Grilled Lobster
So the first week of Greek Lent is behind us and it really wasn’t that hard adjusting from my regular diet to one without meat or any meat by-products in it. Each year I’ve been steering my diet towards one with more fish and seafood, beans and legumes and less meat. I don’t think I […]
Olive Oil Harvest at Kalikori
One of these days, I’m going to go to Greece when the olive harvest takes place in autumn. Olives can be found all over Greece and as if taunting me, I pass by the idle olive oil cooperative in the town where our summer home in Halkidiki is. All over Greece, farmers and families with […]
Lamb Souvlaki
Last Thursday was Tsiknopempti in Greece (and anywhere in the world where Greeks celebrated the most popular meat-grilling day of Greek Carnival). I had three options: stay home and simply make a meat dish using my oven’s broiler or a grill pan. Option 2 was to head down to Toronto’s Greektown (the Danforth) and be […]
Maiden Trip to Sparta
One of the stops I made during last year’s vacation in Greece was to the southernmost Prefecture of Greece, Laconia. The capital of Laconia is Sparti (Sparta) which you all are pretty familiar with by now. My journey to Sparta began way before even setting foot on this region of Greece. Last Spring, I was […]
Cod in a Mussel Broth
This dish is the creation of Greek chef Sotiris Evangelou. Chef Sotiris is currently in charge of the kitchens of the swank King George hotel in Athens. He was inspired by the cuisine of Thessaloniki, with its diverse, vibrant culinary scene. Thessaloniki has seen many different peoples enter it’s old city walls through time and […]
Pork With Leeks & Celery
The traditional Greek diet wasn’t so meat-centered as it is today but meat always was part of the diet. My parents (both from the the northern Prefecture of Florina) recall when the family pig was slaughtered. Nothing went to waste. The whole pig was used from snout to tail to hoof…everything but the pig’s squeal. […]
Sea Bass Baked in Coarse Sea Salt
Recipe update from Feb,01, 2008 This dish isn’t unique to just Greek cuisine. I’ve seen fish baked in coarse sea salt in many countries that hug the Mediterranean basin. Everyone’s in on baking whole fish in a salt crust: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece. If I haven’t noted your country, do you folks also […]
Shrimp & Pasta of St. Nicholas
Do you want the recipe for five or for one hundred?? I knew you would say five. A couple of weeks ago, my mother was asked by her friends in the lady’s auxiliary (Philoptichos) of our parish, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, for a pasta recipe to feed one hundred on the eve of St. […]
Slow-Roasted Goat With Scalloped Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts
I made this dish last Sunday and if it weren’t for the fact that I’m making Prime Rib today, I’d probably be having this entire meal again. One of the best things about Sunday dinner is that you have lots of time. There’s no real pressure, you can leisurely cook, open a bottle of wine […]
Semolina Crusted Pandora With Capers and Kalamata Olives
Living here in Canada and trying to cook Greek food can sometimes be a challenge. Although I can boast about living in a wonderful and diverse food city like Toronto, not all ingredients are available here for Greek cuisine. The most glaring void would have to be fresh fish from the Mediterranean. Often, I must […]