Mushrooms are always an elegant addition to the table, no matter the occasion. This makes a great side dish to festive and everyday main courses. You could even serve them over Greek fava, for something extra special.
Everyone loves baklava but it’s not something a lot of people may want to attempt at home for fear of working with phyllo. In this version, the nut filling is the same, there’s no syrup, and the puff pastry roll up is very easy. I’ve take a few liberties by adding chocolate and heat!
Drunken chestnuts have long been a specialty around Christmas time in Italy, mainly Tuscany. In Greece, blessed with thousands of chestnut trees, this dessert is definitely borrowed. Instead of red wine, I use raki or ouzo. The anise flavor of the beverage pairs beautifully with the chestnuts’ earthy sweetness.
Sofrito is one of the most traditional dishes from Corfu. Its name, from the Italian fritto, for fried, is characteristic of many of the local recipes on Corfu and elsewhere in the Ionian, where the Venetians ruled for centuries and left an indelible stamp on the cuisine. This is a wonderful festive dish, perfect for […]
Like most of us, I can’t remember the first time I tasted chocolate, but I have plenty of fond recollections of teenage indulgences, calorie-oblivious and urgent, right down to the Oreos and Entenmann’s chocolate pound cake I used to like to tamp down into water glasses then douse with milk. The ensuing sludge was very appealing to my 1970s palate, honed as it were on the munchies.
Perhaps no other combination of meat and vegetable best represents the cooking of northern Greece more than the duet of leeks and pork, which appears in pies, sausages, ground meat dishes, and main courses alike. Here is a classic meze called tigania, because it’s typically made in a tigani, or skillet. The dish can easily […]
One of the great strengths of Greek island cooking is its wealth of unusual vegetable dishes. Even banal winter vegetables such as cauliflower and potatoes are turned into tasty meals with the help of great olive oil and local tomatoes. To find some of the artisinal Greek products you’ll need to make this, visit my […]
Duck, papia in Greek, is a special treat usually reserved for holidays or hunters. This simple Xinomavro Duck recipe marries one of the world’s richest meats with a tannic Greek red wine, Xinomavro, typically from Naoussa and other areas in Northern Greece. The wine is a beautiful counterbalance to the richness of the duck. I’d […]
This wonderful eggplant dish is the regional version of a classic. This rendition comes from Lesvos. It’s one of the heartiest and most filling vegetarian dishes in the whole Greek repertoire. To find some of the artisinal Greek products you’ll need to make this, visit my online shop here, where you’ll discover a host of […]
The most beloved manifestation of carbs in Greece is without a boubt bread: Beautiful, plush breads, dense breads, decorative breads, whole-grain breads and festive breads abound everywhere.