 230g all-purpose flour
• 50g caster sugar
• a large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste

1.  In a food processor blitz the flour and the butter, then mix briefly with the sugar, vanilla and the egg yolk. Bring the dough together but don't overwork it. Make a flat disk and keep it in the fridge for 1 hour.

For the filling:

• 150g of each blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.
• 6 green apples, peeled, cored and diced.
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3/4 cup of sugar

1. Sprinkle the apples with the sugar and set them aside.
2. In a heavy pot, melt the butter and when it starts drizzling, add the apples. Don't stir them too much as you want to caramelise them a bit for about 5-8 minutes. Add all the berries, the juice of the lemon and the sugar. Cover the pot and cook for about 20 minutes until the apples are soft.
3. Remove the lid and continue cooking until the mixture is thick but not until the point of caramel but it has been reduced at least 1/4. Let it cool in the pot.
4. Preheat the oven 200C.
5. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it gently. Be careful it can break as is quite fragile and soft. Lift it on the rolling pin and place it gently on top of the pie, pressing the edges down. 
6. Cut one or two air holes (I used a star cutter as make it visualised fun for the children) and pinch with a fork all over.
7. Cook for 30 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with white sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes.
8. Leave the pie to cool and serve with a dollop of good fresh heavy cream.