a coffee roaster

I’m writing this post to share my passion for this “way” of making coffee which is simmered/brewed, unfiltered and if made properly, you may may indeed begin to make it for yourself or friends. Some good times have been had around the table with Greek coffee…sipping and chatting with my Papou (grandfather), enjoyed some sunrises and sunsets with Greek coffee and I’ve had my fortune told by aunts who tip the cups and read the coffee grounds! In Greece, the ritual of drinking Greek coffee usually occurs twice a day. The first Greek coffee is sipped in the morning as a jolt to wake up the morning and the second jolt comes after waking up from the afternoon siesta.

dark and light roast Greek coffee

Greek coffee can be strong in flavour but not necessarily in caffeine. Much like any other coffee – it all depends on your blend and or type of coffee used. In the coffee world there is light roast and dark roast. Light roast actually will give you a milder tasting coffee but there will also be more caffeine present. A dark roast (my preference) means the flavour of your coffee will be bolder but there the roasting reduces the caffeine in the coffee.

a "gazaki"

To make Greek coffee, you’ll need a briki (vessel to boil the coffee), demi-tasse cups,  cold water, sugar and of course, the coffee. Greek coffee can be made in four different ways. It can be sketos (without sugar, strong and bitter), metrios (medium, usually with half teaspoonful of sugar), glykys or vari glykos (almost honey-sweet) and glykys vrastos – sweet but boiled more then once so it loses most of its froth.

The most common way to boil your coffee is on your stove-top but the camping-style “gazaki” has become very popular and there are some fancy looking ones that come in brass and silver. Most are impatient to get that jolt of caffeine in your body but Greek coffee is best simmered over medium-low heat. If you’re lucky, some of the better cafes in Greece will make Greek coffee in a Hovoli. Some are more ornate than others but a Hovoli basically works like this: add your water, sugar and coffee into the brass briki then place it in the part of the hovoli filled with hot sand. The hot sand mimics hot ashes, the traditionally way to heat up some Greek coffee.

water container of a Hovoli

Depending on what kind of Greek Coffee you like, measure and add into the briki the coffee, a teaspoonful of coffee per cup, and the sugar. For a medium coffee the best balance is to add the same amount of sugar as coffee. For a medium coffee the best balance is to add the same amount of sugar as coffee.

An interesting anecdote on Greek coffee and its origins – is it Greek or Turkish? This was the question posed to the wife of the former Greek Ambassador to Canada, Apostolos Papsliotis. I was reunited with the Ambassador and his wife at a wedding reception this past Summer in Halkdiki, Greece. We were taking about food, Greek food and the city of Isatanbul creeped into the conversation. Mrs. Papasliotis told me about attending a dinner and being seated right beside the Turkish ambassador. The Turkish ambassador leaned over to the Greek Ambassador’s wife and asked about the origins of coffee…., “Greek or Turkish”?

The cunning and very diplomatic Ambassador’s wife replied, “It is not Turkish or Greek…but Eithiopian”!

Greek Coffee (Ελληνικός-καφές)

• Greek coffee
• Sugar (1 tsp for sweet, 1/2 tsp for medium/metrio)*
• A briki
• Demi-tasse cups
• Cold water
• side glass of water

1. Using the demi-tasse cup, measure the amount of cold water will need to make your serving of coffee and add into briki.
2. Add the a teaspoon of coffee in to the briki.
3. Now add the appropriate amount of sugar*.
4. Over medium heat, place the briki on the heat. Do not stir but swirl the briki until the coffee and sugar have dissolved.
5. As soon as the coffee foams, quickly remove from the heat and pour into the demi-tasse.
6. Allow the coffee grounds to settle to bottom of cup for about a minute before drinking. Sip until you detect a bit of coffee grounds in a sip. Coffee is done.
7. You want to serve Greek coffee with the foam (kai-maki) and as soon as you start to see the coffee rise and foam, quickly take the briki off the heat and pour into your guests’ demi-tasses. A well-made Greek coffee will have a solid layer of “kaimaki” or krema on top.
8. Serve with a glass of cold water and a cookie or a sweet.

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://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.

I’m not sure where I’m going this year for side trips or new places I haven’t visited yet. Greece is having another difficult year and I’m not sure if my friends will be taking any vacations apart from their summer homes. I may visit an island or two…Aegean or Ionic or one of each? I may just stay local and tour parts of northern Greece that I’ve yet to visit. I may take another side trip to Constantinople (Istanbul)…a city that still mesmerizes me and one that I enjoy exploring.

A visit to Greece’s capital, Athens, is likely as there are lots of friends to visit and there’s always some fabulous eating to be done there. I’m not sure where this year’s Greek summer will take me but I will be eating and drinking and I’m taking this recipe for Greek Sangria with me. Sangria is a chilled concoction of wine, fruit, soda, sugar or a simple syrup with some fruit and booze to balance the sweeteners.

The syrup I use to make my Greek Summer Sangria is the focus of my recipe – the one that gives this one the edge over other recipes and the reason I was asked to make/bring this sangria over and over and over again to parties, barbecues and gatherings. You see, when you’re mixing a sangria, you’re looking to cut the tannins and make it into a summer, fruit-forward drink that’s light enough to drink all afternoon yet there’s enough booze in there to add to your summer “glow”.

My Greek Summer Sangria uses those bottles of wine that I received as gifts and yes, perhaps they aren’t my preferred choices but I also wouldn’t regift them. So, into the bucket went some screw-top red, one sliced peach and one sliced orange, a couple of cans of ginger ale, and syrup to sweeten the mixture. I was about to make a simple syrup by boiling water and sugar but I remembered that I had a jar of syrup leftover from when I made Baklava ice cream and I took a chance and poured the syrup into the sangria. AMAZING!

The sangria takes on some of the cinnamon and cloves that infused the syrup and the sangria has just enough sweetness to please the ladies yet there’s still enough booze (thanks to the Metaxa brandy) to make it popular with the dudes as well. I’ve laid out a recipe per one bottle of wine but I recommend making a batch with 3 bottles of wine and tripling the recipe. After last night’s barbecue, the next batch of sangria make have to be made with 6 bottles!

Greek Summer Sangria

For the syrup

2 cups of water

1 cup sugar

2-3 strips of lemon or orange peel

1 cinnamon stick

4-5 whole cloves

1/2 cup honey

Sangria Mix

1-750 ml bottle of red wine

1/2 cup Metaxa brandy

1 ripe peach, sliced

1 orange, sliced

2 cans of ginger ale (or 7-UP/Sprite)

1 cup of syrup

1. To make the syrup, first add the water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and lemon peel in to a small pot and bring to a boil. Then lower to a simmer and boil for another 6 minutes. Take off the heat and add the honey and allow to cool. Remove rind, cinnamon and cloves.
2. Add your wine, sliced fruit, ginger ale and brandy and stir. Add the syrup in increments, stir and make as sweet as you wish. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.
3. To serve, place some ice in each glass and pour the sangria.

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://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.

After sitting down for a coffee and getting settled into our seats, I noticed one of the gals behind the counter piping some creme patisserie onto layers of puff pastry. As it turns out, she’s also been to Toronto and stayed at her uncle’s place. Her uncle is someone I know in Toronto. BINGO! Another connection in Thessaloniki.

Thessaloniki is littered with cafe’s and shops where one can stop in for a brief drink, snack or both or simply grab something to take with you on the go. Yesterday I had the good fortune to enjoy a coffee at the Paradosiako deli in Thessaloniki’s shopping district, just south of Tsimiski. In Greek “Paradosiako” means traditional and although the shop(s) are new there’s an eye towards tradition and making things from scratch like their coffees, sandwiches, tarts and other desserts. Next time I’m going to try out their Mille Feuille and their yummy croissants are some of the best I’ve seen in the city!

This central location of Paradosiako is great for people watching, friendly and attentive service and in case you’re not in the center of the city, there are a few other Paradosiako stores out there.

enjoy this slide show I’ve prepared for you and i’m sure this will give you yet one more reason to visit Thessaloniki!

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://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.

In the garden, the prolific mint bullies some other plants and something must be done. I’ve been enjoying the Mint Julep cocktail. For such a girly-looking drink, it packs a punch: Bourbon whiskey, muddled mint and sugar and finished with lots of ice.

Sip on this cocktail slowly or risk the wrath of the Kentucky hammer!

Mint Julep

4-5 mint leaves

1 tsp. coarse brown sugar

2 1/2 oz. shot of Bourbon

enough ice to top the glass (tumbler)

mint for garnish

1. You’ll need a tumbler or Scotch glass. Add your sugar and mint leaves and muddle into a paste. Add your Bourbon and fill with enough ice to fill-up the glass. Garnish with mint and serve. Sip and enjoy slowly, allowing the ice to dillute the Bourbon along the way.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at  http://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.

© 2007-2010 Peter Minakis

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© 2010, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://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.

I of course accepted as I’m preparing for this year’s trip to Greece and I knew a book set in Greece would surely prep me and transport me to Greece until my feet stood again on hallowed Greek soil.

Cafe Tempest counts at over 300 pages with the body of the book about the main character, Sarah and her return to the fictional island called Pharos. The author, Barbara Bonfigli has a dry sense of humour, exquisite sarcasm and I’ll use some of her “lines” when I crack a joke to break the ice on occasion.

Excerpt:

———————————————————————————————-

We’re flying in Europe, a continent of smokers who’ve recently been banned from lighting up on airplanes. Everyone around us has the DT’s;  they’re desperately uploading caffeine and wishing they could just step out on the wig for a puff. Tey guy on our aisle is shaking his foot and studying the Icarus Air evacuation cartoon…In my opinion they should let people light up and drink from takeoff to landing. All this pent-up fear and deprivation would certainly mess up an orderly ditching at sea.

Give up trying to understand other people, I remind myself. Why, I wonder, has this revelation taken so long?

At thirty-nine thousand feet I look around at my fellow man with new lightness, the enormous burden of comprehension abandoned at Duty Free. They’re all digging into a mysterious seafood starter. Icarus is an airline that serves food for revenge. Fortunately I have the picnic skills to meet this challenge.

“Alex, let’s have our banquet before the headwinds hit.”

I detect a little hostility from the guy on the aisle, sawing uselessly on his seeded roll as Alex lays out our smoked salmon, pumpernickel, Brie, and Chablis. Unless it’s an involuntary reaction to cheese, with its whiff of socks left out in the rain.

“Would you like some smoked salmon”? she asks him

“Signome?”

“No. Salmon,” says Alex, squeezing the lemon.

“Alex, signome is Greek for ‘excuse me.’”

“Oh.”

“Thelete ligo – would you like some…?” I try. But the word for salmon escapes me. I point at it.

She looks back. “Pointing is Greek?”

“Oxi, efharisto”. No, thanks. “Eime hortophagos.”

“He’s a vegetarian, ” I explain to Alex. “And the Brie is ripe enough to moo, so let’s skip that.”

“We ought to offer him something,” she says, displaying her notorious generosity.

“He can have my entire Icarus lunch.” I say in an attempt to imitate her—though you could hardly call this a test.

“Oxi, efharisto –no thanks,” he smiles discerningly.

I pour him a cup of Chablis.

When dessert comes around it’s Turkish Delight, in celebration of the three thousand year old blood feud between Greeks and Turks.

“God, that looks terrible,” she says.

“Not as terrible as it tastes.”

She brings out our creme brulee. During which I share my revelation, inspiration deleted.

“You mean to say you’ve been trying to understand everyone?”

“Well, not Charles Manson or The Spice Girls…but as a rule, yes.”

“What a wild idea.” Alex puts down her spoon. “how’s it turning out?”

“I’ve just given it up.”

She raises her cup of Chablis. “How do you say ‘bravo’ in Greek?”

“I think it is Greek”. And we click.

A few hours later we cross the Corinth channel and drop into the haze of Athens. The landing gear bangs into place. Moments later a stewardess comes over the speaker. “We’ll be coming through the aisles to collect unwanted items. Please fasten your cups and thrown away your seat belts.”

Sometimes I wish I could follow directions.

———————————————————————————————–

The rest of the book takes place on Pharos, Sarah coordinates a play cast with the townfolk who star in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Cafe Tempest will transport you to a Greek island. It evokes your imagination of what life on a Greek island is like, the slow pace and how everything and everyone is magnified.

Myself having gone to many Greek islands, many faces, beaches, tavernas and breathtaking views were evoked from trips to Greece of yore. For those who haven’t been to Greece, Cafe Tempest’s pages will take you there, each page full of recounts of Greeks and their quirks, food and drink figure prominently in the book and the main theme of “love who you love” is repeated in many chapters.

At the back of the book are some recipes of dishes that appeared in the story and the bookmark that came with the book included a recipe for a cocktail, the Cafe Tempestini.

This drink uses Retsina, a resinated white (and sometimes rose) wine that’s been around for over 2000 years.

I made a Cafe Tempestini when I started reading the book and I’m hooked. I have a feeling this will be the “sangria of the summer of 2009″!

Cafe Tempestini

3 oz. Retsina, chilled

1 1/2 oz. of Samos Moscato wine, chilled

1 oz. pure, unsweetened cranberry juice

splash of Triple Sec

ice

1. Put all the ingredients in a martini shaker full of ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled glass.
2. Garnish with a fresh fruit and sip while reading a book…say Cafe Tempest. OPA!

Cafe Tempest can be purchased through Amazon or through the publisher’s site, Tell Me Press.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at  http://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

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© 2009 – 2010, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://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.