Kazan Dipi Politiko (Καζάν Ντιπί Πολίτικο)

Kazan Dipi belongs to Constantinople, to the Politiki kitchen, where milk sweets were handled with restraint and great nerve. It is a plain milk pudding until the bottom is deliberately scorched, then it becomes itself: white, cool, soft, with a burnt-amber skin that pulls slightly under the spoon.

The whole dish is decided in the last minutes. You cook the custard until it falls from the spoon in thick ribbons, then spread it in a buttered, sugared pan and move the pan over steady heat until the sugar underneath darkens. Don't leave it. Pale is timid, black is bitter, and the good place is a deep chestnut stain across the base.

Let it chill properly before turning or slicing. Warm Kazan Dipi tears and smears; cold Kazan Dipi lifts cleanly, showing the caramelised bottom like a secret. I keep this one exactly as the old Politiki cooks did, because I don't invent it. I find it, I test it, I write it down.