By the 7th century b.C. Rhodes was a noteworthy producer and trader of wines. The island’s wines reached every part of the ancient world, so important an export they were. Broken amphorae with the Rhodian indication of origin have been found in many disparate parts of the Mediterranean. Even under the Ottomans, as trade from […]
The Meze platter should offer a variety of foods, textures, colors, and flavors for people to nibble on as they enjoy wine or ouzo and the company of friends. As a general rule, ouzo and tsipouro go best with seafood meze platters, while wines are a better match for cured meats and cheeses. Vegetables meze […]
Trahana, an ancient grain product that is made with flour or bulgur and milk, buttermilk, or sometimes vegetable pulp, is one of the oldest foods in the Eastern Mediterranean. I like to call it the world’s first instant soup or first fast food. Its rich, complex, milky flavor is a revelation. To find trahana go […]
When the mercury dips below a certain number and I dust off my heavy winter jacket (at last) I know it’s time for soup. Soup is an underrated food category in the cuisine that gave the world brilliant tomato-feta salad, crackling roasted lamb, and succulent grilled fish enlivened with lemon. Our sunny, warm clime has […]
Although greens and lentils both play a major role in the Greek vegetarian diet, the combination of the two is unusual in Greece. This is a thick and hearty soup, perfect for a cold winter’s day. Try stirring a little Kalamata olive paste or Greek balsamic into the soup to add depth of flavor. You […]
The scene was as incongruous as it was endearing: One fine spring day just as we were walking along the outskirts of the old city of Rhodes, a Chinese bride and groom Chinese– dressed in full nuptial regalia and with an entourage of friends and family, were having their pictures taken. In the distance along […]
This article first appeared in the L.A. Times in March, 2003. Seduced by Souvlaki Diane Kochilas 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 […]
It’s the shape that sets these lovely pies apart: filled with cheese and coiled, Cretan cooks nicknamed them sarikopita after sariki, the word for turban in Turkish. Petimezi is essentially reduced, clarified grape must. You can find it in Greek and Middle Eastern food shops all over the world. It is, in fact, one of […]
The Cretan Diet has become synonymous with the Mediterranean Diet, which has gained so much attention as one of the world’s most healthful. Crete was one of the original places observed in the now famous, and still ongoing, Seven-Countries Study begun by Dr. Ancel Keys in the late 1950s to document the rate of heart […]
Greece is fortunate to have one of the best climates in the world, one in which ample sunshine helps produce some of the tastiest fruits and vegetables. Because raw ingredients—from garden to grove to field to sea—are delicious in their own right in Greece, Greek cooking has evolved in such a way so that there […]