Cockles are a type of clam that’s found in the Mediterranean and “it warms my cockles” when my good friend George brings me some from when he goes diving. Had I received more I would have made a simple pasta with white wine, garlic, lemon zest and juice and fresh parsley. I only received a [...]

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, [...]

Spetsofai is a Greek dish made of sausages and peppers. Think of it as a Greek stir-fry, a one pan dish.The first time I tried Spetsofai was in the city of Volos. It’s a dish that’s native to the province of Thessaly, which lies between Macedonia and Attiki. Traditionally, this sausage stew is spicy but [...]

Almost everyone in Greece will have a garden of some degree. Even the apartment dwellers (there are many) will dedicate part of their balcony to some herbs, a tomato plant or some chilli peppers. My grandfather used to collect discarded Feta tins, fill them with soil and place the plants on the rooftop of the [...]

Sometimes I make a recipe that leaves me with some leftover store-bought phyllo and I can usually make some Baklava with the rest or Tyropitakia (cheese-filled phyllo triangles). The other alternative is to take some sheets of phyllo, cut them into triangles and roll some shrimp in them and fry them up! This idea is [...]

Growing up in a Greek household here in Canada (immigrant family), I remember not always having the toys other kids had, didn’t wear the trendy clothes nor did we go to Disney for vacation but (the family) always were clothed, had plenty of toys, things to occupy my time with and we went on vacations [...]

One person’s weed is another person’ dinner. Purslane grows amok in Greece and the other nations that surround the Mediterranean. This succulent can be found growing in gardens, roadside and yes, even at the farmer’s markets. In Greece, purslane is often made into a salad (or a salad component), stewed or simply added as a [...]

One of my favourite condiments is mustard and my affinity has nothing to do with that yellow ballpark stuff most of you are familiar with but it from my first taste of good mustard…in Thessaloniki of all places! My first trip to Greece was in 1974, accompanied by my mother who had not seen her [...]

Just last month I was in Greece and even though I was there for a a mere 12 days, I squeezed in all the activities I could: seeing family and friends, visiting markets, trying out new eateries and…making new friends. One of the new friends I made was Vefa Alexiadou – the Julia Child of [...]

It’s late Spring, we’re almost officially into Summer and the entertaining season is full-on: Saturday evening dinners, backyard BBQ’s on a lazy Sunday or throwing a party outside simply because it’s just too nice to stay indoors. This salad’s main ingredient is canned artichokes but if you’re so inclined to use fresh ones, you’ll make [...]