The Vine Grower’s Lamb (Arni tou Ampelourgou)
This dish screams of the many memories that vividly replay in my mind from my vacation in Greece this past summer. I started off in Thessaloniki (northern Greece) and settled in at my parents’ summer home in Halkidiki. Soon after, I embarked on my first foodie-related excursion by traveling a mere 6km to a neighboring […]
Baked Whiting With Potato Gratin
Have you ever tasted the fish whiting before? If not, this dish might nudge you in that direction. Whiting is also known as hake and it’s found in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean. In Greek, we call whiting “bakalarakia” or little cod as they are related to the larger species. The fish is mild-tasting, slightly […]
Grilled Manouri & Roasted Beet Salad
It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged about Manouri cheese and I promise not to allow this lapse of cheese to occur again. Cheeses are an integral part of Greek cuisine: we have Feta for salads or at the table with olives and bread, we have a wide array of firm sheep’s milk cheeses served at […]
Cheese Pies With Yogurt
This past summer while in Greece we had a little thing goin’ on with friends: bring some leftovers to the beach so that we could nosh/have some snacks to keep our growling bellies at bay. You see, Greece is hot in the summer…very hot. Despite late nights spent with family and friends I find myself […]
Psarosoupa Avgolemono
One of the most wonderful dishes one can have in the Greek repertoire of recipes is a fish or seafood soup. There’s Kakavia which is usually tomato based and contains whatever fish and seafood is in season or caught on that day. The best Kakavias contain the Scorpion fish. The other soups are called Psarosoupes […]
Dolmadakia tis Marianna’s
Just a couple of days into my trip to Greece and I began in earnest to meet the first round of folks who are passionate about Greek cuisine and take pride in the products they produce. Technology has it’s good and bad points but when it comes to connecting with new friends, acquaintances and the […]
Cheat Dolmades
Me thinks this blog is overdue for focusing on a side dish. We all make side dishes to go with our mains and in the blogging perspective, the side dish does get short shrift. The title of this dish translated into English is Rice With Grape Vine Leaves, Raisins and Pine Nuts. What I’ve done […]
Octopus Kokkinisto on a Smokey Eggplant Purée
Some know it, many don’t and I now urge you to try the combination of octopus with eggplant. Next time you’re at a Greek taverna and you’re ordering seafood – make sure you have some octopus and eggplant in the mix. Try tasting both the eggplant (say Melitzanosalata) and the eggplant both in your mouth. […]
Chicken With Okra aka Kotopoulo Me Bamies
My 2010 edition of Vacation in Greece is coming to a close. This time tomorrow I will be in transit and on my way back home to Toronto, Canada. As much as I would love to stay here, life goes on (ie. I need to work to afford coming back to Greece each year). This […]
Gavros Baptismenos
For a combo of reasons, the smaller fish of the Mediterranean are the peoples’ preference. Over-fishing of the seas has rendered large fish expensive and reserved for the well-heeled tourist and seafood lover. If you do find a larger fish at an affordable price at the market, chances are it’s farm raised. In Greece and […]