As always, I stayed at my family’s summer home in Halkidiki (near Thessaloniki) where I swim twice a day, tan until I resemble a gypsy, spend time with my parents, relatives and friends I’ve known since the 80′s! There were the day trips to Thessaloniki, some trips to more exotic beaches in Halkdiki and taverna-hopping at night.

Lefkada

I traveled to the island of Lefkada for the first time – an island that doesn’t require a ferry boat to travel to – just a causeway that connects it to the mainland. Lefkada is an island rife with greenery, olives trees. One side of the island is relatively flat and most of the hotels are located facing mainland Greece and the center of the island is mountainous. A car is needed on Lefkada as most of the island’s popular and beautiful beaches are included on the side of the island facing Italy ( on the Ionian Sea). Some of Greece’s best beaches are on Lefkada and Egremni and Porto Katsiki often get mentioned in “best beaches” lists.

Porto Katsiki, Lefkada

I also attended a Greek wedding (yes it was BIG and FAT) and even reconnected with a former Greek amabassador to Canada who now spends his retirement in a nearby town in Halkidiki. While in Halkidiki I also traveled to the third peninsula to explore and taste the underappreciated Mount Athos area. Most of the third peninsula is enclosed by a border and home to several Greek-Orthodox monasteries. One can only travel to Ouranoupoli and from there one must enter only if carrying a visa (pre-arranged) into Agio Oros…the name for the entire territory governed by monks and clergy. Sorry, no women are allowed on Agio Oros but crusies are available from Ouranoupoli that tour along the coast.

My weekend in the Athos area was spent in Arnaia with it’s well-preserved old architecture, a couple of wineries, a Feta cheese facility, the tiny islet of Amouliani and to visit a lady who “opens” her own phyllo and made two delicious phyllo pies right before our eyes!

I also wanted to visit Constantinople (Istanbul) once again this year but days were running out and schedules with my travel partner and friend made this an impossibility this year (there’s always next year). Instead, I took the advice of friends to head towards the Greek/Turkish border to visit the city of Xanthi. I went during the city’s Old City Festival to revel with others in this picturesque old town with both Greeks and Muslim minority living side by side peacefully. Xanthi is known for its extraordinary desserts and exotic dishes with a near-east flare. Xanthi’s “pazari” is Greece’s largest and I was fortunate to shop there on the Saturday morning I was there.

Upon my return to our summer home in Halkidiki (where our Greek home is) I was hoping for some milder daytime temps to arrive but not to be so. This September was one of the hottest I remember with the thermometer hitting 36C – more beach action! September is a wonderful month to visit Greece and airfares have dropped, the summer crowds have left and the days are sill hot for a pleasant swim in the sea followed by comfortable warm evenings taking a stroll and dining outdoors at a taverna.

I spent some days (and nights) exploring more of my favourite city in Greece – Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki iss Greece’s 2nd largest city and Greek’s often call it the “co-capital” alongside Athens. Thessaloniki’s history sees many people come and go: Turks, Romans, Byzantines, Slavs. The city was also home to a significant Jewish population and one can even visit a museum dedicated to this important facet of Thessaloniiki.

White Tower, Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki is one Europe’s oldest cities and it’s also considered one of the earliest examples of a multicultural city. Today, the majority of Thessaloniki’s population in Greek but the population is made up of natives of the province of Macedonia, Vlachs, Asian Minor Greeks forced to leave Turkey in a series of population exchanges and Pontian Greeks who (not to be confused with Asia Minor Greeks) came back to resettle in Greece after many generations of living around the Black Sea.

The Pontian Greeks have their own dialect, they are a tight-knit community and they have there very own unique cuisine. Pontian Greeks can be found in Athens as well but the majority live in Thessaloniki and towns in Macedonia and Thrace. Some Greek towns and villages were born with the influx of Pontian Greeks who came to resettle on the Greek mainland.

Back in Xanthi, my friend (and chef) Stella Spanou was kind enough to show around the area and on one afternoon I spent at a “Ksenona” or rural hostel just outside of Xanthi. Situated in an old abandoned Turkish village was this family-run type of “bed & breakfast” by a family of Pontian roots. Stella and Eleni prepared dinner, we ate and drank and delightfully (first time in awhile) did not speak of or discuss the Greek economy. We spoke about the wine harvest that I just witness, the region of Xanthi and the delicious food before us. Two of Eleni’s brothers took turns playing the Pontiako Lyra (a kind of viol) played upright and help between one’s thighs after our meal. It was a moving moment with their father keeping rhythm by clapping and everyone reflecting on how wonderful a day we just had.

View from rural hostel near Xanthi

One of the dishes at the table was of Pontian origin and I’m going to share that dish with you in the coming days but in the meantime, I thought to share another Pontian dish, a sweet one that embodies my sweet Greek vacation and all the memories of the wonderful food enjoyed with old friends and new. We’re now into Autumn and many of this summer’s fruits are a memory and we await for the long winter to pass and another cycle of Spring and Summer will warm our souls and fill us with more memories.

The Pontians have a dish called Hosafi which is a compote made of mixed dried fruit and often some nuts are included in the mix. The ladies of the household with gather fruit as they came into season and dried them for consumption in the winter. Turning dried fruits into a compote is simple genius born out of necessity and ideal as a Lent-friend dessert. I couldn’t think of a more ideal recipe to offer than one with fruits preserved from the warm months and used to tide us through the winter. A compote is usually made with fresh, ripe fruit and preserved in a syrup but here, the main ingredients are dried fruit.

The dried fruits are re-hydrated in warm water then simmered in a simple syrup of water and sugar and spices of your choice. I decided to go with star anise, reminiscent of a compote I ate earlier in my vacation while on Lefkada. This is a really easy recipe using dried figs, apricots, prunes, raisins and almonds. There’s water, there’s sugar and star anise and what the heck…some Greek honey to add some richness to the syrup.

Hosafi is wonderful served on some strained Greek yogurt or ice cream or simply on its own. I make a small batch as we’re using dried fruits which are available all year ’round – no need to make large batches here. Make a batch, store in a container and keep in your fridge.

Hosafi (Χοσάφι)  – Compote of Dried Fruit

(makes enough to fill 2 large jars)

1/2 cup of dried apricots

1/2 cup dried figs

1/4 cup sultana raisins

1/4 cup dark raisins

1/2 cup pitted prunes

1/2 cup almonds

water

approx. 1 cup sugar

3-4 whole star anise

1/4 cup Greek honey

1. Place all the dried fruit in a bowl and cover with hot water. Place a cover on the bowl and allow the fruit to rehydrate for about an hour. Pour the water and dried fruit into a medium-sized pot and if need be, add more water ( to cover by an inch). Add the sugar and star anise and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Once almost aboil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for an hour. Add the honey, stir in and take off the heat and allow to cool. You maty add the almonds while the compote is still warm.
3. Pour the compote into a jar/glass container and keep in your fridge for up to 3 months. Serve on some strained Greek yogurt or ice cream.

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The first time I ate a fig (beyond a Fig Newton) was during my first trip to Greece back in 1974. Back then my relatives lived in Thessaloniki and they had no fig trees on their property. Fast-forward 6 years and the same relatives owned property here in Halkidiki – fig trees are everywhere and probably as common as the maple tree here in Canada.

Figs can be found at farmer’s markets, supermarkets and even better…free and up for grabs dangling from one of the thousands of trees that grow throughout Greece. A ripe fig is soft to the touch, the skin peels off easily and some figs (the royal’s skin) is so thin that you may certainly eat in whole. A ripe fig is undoubtedly sweet, almost to the point of being like a jam. This is the way figs should taste and I refuse to pay or eat one of those figs that arrives at the market back in Toronto after traveling for two weeks on a truck from California.

If you live in a part of the world where figs grow then you ca relate to what I’m talking about. For the rest, booking a trip to Greece or another country that grows figs is worth the price of the ticket alone. You’ve never tasted a fig until you’ve picked a ripe one off a tree. Here in Greece, most figs are ripe by mid-August ( there are some fig trees that bear ripe fruit in June as well) but the figs this year were delayed by a week or so. The delay of figs ripening combined with many Greeks heading back into the city after August 15th left us here in Kallikratia (Halkidiki) with a glut of figs. Figs everywhere…gorge yourself on figs!

I usually eat figs as they are  – ripe and picked off the tree but a yogurt parfait is also delish and now I’m in love with this fig jam that comes by way of our family friend Haryklia. Again, you’re going to need ripe figs, sugar, water, lemon, a bit of vanilla extract and the kicker in this recipe? Fresh basil! Yes, fresh basil is what gives this particular fig jam the pep, that somethin’-somethin’ that will have family and friends guessing what else is in the fig jam. Once again, the philosophy of “what grows together goes together in cooking” remains true. A new ritual of also making fig jam every August has just begun.

Fig Jam (Μαρμελάδα σύκο

(makes 3 large jars)

65-70 ripe medium/large figs

2-2 cups granulated sugar (depends how sweet you like it or how sweet your figs are)

1 cup water

splash of vanilla extract

1 branch of fresh basil

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Rinse your figs and snip off stems then cut in half. Place in a pot with sugar, water and vanilla and bring to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes then allow to cool completely (takes about 4 hours). Mash the figs to your desired consistency (I liked some chunks of fig in my jam).
2. Return the pot to the stovetop over low heat and add the basil and reduce to medium and simmer for another 4 minutes.
3. Add the lemon zest (plus lemon juice if you like) and simmer until desired consistency achieved. Remove basil leaves and allow to cool completely. Jarring the jam is easy and one must remember to keep everything clean throughout the process.

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Or I could be out front of our summer home, entertaining family & friends…it could be an offer of fruits, a coffee with a sweet or an appetizer with some Ouzo or Tsipouro (a homebrew similar to Ouzo usually with anise).

One of the many foods I look forward to when in Greece is the fresh fish and seafood. I’m still amazed and pleased that the fish or seafood that’s on my plate was just hours ago still swimming in the sea – awesome!

Besides sardines, the other beloved fish of the Greeks is the anchovy. When I speak of the anchovy the Greeks eat, it’s fresh and it’s usually fried or baked in the oven with tomatoes, olive oil, aromatics.

Another very popular and easy application for anchovies is to pickle them. Our ancestors pickled, jarred, salted, dried, brined foods as a means of survival.

The pickling of fish likely began as a means of using up every last fish caught in the day’s catch. Nothing was thrown out and to this day (thankfully) the same maxim applies.

This dish of marinated anchovies is offered as a meze (appetizer) before a lunch or in the early evening, like after my second swim. In Greece, dinner is eaten later in the evening and an early-evening meze like pickled anchovies bridges that gap.

In Greece, fresh anchovies are sold by the kilo and last year I was buying them from 3.50 to 5 Euros/kg…that’s cheap!

There are many takes on marinating/curing/pickling anchovies but I like this one best. Day one sees the anchovies curing in coarse salt and in day two, they get a bathed in wine vinegar.

By day three, the anchovies have turned white – cured and cooked by the salt and acid in the vinegar.

Pickled anchovies can be served alone on a plate or adorned with some aromatics and vegetables to accompany these delicious morsels of the sea.

Pickled Anchovies (Γαύρος μαριναρισμένος)

(makes 8-10 meze servings)

1kg. of fresh anchovies

course Sea Salt

wine vinegar

4 garlic cloves, cut into very thin slivers

olive oil

1. Gut the anchovies and remove the heads by pinching the head with your thumb and forefinger and then pull-off. The guts should come away with it. Snip the tails off and wash the fish thoroughly.
2. Place the fish in layers in a glass (or plastic container), salting between each layer. Cover and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
3. The next day, thoroughly rinse the anchovies and now gently open the anchovy (like a butterfly) and pull out the spine and discard.
4. Lay the anchovies back in the container (skin-side down) and pour in enough wine vinegar to cover. Leave the fish to cure over night or until the flesh has turned white from the vinegar.
5. Put the fish in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. If the fish still taste very salty for your tastes, let them sit in a bowl of water for an hour.
6. Place the fish back in the container in neat lay­ers with garlic slices between layers. Pour in enough olive oil to cover. Pickled anchovies are good in the fridge for up to one month.
7. Serve as a meze with some chillis/hot pepper slices, some chopped fresh parsley, red onion, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Don’t forget the Ouzo or Tsipouro!

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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Most of you are familiar with prosciutto but I urge to look for and try a few slices of Iberian ham. It’s flavour can be described as buttery, a slight tang to the taste and a warm, brown finish as it melts in your mouth.

Iberian ham is best served when brought to room temperature and little accoutrement is needed with this fine product.

Here, I cut up some small logs of Greek Manouri cheese, wrapped the ham around it, added some greens for colour and contrast and served this with a pickled cherry pepper from our family’s cellar.

No olive oil is needed here (as the ham is quite oily) but I dressed this appetizer with some lemon zest and freshly cracked black pepper. Don’t forget that in the background stands oneof my mom’s homemade and delicious bread rolls.

Nuria, thank you so much for your generosity, your warm friendship and always delicious food on your blog. I urge all of you to pay a visit to Nuria’s site, tell her “Peter sent ya” and only visit her site on a full stomach, otherwise you’ll be instantly hungry.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.blogspot.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author. © 2007-2009 Peter Minakis

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Next, a little follow up. Some people have been wondering about Petimezi, which I used in a glaze for my grilled quail.

Petimezi is made from the Must of grapes, during the harvest period. It can be found in a jar in better Greek markets, it’s known as Saba with the Italians and one can often find or ask for “grape syrup” at a middle eastern market. All are one and the same.

Many of you read my blog as you love and enjoy Greek food. You also know that Greeks cook alot using grape vine leaves.

Many of us will go to a market and easily purchase a jar of these tender leaves which are packed in a brined solution. Some are fortunate enough to be able to have a local source of fresh grape vine leaves, which are used to make a Greek fave, Dolmades

There are two paths one can take to preserving fresh grape vine leaves: one is to freeze them and the other is to jar your own. For those that prefer to freeze them, Lulu at Mama’s Taverna has a wonderful, easy method to which you can follow.

My “mama” likes to jar her own. It’s been years since we’ve jarred our own grape vine leaves, due in large part to fear of harvesting grape vine leaves that might have been sprayed with pesticides.

One of the few positive initiatives of Mayor David Miller has been to ban the use of pesticides in the city. Rejoice…fresh grape vine leaves are back!

I’ve featured Dolmades on my blog and you can have a peek here or if that won’t convince you, take a look at my friends’ who loved my mom’s recipe…it’s a keeper.

Pixie’s Dolmades

White On Rice Couple’s Dolmades

Closest Cooking Kevin’s Dolmades

Jenn, the Leftover Queen’s Dolmades

Now let’s jar our own fresh grape vine leaves.

The best time to pick these leaves are in the Spring. You want to pick large leaves (easier to roll dolmades) and the leaves will still be tender.

If you’re having a peek at the recipe, you’ll see what appears to be a large amount of grape leaves but no worries. For anyone that’s bought jarred grape leaves from the store, you’ll know that there’s always some ripped and torn leaves in the jar. The home made ones are no different, there’s some wastage.

Jarring Fresh Grape Vine Leaves

6 medium Sterilized Mason jars
approx 360 fresh grape vine leaves, stems snipped
1 cup pickling salt
12 cups of water
1 egg

1. Wash and pat dry your grape vine leaves and then divide them into piles of 20. Roll each pile like a cigar or multi-leaved dolma and place three rolls into each jar.
2. In a large pot, add your water and pickling salt and bring to a boil. In order to test if your brine solution is salty enough, carefully drop an egg into the brine. If the egg floats, then your brine ratio is suffice.
3. Take your brine off the heat and carefully pour the solution into each jar, enough to cover your grape vine leaves. When you’re done filling up all the jars, pour more brine into any jars that have absorbed the liquid.
4. By this time, you will have noticed that the brine has changed the colour of your leaves from a vibrant green to olive hue. It’s perfectly normal.
5. Using a tea towel, place the lids on each of the jars and tighten. A seal should form for each jar.
6. Store in your cellar for up to one year.

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© 2008, 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.