A couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure of visiting the Cypriot Community of Toronto’s Cultural Centre, where they held their annual Summer Festival on their grounds. After straightening out a mix-up (someone thought I was a politico and asked me to sit at a head table), I located some friends, had a seat [...]

I recently was sent some samples from a Pitenis Bros. in Greece that produces dips, pickled vegetables, dips and smoked fish and seafood. One of the more intriguing and delicious items in the care package sent to me was the smoked octopus. Yes, smoked octopus. Much like eel, trout or mackerel, the octopus also gets [...]

Oh how many ways to cook a lamb there are. I’m just a Greek guy sharing the many ways. You have braised, boiled, grilled, rotisserie and roast. Then you have your whole lamb, or sections of lamb on the spit, leg of lamb, shoulder, chops, steaks and in this case, the shank. All these recipes [...]

It’s already a week since last week’s Greek Easter Sunday and  would do it all over again just to delight into this centerpiece dish of roasted leg of lamb. Greeks enjoy their meats more on the cooked side. It doesn’t necessarily mean charred to a crisp but it certainly is nowhere near anything resembling pink. [...]

A friend of the family’s gave us the big, honkin’ pumpkin last year and the first thing to go were the pumpkin seeds. Salted and [...]

One of my family’s favourite Sunday meals centers around a Prime Rib Dinner. It’s not a cheap cut of meat (Prime Rib) but it’s fitting for a Sunday meal. From Medieval times, the wealthy used to get to eat the tender, more expensive cuts and the rest of us were left with scraps, offal and [...]

Those who read my blog on a regular basis know that I prefer eating whole fish rather than fillets. This preference is not an inflexible rule and nor does it mean that one cannot enjoy a fish fillet. Today’s dish features a fillet sliced off of a whole sea bream (porgy). The main reason why [...]

I made this dish last Sunday and if it weren’t for the fact that I’m making Prime Rib today, I’d probably be having this entire meal again. One of the best things about Sunday dinner is that you have lots of time. There’s no real pressure, you can leisurely cook, open a bottle of wine [...]

One of the most enjoyable grilling centerpieces for Greeks (or anyone that enjoys the outdoor grill) would have to be lamb chops. There are many approaches…grill the whole rack and cut into individual chops, add an herb & crumb crust, marinades, spice variations….you name it! Like any dish that turns out wonderfully, the key is [...]

In less than two weeks, I’ll be back in Greece again for my vacation. This will be my 20th time and I still get excited about going. I still have some experiences to share from last year’s trip. One of the most cherished memories has to be when I attended a traditional Greek wedding on [...]