This past summer in Greece I cemented my affections for pork butt, a particular cut of pork that’s diverse, very forgiving to cook with and it always come out juicy and delicious. The pork butt comes from the front end of the pig (nowhere near its rear), located near the shoulder. It’s not as pretty [...]

In Greece, there are many souvlaki and gyro joints all over the country and on nearly every corner. Then there are tavernas, small eateries that specialize in grilled meats that go beyond souvlaki and gyro, serving pork chops, biftekia, sausages, lamb chops, whole roast lamb on the spit, kokoretsi and kontosouvli. Kontosouvli another rotisserie offering [...]

This past summer saw me travel to both Greece and Turkey: neighbors, once foes, current rivals and friendly neighbors. Confused? There’s a lot of history between these two nations and to this day, ripples from the Ottoman Empire are felt in Greece (some good, some bad). Greece and Turkey also share some similarities when it [...]

I’ve been enjoying this method of preparing chicken for years now. I have yet to find anyone not like it…what’s not to like about moist chicken with crispy skin? Beer can chicken works as such: open a can of beer, drink about 1/3 of the beer, you may add add aromatics into the beer like [...]

Growing up in Canada and the US, one is never too far from a burger joint. I can’t think of any friends who didn’t enjoy a hamburger – be it at home or out with family or friends. One of my earliest memories of a eating hamburgers was at McDonald’s….long time ago when they were [...]

This past Sunday was my birthday and I invited some friends over for some good drink, delicious food and hearty laughs. The weekend forecast was for hot summer days, little humidity. The clouds rolled in just before guests arrived and there was a little bit of rainfall. The clouds left, happy to have teased us [...]

This is a recipe update from July 2008. Souvlaki is probably the best known as most popular Greek offering. It is made and enjiyed by Greeks in their home and it appears on practically every Greek restaurant and taverna’s menu. Here, I present to you the pork souvlaki. For best results, marinade the pork the [...]

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 [...]

One of the best ways to inject flavour into meats is with a marinade. Chicken is mild when it comes to meat so there’s alot of room for flavours. As I’ve written before, Greeks prefer their savory foods to remain savory, although some sweetness is tolerated and enjoyed. This marinade for chicken is sure to [...]

One of the first blog posts I wrote was on the subject of ribs. Us Canadians love ribs, we love to grill and in fact you’ll find some of my posts where I grill in the middle of winter! I recently had friends over for a BBQ and although it was mostly a Greek feast, [...]