The first time I ever tasted Halloumi cheese was when friends of the family (part Cypriot) gave us some. Here in Toronto, we have a good-sized Greek community with approx. 130,000 Greeks living in the area, about fifteen churches, hundreds of associations and federations representing towns & villages from all over Greece and Cyprus and [...]
Yesterday was May 1st and in Greek tradition, a Greek will greet their fellow Greeks with a “Kalo Mina” or “Good Month”. May 1st is also the European equivalent of the North American Labour Day. In Greece and much of Europe, a celebration and remembrance of the social and economic achievements are marked with parades [...]
Finally…a baklava recipe and some background and opinion on this dessert, popular all around the world. The origins of Baklava can be traced to Turkey (which is fine by me) and rather than focus on the differences between Greeks and Turks, I try and focus on the similarities between the two peoples. Relations between the [...]
Seeing as how it is Holy Week for the Greek-Orthodox, most of us are fasting in some degree and we’re also juggling the duties of preparing for the big feast that awaits us this upcoming Sunday for Easter. Toronto boasts of having about 120,000 Greeks in the Toronto area, over a dozen churches and our [...]
The sister dessert to Baklava has to be Kataifi. The more common and popular dessert is baklava but don’t let that keep you from trying out this dessert that’s easy to assemble, fabulous to look at and ever a delight to eat. Much like Baklava, Kataifi exists in the dessert repertoire of Greek, Turkish, Middle [...]
We’re about a week into January and I’m still eating leaner dishes, avoiding butter (mostly) and trying to be a good boy this January. Tonight’s dish is another way to kick-up the sometimes boring chicken breast. Cut it up, marinate it, grill it and pair it with something else delicious. In this case, chicken and [...]
Perhaps one of the best known and popular Greek desserts is Baklava. Greeks have made & enjoyed Baklava for ages and it’s popularity is further evidenced by versions of Baklava appearing in Turkish, Middle-Eastern and Persian cuisines. Baklava is essentially made of layers of phyllo sandwiching a nut and spice mixture in the middle. A [...]
My family comes from the northernmost province of Greece, Macedonia but today’s recipe is from the opposite end of mainland Greece, Laconia. Although Diples are [...]
Anyone living in Canada or anyone who’s visited here or knows a Canadian, will understand why we’re sometimes called “crazy canucks”. From a cooking perspective, throw any bad weather at us and if we want to eat something grilled, we’ll grill it in the worst of weather conditions. I’ll grilled outdoors when it’s pouring rain, [...]
What’s a birthday party without some dessert? One of Greece’s best known sweets/ desserts/snacks/street foods has to be Loukoumades. I knew that offering these sweet [...]
