Sardines, Mt. Olympus and the “Gri-Gri” boats of Greece
As I’ve written before, the town Nea Kallikratia where our summer home is located is a vibrant tourist and fishing town. Nea Kallikratia is located about 3o minutes south of Thessaloniki and it’s situated on the Thermaic Gulf. On a clear day one can see clearly across the Gulf and almost touch Mount Olmypus. With […]
Margherita
In 1889, the pizza was named after Margherita, Queen consort of the kingdom of Italy. The pizza bears the three colours of the Italian flag: red tomatoes, green basil and white mozzarella. To this day, the citizens of Naples still debate, argue, compete for what is the most authentic pizza, the best ingredients and argue […]
Whole Fish Plaki (Ψάρι-πλακί)
Both of my parents come from towns in the Prefecture of Florina, about 2 1/2 hours NW of Thessaloniki. My dad comes from a town call Amynteon and my mom’s from the neighboring village of Agios Panteleimon. Although I go by Peter in English, my Greek name is Pantelis, which is the patron saint to […]
Paximadia With Anise
Paximadia have been enjoyed prior to any memory I have of when biscotti started appearing in cafes and coffee houses. Greeks will often enjoy a Paximadi as part of a breakfast or as a side with a Greek coffee. Since the autumn of last year, I’ve been enjoying my Greek coffee each morning and some […]
Spaghetti "al Cartoccio"
Yesterday, I was greeted with the return of seasonal, warm weather. The weather was very important and some friends and I played “hookie” and ditched work for a day at the amusement park, Canada’s Wonderland. This amusement park is situated just north of Toronto and my return was long overdue…25 years! We hit the roller […]
Lamb Giouvetsi
One of the most rustic and beloved Greek dishes has to be Giouvetsi. Traditionally, this meal is baked in clay pots. There are many variations on this dish from the type of meat used to the spices included in the ingredient mix. Here, I’m using lamb shoulder that’s been rendered down to a fall-off the […]
Amygdalota
Today is the Patron Saints’ Day for Constantine & Helen in the Greek-Orthodox calendar. For those of you who are Greek or those who are friends of Greeks, you’ll know that we have alot of Constantines and Helens out there. My brother plus three first cousins share being named after my maternal grandfather, Konstantinos. My […]
Satiated
After a week of having mostly lamb, it’s safe to say I’ve had enough of it (for now). I have one other lamb dish to write about but I’ll save it for later next week. Today’s entry is more about free-form cooking. It’s been awhile since I last had salmon and the fillets at my […]
Mango and Berry Crisp
I must admit, when I heard of the ingredients to be used for the next Royal Foodie Joust, I was stumped with what to make. Dessert making is not my strong-suit and I have little cooking experience with cardamom. We have a challenge. To compound my challenge, I noticed some other entries already used up […]
Galaktoboureko (γαλακτομπούρεκο)
Can you believe I’m still tidying up after Easter Sunday? From all accounts, it was a pain in the ass but all was off-setted by the greattime my family and friends had for the whole day. The day was capped off by my mom’s Galaktoboureko…uncracked from the cherished tome of her recipes. Galaktoboureko is as […]
