The question I often get is, “Why does the food in Greece taste different, better than over here”? My simple reply is that the best Greek cooking is simple, relying on local, fresh and seasonal ingredients. The simplicity of the dish is allowed to shine when this maxim is practiced. Practically anyone I know in [...]
This past summer I took a day trip to the middle finger or peninsula of Halkidiki, known to Greeks as Sithonia. Halkidiki comprises of three peninsulas, it’s located just east of Thessaloniki with the nearest being the peninsula of Kassandra and the most distant being Agio Oros. To visit Halkidiki one gets the feel of [...]
My family’s hometown is in Nea Kallikratia, Halkidiki, just 30 minutes south of Thessaloniki. There’s no shortage of Loukoumades in Greece but there are good ones, bad ones, mediocre ones and….great ones! Loukoumades are traditionally made with a yeast dough and they are dropped in hot oil where they puff up and once golden, get [...]
It’s time to start thinking about summer vacations and I’m once again urging you to visit Greece. Price-wise there has never been a better time and secondly, it’s still such a wonderful place for a vacation…ignore what you see happening in Athens. There’s so much more to Greece and I promise you – once you [...]
During the past week I’ve been vacationing on the island of Lefkada, located on the Ionian side of Greece. Lefkada is one of the few islands where a ferry boat is not used to reach it. Mainland Greece can be seen from the east side of the island and the other side faces the west, [...]
Last year, I was sent an invitation to visit a town in western Macedonia, near Kozani called Siatista. Most towns have one central square but Siatista has about three as the main road spirals up to the acropolis (Mount Grivas). Siatista was an important arena during the struggle for Macedonia (and northern Greece’s) struggle for [...]
When I heard that one of the restaurants we would be dining at was called “Tomato”, I thought it to be be rather boring. Upon reading Chrisanthos Karamolengkos’ bio and his notoriety for playing with Greek classics, I had no idea that he would also show us his love of the tomato by using the [...]
It’s barely a full day at the Sani Resort in Kassandra, Halkidiki and I’m still pinching myself to see if it’s all real! From my flight from Toronto to Europe to my connecting flight from Aegean Airlines to the pick-up and transport from the airport to the Resort, the Sani experience has been relaxing and [...]
Greek Food Guru, Diane Kochilas have taken our budding friendship to another level as we have organized a tour of Northern Greece that will excite even the most world-weary traveler with some of Greece’s best cuisine, artisan producers of Greek products and some of Greece’s top wineries. Diane bring her expertise as a cookbook author, [...]
This post is part bio, part-story of a new friendship, part education on the shaping of Greek cuisine and part recommendation. Last year I had the fortune to connect with Diane Kochilas through Facebook with what I thought would be just another fair-weather friendship on the web. You see, Diane Kochilas is a New York [...]
