Greek yogurt, renowned the world over for its quality, density, and unabashed, delicious sour taste is a product of the country’s pastoral traditions. Up until fairly recently, yogurt production was ruled entirely by farming and seasonal conditions. Sheep and goats provided most of the milk Greeks consumed. Yogurt was always made with sheep’s milk and […]
This is a pan-northern-Greek dish, one of the all time classics and favorites on the Sunday and festive table. In Naoussa, the addition of tomatoes to the dish distinguishes it from other versions around the region. Locals say the best cut for this is pork collar. For 4-6 servings ½ cup olive oil 1 ½ […]
This article first appeared in the L.A. Times. Αthens. The pang for souvlaki comes about once a month. I am usually in the center of town when that indescribable waft—the scent of grilled meat (either pork or lamb), garlic, and oregano, coupled with the smell of warm doughy pita bread—hits me. The Greeks have a […]
Many a newcomer to Greek cuisine will already know one of its classic dishes—spanakopita, or spinach pie. Spanakopita is just one of an endless array of Greek savory pies. Pita—as the Greeks call the general category of pies—is this cuisine’s soul food. It is the dish that home cooks of yore made on both special […]
Every cuisine in the world is the sum of its parts, of its ingredients, in other words, those basic foods and flavor combinations that are the cook’s alphabet for both carrying on traditions and creating new dishes that are both authentic and contemporary. Greece is blessed with a wide gamut of basic ingredients that flourish […]
This colorful Greek cabbage salad is a classic on the winter table.
An unctuous, cloying scent permeates the winding back roads of the Greek countryside during the short, slate-skied days of winter. It’s the smell of years of olive harvesting and processing come to life again as farmers and producers gear up for their busy season. Mills start churning up for the months of work ahead, and […]
Here’s a really unusual, delicious recipe for sweet corn cream that comes from Northern Greece. The dish is adapted from my book, The Country Cooking of Greece. It’s a great example of elegant but rustic Greek cuisine.
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Most people who are familiar with kataifi, the thin-strand pastry, think it is actually shredded wheat or shredded phyllo. In fact, it’s made with a batter that is poured through a tiny-holed spout onto a large, hot, circle griddle that spins slowly, thus creating the vermicell-like effect. From what I know, a few places still […]