Riganada
A little while back I shared my memories of visiting the island of Lefkada and this time I’m back to share more but this time we’re going to touch upon the cuisine. Lefkada is located on the Ionian side of Greece, that which faces Italy and its no coincidence that many dishes hint of those […]
Hotel Estia, Finikouda Messinia
Stephanie Milliken (nee Gallos) and her husband Glen run a hotel in Finikouda, Messinia in the southern Peloponnese. Stephanie grew up in here in Toronto but spent her summers in Greece, mainly in her father’s home town (Finikouda). The couple came here for their honeymoon in 2003 and discovered off-the-beaten path trails, caves, catacombs and […]
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 […]
Halkidiki Green Olives Two-Way Meze
Recently, green olive from Halkidiki were finally granted Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status by the European Union (EU). A PDO product is given this designation/label to highlight the uniqueness of the product produced in a specific geographical region. Halkdiki is located in the northern province of Macedonia and if you look at a Greek […]
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 […]
Village (Greek) Salad
Four years, over 1000 blog posts and not one blog post on perhaps one of the most identifiable of Greek dishes…the Village (Greek) Salad.I thought to myself would I get chuckles for posting such a non-recipe or I thought to myself, how could this blog not address this salad? I chose the the latter. In […]
Ergon All-Greek General Store
Readers of this blog will know that I try use and feature Greek products in my cooking whenever possible. There is still a supply/demand gap here in the West but the situation is improving year by year. In Greece prior to it’s entry into the EU (1981), one would only find local Greek goods and […]
Chickpea Salad With Roasted Red Peppers & Green Beans
A few weeks ago I caught up with Canadian cooking personality and chef Christine Cushing where we talked about the third season of her show Fearless in the Kitchen and chatted about food and her line of products, which consists of two Greek olive oils. Christine’s first branded olive oil comes from Crete (where her […]
Grilled Grouper With Crispy Roast Potatoes
A couple of weeks ago I came upon some grouper that was very fresh but the fish monger would only cut me steaks rather than fillets. Had the fish not been so fresh and had there been a winder selection of fish to choose from, then I would have….skipped…the grouper steaks. I have nothing against […]
Roasted Sea Bass With Potatoes & Fennel
I’ve noticed that I’ve been seeing good quality (very fresh) sea bass and sea bream on the iced displays at local fishmongers. Both the sea bream and sea bass are a Mediterranean fish and as I looked on the side of the Styrofoam boxes that contain these fish packed in ice – they are shipped […]