Slow-Roasted Pork Belly
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 […]
Mussels Saganaki With Mustard
In the town near to our summer home in Greece, is a “psaro taverna” or seafood tavern that’s been a favourite of our family & friends for years. The taverna’s name is Kapetan Giakoumis and the proprietor is this portly fellow with long curly dark brown hair. Think rolly-polly Diego Maradona. Our summer home is […]
White Giouvetsi With Chicken
Sometimes, less is more with a dish. When quality ingredients are selected, they should be allowed to shine, without sharing the stage (in this case the plate). I’ve been hankering for home-spun dishes of late…is it the cold? That we’re in January and full-on in the Winter Blues or that’s just the “food space” that […]
Good Things Happenin’
Chalk this week and being pretty damn good: I attended a reception at the residence of the Consul General of Greece here in Toronto to meet and have a conversation with the new Greek Ambassador to Canada, His Excellency Eleftherios Angellopoulos. I was delighted to be invited among other Greeks in the city who conduct […]
Roasted Sea Bass With Potatoes & Fennel
I’ve noticed that I’ve been seeing good quality (very fresh) sea bass and sea bream on the iced displays at local fishmongers. Both the sea bream and sea bass are a Mediterranean fish and as I looked on the side of the Styrofoam boxes that contain these fish packed in ice – they are shipped […]
Pork Tigania With Cabbage & Mushrooms
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 […]
Kritsinia (Sesame-Covered Bread Sticks)
When in Greece, you will see Kritsinia in many places/spots as you sight-see, travel through the city or to the countryside. Kritsinia are bread sticks that often covered in sesame seeds or with an array of edible seeds. You may find Kritsinia at one of the many farmer’s markets that set up in neighborhoods in […]
Giouvesti With Keftedes
During the holidays (December) most of us were running at a fast clip with work-related parties, dinners with family and friends and the big dinners around Christmas and New Year’s. December was a month to add some extra cheese, use more butter, creams, that extra-thick steak and ask for seconds of rich dessert. A lot […]
Macedonian Sausages
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 […]
Medley of Thessalonikean Delights
If I were to ask you to list what Greek dishes I kept getting requests or searches on the blog for, Baklava would be included. Baklava may not necessarily have been spawned in Greece but it’s been certainly embraced by Greeks and it appears on menus, offered/made in most (if not all) Greek homes and […]