
It’s that time of year “summer, sun, sea & fun”. As the day nears the end we head out to the beach. The highlight of the evening for the kids & adults alike will be the campfire! The kids play, the women chat and the men are happy to build the fire.
Petra unpacks the picnic basket. “Here is the task,” she says: “Find the nearest trees to snap off & cut green twigs.” We step into a ticket of thorns and stinging nettles, and snap off the perfect twigs. But not to hold marshmallows, it turns out. “Thicker,” Petra commands; turns out, we're cutting “breadsticks.”
Then, armed and ready we sit around the fire pit while waves crash onto the beach with a strong easterly wind. We begin to relax and enjoy the evening. Soon enough Petra opens her basket and out comes a huge Tupperware container filled with bread dough. Petra spoons out the dough and wraps the bread dough in a corkscrew fashion around one end of the stick, pinching the dough tightly so it'll stay in place. She hands one to me “Hold it over the fire pit and be patient! Cook it slowly and evenly so the bread doesn't burn and gets cooked thoroughly.” I manage to say “All right!” and think: Yup, this is bread on a stick. No doubt about it.
Eventually, all twelve or thirteen sticks end up in the fire: Right, now add a little gritty sand and some herbed butter and you’d say: Boy that was the best crusty bread on a stick ever! Tasting of yeast and sweet at the same time. Of course, followed by marshmallows and old left-over fire works from New Year’s Eve rounded up a perfect evening at the beach… what fun!
If this is an American or European tradition, it was one I hadn't heard of.
|