This Froutalia Omelet is surely one of the great regional Greek egg dishes, and a specialty of Andros and Tinos. Basically, it is a thick, slowly-cooked (stovetop) omelet filled with potatoes and local sausage.
These deliciously sweet, totally vegan stuffed eggplants are a riff on a classic dish, Imam Bayldi, eggplants stuffed with onions and tomatoes. It’s one of the great ladera (olive-oil-based) dishes of Greece, and one of my favorite stuffed vegetable dishes. If you have access to a wood-fired oven, try baking it in there, which is […]
Soutzoukakia (pl.) are a dish that came to Greek via the Greek refugees from Asia Minor in 1922. These delectable ground meat little cylinders are always flavored with cumin and cooked din a rich, thick tomato sauce. Rice and bulgur make great side dishes with soutzoukakia. In northern Greece, soutzoukakia sometimes refer to a cylindrical […]
Traditional pita kaisarias is a seductive combination of spicy pasturma, a cured beef seasoned with fenugreek and other spices, tomatoes and mild kasseri cheese all wrapped between flaky layers of buttery phyllo. I’ve made a quick version of this delicious meze, using prepared phyllo cups and the same filling. It’s a great party dish or […]
This Greek-American hybrid is an easy cheesecake to make. The faintly bitter, earthy flavor of the mastiha, adds an exotic dimension. You can try using crumbled Greek melomakarona cookies, available in Greek stores or online, as a base, too.
In the northern parts of Greece, all sorts of meats, from chicken to savory meatballs to lamb and goat, are cooked in sauces based on the local, delicious, thick, strained sheep’s milk yogurt. This dish comes from the traditional cooking of the Vlachs, a once itinerant shepherd tribe, and is sometimes called vlachiko. I have […]
The tangle of zucchini that overflows in Greek summer gardens means that all over the country the number of regional recipes is mind-boggling. Savory pies filled with zucchini are just one category of dishes that call for this summer creeper! There are literally dozens of savory pies filled with zucchini, all slightly varied from place […]
Chicken soup, Greek penicillin (!), is one of the most delicious winter dishes. Most people know it in its restaurant interpretation, as chicken soup avgolemono, with rice and the classic egg-lemon liaison. This old recipe, from northern Greece, calls for trahana, a delicious, sour grain product that is one of the oldest agricultural products in […]
The fig and the olive are a relatively new match for two of the oldest Mediterranean foods. Mastiha (mastic) infuses the stuffing as it bakes and adds one more undertone to this rich, flavorful, but simple chicken dish.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Greek cuisine is the continuity of use of so many ingredients from prehistoric times to the present. Among the oldest ingredients still revered today are honey, olive oil, herbs, and native pulses, first among which is the humble lentil. Honey, together with spices and herbs, was often used […]