Last year, I was invited to visit the operations of the Tsantali Winery & Distillery in Agios Pavlos, Halkidiki, Greece. My family has been vacationing in this part of northern Greece since 1980, when our relatives bought their summer homes.

The peninsulas of Kassandra and Sithonia are filled to the brim each summer with Greek and foreign tourists, seeking refuge from city life and the daily grind. A visit to one of Halkidiki’s beaches will find amid the backdrop of evergreens and an azure blue sea.

I’ve lost how many times I’ve passed by the Tsantali Winery & Distillery either to or from our summer home. Our family’s summer home is just south of Agios Pavlos (Tsantali’s location) and I promised myself I would visit the facility one day.

That visit finally came last year where I visited Tsantali and was given the honour of a walking tour of their Ouzo-making facilities. Tsantali has been making wine and distilling Ouzo since 1890, beginning in Thrace (Greece’s northeastern province) and now operating out of the Agios Pavlos location.

Ouzo is made in practically every part of Greece, each recipe containing Anise (that’s what gives Ouzo its distinct licorice aroma and flavour) but the recipe for Ouzo varies with other different herbs being added into the mix.

Tsantali’s recipe for Ouzo begins with “stafides” or dried grapes…almost raisins that are thrown into boilers to be distilled. The boiler is tightly closed and over a gentle heat, alcohol forms into a steam which travels through pipes into a container of cold water.

The alcohol is diluted with water and the herbs are added at this stage. Tsantali’s recipe for Ouzo contains Aniseed, Lime Wood, Coriander, Cardamom, Fennel Seeds, Star Anise and Angelica.

The mixture of the alcohol and herbs is left to stand overnight – the initial phase where the the herbs release their flavours and aromas. The distillation phase is conducted in copper vats, vital as copper regulates/keeps an even temperature while the flavours and aromas are developing inside the vats.

The first distillation is called the fore-run (kefali) but the flavours and aromas have not yet fully developed. From the first distillation, only the heart (kardia) or middle fraction of distillation is retained. The heart (kardia) is then slowly distilled again and finally, the essence is stored in large stainless steel tanks to settle. This ripening phase is also called “adoloto” and it’s at this point where the ingredients finally bond or marry.

Before Ouzo is bottled, the essence is mixed with pure spring water and the appropriate alcohol level (usually 40%) is achieved.

In every town and village, a few families are allowed to produce their own Tsipouro – a home brew similar to Ouzo but only anise is present. A non-anise spirit is also made, what us Greeks call an “apostagma” – a grappa, if you will.

Besides Ouzo and Tsipouro’s distinct anise aroma and flavour, when water or ice are added into this spirit, a milk-like clouding occurs. What’s going on here is that water causes the essential oils that were dissolved in the alcohol to crystallize. The crystals are too small to be seen with the naked eye but because there are so many, the mixture takes on this cloudy appearance. This is also known as the “Ouzo effect”.

Ouzo and Tsipouro are enjoyed with friends and family, accompanied by a wide array of appetizers or mezedes. Readers of my blog will know that I have many, many recipes for Greek mezedes…from dips, to salads, meat, fish and seafood and of course, vegetables.

In honour of the Tsantali winery, I’ve recreated a meze I enjoy at a “psarotaverna” in Nea Kallikratita, where our summer home is located. The eatery is called Kapetan Giakoumis and I always order the “Pastourma tis Thallasas” or “pastrami of the sea”.

Fillets of Bonito (palamida) fish are cured in salt, smoked and ultimately preserved. At the time of when I recreated this dish, Bonito was not in season but some wonderful Spanish mackerel was available and the flavour profile and texture would be similar. Spanish mackerel is the larger cousin to the common mackerel.

I don’t have a smoker but I do use a lovely hickory salt in my cooking. The filleted fish was covered in salt and placed in the fridge for 24 hours. The next day the fillets were rinsed, patted dry and then sliced thinly.

The last part of the cure was inspired by a recipe from from Chef Michael Symon, a half-Greek American who’s also an Iron Chef!

Michael Symon marinated some tuna in olive brine and lemon juice. What’s olive brine? That’s the liquid one finds in the jar of olives and it often gets discarded when the olives are all eaten. Not anymore.

Save that jar of olive brine, experience some adventure in the kitchen and try curing and marinating some fish. You should only do this with the freshest of seafood. Know how to choose a fresh fish, seek out a trusted fish monger and for the purposes of this recipe – fresh water fish should not be used here.

Marinated Mackerel

2 fillets of Spanish mackerel (about 1 lb)

hickory (or smoked) salt

1/2 cup of olive brine

juice of 1 large lemon

Vegetable oil

1. Assuming you have 2 fillets of boned fish, rinse and pat dry. Season both sides of the mackerel with the hickory salt and place in a shallow, glass baking vessel. Cover with cling-wrap and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
2. The next day, rinse the salt off the fish and pat dry. Using a very sharp knife, thinly slice the fillets across the grain. Discard the skins. Wash your glass baking dish and now add your olive brine and lemon juice and stir to mix.
3. Add your slices of mackerel, cover and place in the fridge for two hours. The fish should turn to an light pink/opaque colour. The salt and brine/acid processes have both “cooked” your fish.
4. Lay some slices of cured fish on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, garnish with some olives, thinly sliced red onions or parsley. Serve with Ouzo and ice (or water)  or a Tsipouro.
5. Store your remaining fish slices in a plastic tub, covered by vegetable oil and placed in the fridge. The fish is good for a month.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at  https://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis