I read that among all Europeans, Greeks and Albanians are the peoples less interested in wild mushrooms.  They are afraid that they will be poisoned and avoid them in general. This has changed in recent years, following French and Italian trends, and there are now organized mushroom foraging weekends in several parts of central and northern Greece. But I have yet to see individuals forage for mushrooms.  There are some exceptions, of course, like our friend Eva Green, a Greek-Australian painter who spends 5-6 months on Kea, and then goes back to Sydney, thus enjoying summer all year round. Eva has a passion for mushrooms and wanders around the mountainous central and eastern parts of the island, under the oak trees, where she once found some wonderful porcini. But, the other year she got some sort of mild –fortunately– mushroom poisoning, and she seems to have lost her enthusiasm…

Tourists visiting the islands in the summer probably think that mushrooms won’t grow in this rocky and arid landscape. But in the winter all over the Cyclades a wealth of wild mushrooms emerge among the wild greens. Even in our garden, under the olive trees, we get a few glystrites (Volvopluteus gloiocephalus) each winter; not a particularly delicious mushroom, but very common in the Cyclades. They are called lardites in Amorgos (lardi means ‘lard’) and islanders used to eat them in the old days dredged in flour and fried, like meatballs; they were often called ‘meat of the poor!’ (more…)

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Variations of this festive pie are baked in many parts of Central Greece, in Epirus and Thrace during Christmas and the New Year. Pork is often used instead of chicken, and leeks, or a combination of onions and leeks make the filling creamy. The lucky coin was hidden inside this savory pie, as in the old, frugal days people could not afford to bake special cakes, like the vassilopita. Each family member gets a piece, starting with the older ones and whoever gets the symbolic coin is rewarded with a gift of money and starts the year with an advantage.

Home-rolled phyllo is essential, but even commercial frozen phyllo works here as the egg and olive oil topping adds the desired flavor and crunch. (more…)

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Dean Martin calls ‘Pasta fasoul’ this southern Italian staple in That’s Amore ; but the hearty, frugal dish it is more commonly known as Pasta e Fagioli. There are various combinations of pasta and beans all around the Mediterranean, but this one is by far the best!

_{photo by Anastasios Mentis}

Of all the different varieties of pasta, I found that orecchietti (“little ears”) –which are the traditional pasta ofPuglia, in Southern Italy—or shell-shaped pasta are best suited for to compliment the faggioli. Somehow, a bean seems to rest inside the curve of each piece of pasta. In Puglia the dish is made with fresh homemade pas orecchietti. (more…)

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The newest version of my everyday bread baked with some wonderful, ancient heirloom whole-wheat flour grown in Thessaly, Central Greece.

I bake our everyday bread with a combination of different flours and I have posted the recipe for my basic Wheat, Semolina and Barley Bread with Spices. Before I feel completely satisfied and decide to write down the recipes for my books I try and try them again; then I feel free to experiment again with other combinations of ingredients. In my everyday life I seldom stick to my published recipes, not even when I cook for a formal meal. I always add or substitute this for that, testing variations of the basic recipes using what I have at hand in the pantry or what I harvest from the garden. This is the traditional frugal way of cooking I learned from my mother and from other home cooks all around the Mediterranean. (more…)

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During the long island feasts, in the wee hours of the morning, as the diners continue to drink, sing, and dance, a tigania is whipped up. It is a tradition that I have found extremely odd when I first encountered it, at a Kean wedding…

In Kea and the other Cycladic islands, during the heart of the winter, when seaside taverns are closed and the cold northern wind vigorously beats the deserted beaches, islanders slaughter their pigs. Pig-slaughtering is still an occasion to gather in this or the other home, eat and drink homemade wine and raki (grappa), while helping divide the meat, make sausages, and prepare the much- valued loza – wine-macerated pork loin which is spiced, inserted into the pork’s large intestine, and smoked for two days. Little trimmings of pork meat are cooked on the spot, or saved for other occasions. They are briefly sautéed in the skillet with wine and sweet spices, to be enjoyed with bread and plenty of wine. The dish is called tigania (tigani is the skillet) and it is served usually as a late night treat, on all sorts of occasions, after the meal and even after the sweets. (more…)

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