At first glance, choosing a recipe from the 703 pages of Vefa’s Kitchen could seem a bit daunting, so here are a couple of my favourites – just click on the links to get all the details. Finding that Vefa had included a recipe for Marathópites (Cretan Fennel Pies) vindicated my decision to buy yet another…
Tag: mezé
Not Tickled Pink – Another Greek Food Myth – Taramosalata
It seems that a journalist, one Henry Deedes, had likened the Prime Minister’s face colour to being ‘as pink as a pot of taramasalata’ during the former Chancellor’s resignation speech. I’m not going to go into the ins and outs of all the current ‘Cummings and goings’, my main problem with his piece is that…
Dipping into Autumn – Kolokithosaláta and Pantzarosaláta – Two unusual mezé dips.
So that’s it… it’s officially autumn. It seems to have come around really quickly, and I suppose that’s the result of a disappointing summer season in England. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining – but it is that lack of a good blast of bone-searing heat, that makes the onset of autumn…
Friendship and Flowers – Stuffed Courgette Flowers – Anthoús
Yesterday I cooked stuffed courgette flowers – anthóus. Not an easy dish to make in England. It is hard to come by the perfect, golden, courgette blooms – unless you grow your own, or maybe have a tame allotment owner, ready to relieve their prize vegetables of the flowers. The other day, though I…
5th July 2015 – Simple food for complex times…
You will have to excuse me for having been a bit quiet of late. To be honest, I have been uncomfortable prattling on about lovely Greek food when the country is going through such a difficult time. I have really felt that it would be totally frivolous and flippant. I am not going to…
Seeking Perfection – Keftédes
It is probably impossible to find a tavérna in Greece that doesn’t have a serving of keftédes on the menu. Variations of these tasty, little balls are common across the Balkans, the Middle East and parts of Asia. Wether it’s called a kofta in India, küfte in Azerbaijan or köfte in Turkey, the result is…
Another year, another post. Meatballs in kimonos aka Dolmadákia
So that’s it, Christmas is over. You’ve cooked yourself stupid with baking and roasting. You’ve made the vasilópita, melomakárona and kourabiédes, you’ve cooked Christmas dinner, made the celebratory meal for New Year’s Eve and then, after ALL that, you have to start again! This time, on the first day of the New Year, I wanted…
Greek Food Myths No. 1 There’s no such thing as hummus!
As a sort of ‘Reality Check’, I feel I’m duty-bound to de-bunk some ‘Greek food myths’ and the first one is hummus – it’s one that really drives me nuts! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS HUMMUS. OK, I can hear you all running to your fridges and checking that your pot of hummus is…
Chop-Chop ! Athenian fast food – and a finding a new favourite….
There is nothing quite so engaging as stumbling across a new dish – and the possibility of trying out a new recipe. It is, of course, even more surprising when you meet the new in an old familiar place. I have been coming to ‘Telis’s’ for many, many years. To describe this place as…
‘Giant Beans’ – Yígantes
One of the classics in the repertoire of Greek dishes is the gloriously named ‘giant beans’ – or ‘yígantes’. This wonderfully simple dish of oven-baked butter beans is never served as a main course on its own; it is always served as a side dish, or as one of the staples of the mezé selection….
kouzina 