Which Greek food comes to mind when you think of Greek cuisine? I began writing, cooking, sharing and photographing this blog to show you that Greeks do eat other foods beyond souvlaki. However, we do still eat souvlaki and I still get excited when I taste a well-made souvlaki when dining out. During my recent [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
One of the most recognized Greek foods has to be the Souvlaki. i.e. cubes of meat skewered and grilled over glowing embers. The most common souvlaki you’ll find in Greek eateries is pork but you’ll also find chicken, lamb and beef versions. The other popular Greek street food has to be the Gyro: slabs of [...]
I’ve been using this marinade with pork shoulder for a few years. Resplendent with the aroma of fennel, rosemary and thyme, citrus and a bottom end of smoked paprika and coarse ground peppercorns. Light garlic flavour, coarse sea salt offering just the right amount of seasoning and the natural pork flavours come out in this [...]
Today’s dish will transport you to a Greek taverna in the mountains. The sea is never more than three hours away in Greece but mountains are everywhere. I have a cousin in Greece, Stefanos and let’s just say he’s another “Kalofaga” or gourmet. Stefano once told me he loves winter! I find this odd coming [...]
As my parents have related to me on many occasions, the family pig would get slaughtered just a few days before Christmas and the ritual of butchering the pig and using everything but the squeal. Chops, loins for the Christmas dinners, pigs feet, ears, tail & head would be kept outside until the Epiphany whereby [...]
If you’ve ever eaten pork steaks then you can relate to my enthusiasm for this cut of pork. A pork steakette is cut from the pork butt, a square piece of meat that’s attached to the shoulder. The pork butt (also known as the Boston butt) comes from the shoulder (not the pig’s rear) and [...]
Last year I was given a review copy of Vefa Alexiadou’s book, “Vefa’s Kitchen” and the recipes in this heavy tome are endless! I could easily do a recipe a day (a la Julie Powell) and probably still have a few recipes to take me halfway into the next year. The recipe I want to [...]
A couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure of visiting the Cypriot Community of Toronto’s Cultural Centre, where they held their annual Summer Festival on their grounds. After straightening out a mix-up (someone thought I was a politico and asked me to sit at a head table), I located some friends, had a seat [...]
