Traditionally, this sausage stew is spicy but you may certainly tone down the heat to your own liking. Spetsofai has its origins in the Pelion region of Thessaly: it’s a mountainous peninsula that protects Volos on one side and offering views of the nearby Sporades island just off into the Aegean.

The sausages used for Spetzofai are from Pelion but even in Greece these are hard to source so one could/may used their favourite sausage you may have on hand. Just don’t use hot dogs! I used Macedonian sausages which are spicy to begin with and I’ve topped the stew with one long, hot pepper for anyone wanting a little heat for their Spetsofai.

This dish suits colder temps more than in the summer but peppers are in season now, they are sweet and being a fella with parents from Florina – boy do we like our hot peppers.

This dish comes together in no time, the plate will be soon emptied and you’ll to make a second order as you get up to refill the drinks.Turn up the Greek music, pour the wine and let’s talk about life, thank God for good health and the good fortune of being Greek!

Spetsofai (σπετζοφάϊ)

(serves 4)

4 of your favourite sausages
1/4 cup olive oil
4 hot banana peppers
2  bell peppers ( red or yellow), sliced

2 medium onions, slices

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large ripe tomatoes, passed through a box grater

salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp. dry oregano

1. Pre-heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add the sausages (whole) and brown the sausages on all sides then remove with a slotted spoon and reserve.
2. Pierce the peppers a few times all around and add some more oil into the skillet (if needed). Fry the peppers whole until just brown and reserve. Now add the onions, garlic, sliced bell peppers, grated tomatoes and bring up to a boil. Add the sausages and fried peppers back into the skillet along with some salt and pepper and slightly cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until sauce has thickened.
3. Remove cover, add dried Greek oregano and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add olive oil at the end and stir in. Serve on its own with some good crusty bread or on a bed of mashed potatoes or in this case, some creamy polenta.
4. Serve with a Karipidis MerlotCab red from Thessaly.

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© 2011, 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.

Greece saw the fall of the military Junta in 1974 and I used to see uncles abruptly leave for military duty – caused by the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus. Greece also saw a return to democracy with the return of exiled politician Konstantine Karamanlis – the man also responsible for bringing Greece into the European Union. Hold on…the food aspect of this post is coming.

view of Thessaloniki's White Tower from OTE tower in the Fair grounds.

Konstantine Karamanlis was to arrive from Paris to Thessaloniki (Greece’s second largest city) to be be greeted by ecstatic Greeks welcoming him and a new age of hope, prosperity for this country that deserved better. Karamanlis arrived in Thessaloniki to attend the Thessaloniki International Fair (and he was a Macedonian from nearby Serres). My uncle (Theo Mitso) took my mother, myself and relatives jammed into his Opel station wagon and we set out to greet Karamanlis in what I remember as being a parade of sorts with thousands of people lined on either side of the road to see and greet Karamanlis. I remember the pure euphoria of the people as this next great hope for Greece arrived.

Thessaloniki Fair with OTE tower in the background

I also remember attending the Thessaloniki International Fair. It was a combo of amusement park and pavilions set up by visiting countries and companies wishing to increase trade with Greece. Funnily, I remember Chinese men speaking Greek at the China pavilion. I thought it strange that anyone other than Greeks spoke Greek!

As a kid I remember the amusement rides – the usual GO-KARTS, merry-go-rounds and other whirly rides that kids go looopy for. I also remember the food – the inspiration for today’s post and product feature – mustard. In the those days, the Thessaloniki Fair would sell these thin red sausages in a toasted bun with a mild mustard that had a hint of sweetness balanced with mustards tart flavour and it was runnier that what most are used to. I loved this mustard with sausages and during the Fair, Fix Hellas beer brewed/sold a dark beer for the coarse of the Fair.

I later would taste such house made mustards at these small grill shacks that lined Polytechnio Street where Tsimiki ended. Locals would begin eating house made keftedes on parchment that would be served with sliced onions, tomatoes, bread and a basket of bread. Options were a hot pepper, a slab of Feta and your choice of drink…restina or beer.

Again, this runny, sweet and sour mustard would enthrall me. I would squirt some onto my parchment paper, sprinkle some Boukovo and swipe the keftedes or loukaniko (sausage) into this golden condiment. Only few shops in Thessaloniki still make this mustard and when I do discover it – the shop instantly becomes a fave of mine.

This past May when in Greece, I met the folks who run Ergon Greek Food shops and one of their signature products is their Thessaloniki Mustard. The first taste of this mustard took me back to 1974 when I had that slim loukaniko in a toasted bun with that mustard. I found some slim lamb sausages at the butchers and they instantly reminded of the loukanika served at the Thessaloniki Fair.

I paired the sausages with some grilled asparagus as they are in season and go very well with this mustard. I grilled some homemade bread, rubbed some garlic and drizzled olive and sprinkled salt and Greek oregano. Grilled onions also fitted on the plate and an ice-cold beer (or two) rounded out the meal.

Ergon’s Thessaloniki Mustard can be found at their main shop on Gregory Palama in central Thessaloniki (5 Grigoriou Palama, 54622 Thessaloníki, Greece) and at their second location in Sani Resort’s Marina area.

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© 2011, 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.

Pork butt (from the shoulder)

Odds & ends and fat would be used to make Kavourma – a dish of preserved meat that’s marinated, slow cooked then preserved in its own fat to hold for the winter.  Ever used Crisco, buy shortenings from the supermarket? Before those products existed, animal fat was used. Nothing got wasted and although many of these labour-intensive traditions have waned over time, the ritual of sausage making still exists and our family enjoys sausages, making them, giving some way and ultimately eating them.

My parents come from towns in the region of Florina, about a 90 minute drive west of Thessaloniki. This region is colder than much of Greece in the winter yet thet still enjoy hot & dry summers like much of Greece. There are both mountains and farm-worthy valleys in this area and my parents’ area of Amynteo produces excellent red wine, sparkling rose wines with the indigenous Xinomavro grape.

Travel west to both Florina and beyond to Kastoria and one will find Macedonian (Makedonika) sausages (loukanika) in many homes and most tavernas in the area. The Macedonian sausage is a contrast to the southern sausage of Laconia, with its pronounced flavourings of savory and orange peel. Our sausage (Macedonian) is spicy with the use of Boukovo, a dried and slow-roasted hot red pepper that takes on slight smoky flavour from the wood. The Boukovo is ground into what you and I know as chilli flakes and used in cooking.

The second prominent ingredient in Macedonian sausages are leeks…an oft’ used winter ingredient throughout Europe and they seem to lift any dish that includes them. Macedonian sausages…Boukovo (chilli flakes) and leeks. The ingredients in between are seasonings and spices and up to interpretation from family to family, town to town. I’ve rounded out the flavours with garlic, paprika, dried Greek oregano, ground allspice and salt & pepper.

After the sausage filling is mixed, taste-tested before actually being made into sausage, the flavours are allowed to marry overnight and after the sausages are made, a period of air-drying occurs. The sausages would hang outside in the cool, breezy air or an airy cellar or shed. The sausage colour transforms from a grey to a warm brown colour during this drying stage, with the casings developing into a skin.

The sausages are now in their prime, ready to be cooked on a grill, over the fireplace, on your stove-top or in the oven. Have you made sausages before? These are the sausages from my family and you’ll have a taste of northern Greece if you make these.

For those that haven’t made sausages before, you’ll need a meat grinder, a sausage maker, seek out the right cuts of pork and use the correct ratio of lean meat and fat. Every good sausage contains a percentage of fat, these Macedonian sausages contain 25% fat with the remainder being made-up of the “leaner” pork (the butt) and the leeks.

Macedonian Sausages (Μακεδονικα Λουκανικα)

(recipe updated from January 2008)

15 lbs. pork butt, coarse grind
(from pork shoulder)

5lbs. pork fat, ground
5 lbs. of leeks, cleaned, chopped and blanched
1/4 cup black pepper
1/3 cup Boukovo (red chilli flakes)
1/2 coarse sea salt
2 Tbsp. ground allspice
1/4 cup dried oregano
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup sweet paprika
2 little tubs of hog casings

1. Mix all the above ingredients in a large Rubbermaid container and mix well with your hands.
2. Take a handful and fry it off on your stove to taste test. Adjust seasoning. Cover and place the container with sausage filling in a cool place (our garage is as  cold as a fridge). over night to allow the ingredients to marry.
3. The next day, soak the hog casings in warm water for 30 minutes and then rinse. Replenish the cold water and leave them in a bowl of water. Take a hog casing and place it on the nozzle where your sausage mix will come out.
4. Place the sausage mix on the top entry point of the sausage maker and start pumping out sausages (I have an electric sausage maker). Plunge the meat down and with your other hand, ensure the sausage filling is fully filling the casing as the sausages are being formed. Twist the sausages into links of your desired size.
5. Replenish hog casings on the nozzle of the sausage maker as they run out. Repeat until all of your sausage mix has been made into links.
6. Hang your sausages for a 3 to 5 days (until the casings have slightly hardened to a skin) in a cool, dry place like a cellar, garage or if you have a spare fridge.
7. Freeze the sausages in zip lock bags and take and take out and defrost for cooking as desired (grill, fry, bake). They are good for one year (beyond that you’re tempting freezer burn). Serve as a meze or main protein along with an Alpha Estate Xinomavro .

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© 2010, 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.

I really enjoyed this dish as a starter. It fills the eyes, it looks exotic and there’s a lot of colour and flavour going on here. The star of the plate has to be all-Canadian BC (British Columbia) spot prawns. These prawns are in season from May and they can appear in markets for up to t he next 80 days.

They are caught using traps, fished by a highly regulated industry and sustainable. These prawns are valued for their unique markings when live and when cooked, they are sweet and firm.

The co-stae of this dish is Halloumi cheese, a wonderful product from the island of Cyprus that’s also a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). My love of Halloumi is probably only second to Feta. Halloumi is most often made of primarily sheep’s milk cheese, it’s semi-firm, briny and it’s well-known for holding up well to heat – great for pan-frying or grilling.

Fully aware that some of you may not have access to all the Greek ingredients that I have, you may order your Halloumi (shipped only inside the US). Christos Marketplace not only offers Halloumi but three different brands! Why not order one of each and see which one you like best?

The third specialty ingredient in this dish is Mastiha, a resin that leeches from these trees that grow only on the southern part of the island of Chios. Chios Mastisha is another PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) product and it’s considered a spice. This gum is usually bought in tears (looks like yellowish pebbles) or sometimes ground. I buy the Mastiha tears, store in a jar and ground-up as needed. The flavour is quite unique, hard to describe but it’s a must when making Greek Easter bread (Tsoureki), appears in many Greek sweets and as evidenced in today’s dish, it also appears in some savory dishes.

The remaining ingredients are readily available. We have couscous, olive oil, cherry tomatoes, and some chopped fresh basil. You can take this dish in many directions, make it as complex or as simple as you wish: I chose to roast the cherry tomatoes but you may keep them raw (as long as they are very sweet). I pan-fried the prawns and the Halloumi on this occasion but why not grill both the prawns and Halloumi now that the warm grilling season is here?

The couscous is scented with the Mastiha resin. As per usual, bring some seasoned water up to a boil, add the dry couscous and take off the heat and cover. The couscous will have absorbed all the liquid and all that is needed is to fluff the couscous with a fork and add the ground mastiha at that moment. To ground mastiha, place small tear of mastiha in your freezer for about 30 minutes and then remove. Place between cling film and crush with your rolling pin. Open the cling wrap and carefully remove your ground mastiha.

This appetizer/meze is a wonderful first course that’s a great sharing dish. Scoop up some couscous with a prawn and some Halloumi and place on your plate. A bite of the shrimp, a nibble of Halloumi, a burst of basil and warm mouthful of mastiha-scented couscous is how this dish might play. Switch it up, place a forkful of couscous in your mouth, then a cherry tomato and cheese, finish off with a bite of shrimp and some lemon juice.

I think you get the point, it’s a fun dish, lots of flavours going on here, well-matched and a wonderful start to a dinner with family and friends.

Grilled Prawns With Halloumi

(appetizer for 4)

4 medium to large prawns, peeled and de-veined

sea salt & fresh ground pepper

1 small clove of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. hot paprika (or combine sweet paprika with some chill flakes)

12 cherry tomatoes

2-3 slices of Halloumi cheese

all-purpose flour for dredging

1 cup of dry couscous

1 cup of hot water

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. of ground mastiha

Latholemono Dressing for Prawns

4 Tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp. of lemon zest

1 Tbsp. Chopped fresh basil for garnish plus small wedges of lemon

1. Pre-heat a small toaster-style oven to 350F. Add your cherry tomatoes to a small roasting pan and add some olive oil and sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Roast for 20-30 minutes or until the tomatoes have shriveled a bit. Remove from the oven and set aside. At this point, Prepare the dressing by grating the lemon zest into the olive oil and set aside.
2. In the meantime, place some water in a small pot and bring to a boil, add the salt, scallions and the couscous and take off the heat and cover. The couscous will have absorbed all the water after about 5-6 minutes. Remove the lid, add the ground Mastiha and fluff with a fork. Adjust seasoning and set aside (covered to keep warm).
3. Toss your prawns in some olive oil and season with salt, pepper, the minced garlic and hot paprika. Place a skillet on your stove-top and and add a glug of olive oil. Pan-fry your prawns until pink on both sides (1 1/2 mins./side) and reserve.
4. Lightly dredge your slices of Halloumi in some all-purpose flour. In the same pan, add some more olive oil (if needed) over medium-high heat and pan-fry your cheese for about a 1 1/2 mins./side.
5. Place your reserved cherry tomatoes (and juice) and prawns in the still warm pan and gently swirl to just warm them through. Spoon your couscous on your serving plate/platter. Cut each piece of Halloumi diagonally in half (to form two smaller triangles. Place alternating prawn and Halloumi pieces on your bed of couscous and arrange the cherry tomatoes around the plate along with the juices.
6. Spoon the olive oil and lemon zest mixture over the prawns and sprinkle the chopped fresh basil over the entire platter and serve with small wedges/pieces of lemon.
7. Serve with a Papagiannakos Savatiano. This crisp white from Attiki (central Greece) has its citrus flavours and a slight effervescence.

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.

© 2007-2010 Peter Minakis

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Some of your early birds have already begun shopping for gifts. The foodie in you (or your friends) always has room for another good cookbook. Why not make it a Greek cookbook? There are a few cookbooks I will recommend for this holiday season but I would like to once again highlight Michael Psilakis’ “How to Roast a Lamb”. The book combines storytelling by Michael and many, many recipes that were inspired by the Greek food Michael ate as a child.

One of Michael’s more popular dishes are his ricotta dumplings, very much like  Gnudi. His dumplings are often ordered from the Kefi menu and after having made my own batch, I now understand the popularity behind these fluffy pillows of cheese. The book includes his Bon Appetit Recipe of the Year (2006) with sausage, dandelions, sun-dried tomato and pine nuts but I’m going to share my own creation, using Michael’s ricotta dumplings.

Here, I slice some dry Chorizo sausage, fry it up until crispy and throw a party in the skillet with some oyster mushrooms, some shallots, garlic and fresh sage. The other cheese used to make the dumplings is a Graviera from Crete. This cheese is firm and moderately briny. A firm Gruyere would work fine as well.

Sage is a hardy herb that resists a light autumn frost and it survives the cold Canadian winter. I have sage in my garden and I recommend you plant some next Spring as well.

Ricotta Dumplings Recipe

(Approx. 30 ricotta dumplings)

150 gr. of fresh ricotta cheese (place in a strainer/sieve to drain if too wet)

chilled all-purpose flour, as much as needed (approx. 50 gr.)

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 cup grated Graviera cheese (or firm Gruyere)

3/4 tsp. of sea salt

1/2 tsp. of black pepper

all-purpose & semolina flour for the baking sheet

1. If you have a wet ricotta (this recipe requires dry fresh ricotta), place the ricotta in a metal sieve with a pot underneath and strain overnight. This way, you will not need as much flour and therefore you will have light and fluffy dumplings.
2. Liberally dust your working surface with flour. Assemble all your chilled ingredients. In a large metal bowl, combine the ricotta, beaten egg, grated Graviera, salt and pepper.
3. Use a rubber spatula to mix the ingredients well and squeeze down on the ricotta to break it up while mixing. Scatter a small handful of flour around the edges of your wet mixture and again with your spatula, gently bring the flour and part of the wet mixture (scoop, lift and overturn) towards the middle. Once everything is mixed, place another handful of flour on your work surface and transfer your dough.
4. With a light hand, add some flour to the top of your dough and lightly work the flour (pressing)  into the mixture. Keep on adding flour (slowly and lightly) until the mixture holds together and it is no longer tacky (sticky).
5. Cut the dough in half and again in half, leaving you with four equal pieces. Treat your hands with flour and roll the dough into a sausage that is about 3/4 inch thick. Now cut into 1-inch pieces and place on a baking sheet that has a bed of some mixed all-purpose  and semolina flour. Your dumplings will look like small pillows.
6. Chill the dumplings for an hour before cooking.

NOTE: Michael Psilakis’ original recipe is for 90 dumplings. Increase this recipe 3-fold to make a large batch. To freeze, lay out on flour & semolina covered baking sheets and keep them out (uncovered) room temperature for  6 hours before freezing in zip-lock bags. Good for a month.

Ricotta Dumplings With Crispy Chorizo, Mushrooms and Sage

(serves 4)

1/2 a dried Chorizo sausage (or 1/2 cup) thinly sliced

1/4 cup olive oil

4 shallots (or 1/2 cup) finely diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup of Oyster mushrooms, hand torn (or fresh mushrooms of your choice)

1/2 cup dry white wine (I used a Chardonnay)

1 tsp. of fresh thyme

1 Tbsp. of fresh sage, thinly sliced (chiffonade)

1 cup of baby spinach, washed and patted dry

salt and pepper to taste

Shaved Graviera cheese (Romano would also work well)

1. Place a large pot of boiling water on your stove-top over high heat. Bring to a boil and add a good amount of salt. When the water returns to a boil, add your dumplings. If fresh, the dumplings will be cooked when they float to the top (a matter of 3-4 minutes). Frozen dumplings will take a litter longer to cook.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add your mushroom and sliced Chorizo (but no oil). Saute your Chorizo and mushrooms until until they take on a nut-brown colour. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve.
3. In the same skillet, add your olive oil over medium heat and add your shallots and garlic and saute while stirring for about 3-4 minutes. Now add the wine, your fresh thyme, sage and reduce on medium-low until the liquid has reduced to half. Add your Chorizo and mushroom and toss to coat. Season with some salt and pepper and reserve and keep warm.
4. As soon as your dumplings have cooked, use a slotted spoon to scoop and transfer the dumplings to the skillet. Place the skillet over medium heat, add the spinach and toss to coat the dumplings with the sauce and to slightly wilt the spinach.
5. Divide and plate. Drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil, crack some fresh pepper over each serving and finish with shavings of Graviera (or Romano) cheese. Serve with a Chardonnay, like the Babatzim Chardonnay.

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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© 2009, 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.