From the photo, can you guess what a Portokalopita is?
Portokalopita is an Greek compound word translated into “orange pie”. The first time I ever saw this dish was recently at my friend Maria’s blog, “Kali Orexi”. I have never before heard of this dessert, I have never ever eaten a Portokalopita. I was awestruck by [...]

It’s New Year’s Eve, December 31st, 2009. The end of one decade and the beginning of a new one. I’ve been thinking of all the ways I’ve spent New Year’s Eve.
My earliest recollection was attending the Annual New Year’s dance of the Amynteon Association of Toronto. My parents are from this town in northern Greece [...]

Aren’t mom’s the best? Just when I thought my mom showed me all the tricks in her book (brain) of kitchen techniques, she smacks-down this little ditty on the kitchen counter!
I’ve seen these in assortment trays from Greek bakeries. I’ve eaten these at Greek festivals. I seen these offered by other cuisines (Middle-Eastern, Lebanese & [...]

Continuing with my series in the realm of Baklava, I present Pourakia or Baklava cigars. Again, all the flavour of Baklava can be had with these easy to make roll-ups. You can make them as big or as small a you wish.

There are many riffs on Baklava that one can make and Saragli are just one of them. The classic Baklava is made with stacks of buttered phyllo spiked with a mixture of nuts, cinnamon, sugar and cloves.
For  Christmas this year, we decided to make an array of Baklava/Syropiasta sweets. In the coming days, I will [...]

Earlier this year I introduced you all to the pre-cursor of Pastrami – Pastourma. It’s an air-dried beef that’s flavoured by spices and lots of [...]

Finally…a baklava recipe and some background and opinion on this dessert, popular all around the world.
The origins of Baklava can be traced to Turkey (which is fine by me) and rather than focus on the differences between Greeks and Turks, I try and focus on the similarities between the two peoples.
Relations between the Greeks and [...]

The sister dessert to Baklava has to be Kataifi. The more common and popular dessert is baklava but don’t let that keep you from trying out this dessert that’s easy to assemble, fabulous to look at and ever a delight to eat.
Much like Baklava, Kataifi exists in the dessert repertoire of Greek, Turkish, Middle Eastern [...]

Another year is behind us and I would be lying if I told you it was a great year for most. With these trying economic times, we’re seeing the flipside of globalization. Local events can and are being affected by economic factors halfway around the world from where one lives.
We all seem to be in [...]

Perhaps one of the best known and popular Greek desserts is Baklava. Greeks have made & enjoyed Baklava for ages and it’s popularity is further evidenced by versions of Baklava appearing in Turkish, Middle-Eastern and Persian cuisines.
Baklava is essentially made of layers of phyllo sandwiching a nut and spice mixture in the middle. A syrup [...]