Warm Citrus & Spiced Olives
If you’ve been invited for lunch or dinner at a Greek home then you’re likely to see olives also served on the table. There are literally hundreds of olive varietals and when it comes to Greece, some olive trees that were planted in the thirteenth century are still producing! Did you know that Kalamata olives […]
Lemon-Pepper Calamari
When you’re hungry (especially during Lent) your belly can inspire you to create the simplest and most delicious dishes. One of the easiest dishes to prepare is fried calamari. One need only find fresh or thawed from frozen squid, mix a bowl of seasoned flour and have the confidence to fry in hot oil. Not […]
Ladenia (Λαδένια)
One of my favourite Lent-friendly dishes has to be Ladenia (roughly translated to olive bread) from the island of Kimolos. This is great for a snack, a light meal or cut-up and serve as part of your meze table. Sometimes you want something lighter or you just may want to use the ripe, juicy tomatoes […]
Fried Octopus
How many ways are there to prepare octopus? There’s grilled, boiled, baked, I recently tried “sous vide” (and it was fantastic) and now there is fried. Regardless of how you’re going to eat octopus the key is to tenderize it. The old-school way in Greece was to bash it on rocks at the beach, some […]
Quick Cauliflower Toursi
In Greece, cauliflower is called “kounoupidi” and its a winter vegetable usually steamed/boiled or pickled and enjoyed throughout the colder months. Toursi are pickled vegetables and practically anything can and will be pickled from eggplants to beans, green tomatoes to peppers and onions to cauliflower. I made some Fakkes (classic Greek lentil soup) last week […]
Herbaceous Green Rice & Shrimp
Green and red, earth and sea, shrimp and mushrooms, rice and herbs for you and me! Spring is here and the colour I associate the most with the barely new season is green. Here in Toronto we’ve had a mild winter and Spring has been unusually warm with temperature reaching 25 Celcius last weekend. One […]
Lenten Bougatsa me Krema
Flashback to 1980: it was a family vacation to Greece. We departed for Toronto on the last day of school, the report card still in my hand as we left for the airport and it was a summer I didn’t want to spend in Greece. Plans to hang-out with friends, we were interested in girls […]
Crab Kritharotto
The crab, the symbol for my zodiac – Cancer or Karkinos in Greek. In Greek mythology Karkinos was a giant crab that assisted Hydra the nine-headed serpent in its battle with Iraklis (Heracles) at Lerna. The hero crushed it under his foot but as a reward it was placed amongst the stars as constellation Cancer […]
Politiki Salata
Not too long ago, even if one wanted a fruit or a vegetable out of season, it would be bought at a supermarket and the price would be heavy. Imports of produce into Greece are widespread and depsite this “advancement” in the Greek markets, many in Greece still prefer to eat seasonally as it’s cheaper, […]
Octopus With Olives & Potatoes
As an ingredient, Greeks “own octopus”, as Greek-food Guru Diane Kochilas said earlier this week. No one owns any particular ingredient but we proudly cook it (with skill) and there are countless octopus dishes in Greek cuisine from salads to stews, grilled to giouvetsi. You’ll find octopus in practically every corner of regional Greek cooking […]
