An Eastern Mediterranean Staple: Ksinohondro, Trahana, and Kishk

Wednesday February 17th, 2021Thursday February 18th, 2021 aglaia Leave a comment

This traditional fermented ‘pasta,’ an ancient staple, is made in the summer with coarsely ground grains – wheat or barley – and milk or yogurt.

Adapted from Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts

Scroll down to find the basic recipe for the traditional soup or porridge.

The two essential ingredients are transformed into a flavorful and nourishing ‘pasta’ for the winter months. Though I can’t prove it, I have a hunch that early agricultural communities, in different parts of the world, thought up methods to combine and preserve grain and dairy; this is why fermented ‘pasta’ comes in distinct regional variations throughout the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean.

I wouldn’t suggest that you make your own ksinohondro and/or kishk if there were good-quality commercial alternatives. In Chania, Crete, women sell wonderful homemade ksinohondro at the weekly farmer’s markets of this beautiful city; but unless you know somebody on the island to buy it for you, this delicious, traditional staple is seldom available elsewhere in Greece. On Lesbos island a similar ‘pasta’ is called ‘trahana’ and is often shaped into cup-like forms. (more…)

PASPALAS: The Rustic Pork Confit of Kea

Wednesday February 17th, 2021Thursday February 18th, 2021 aglaia Leave a comment

Like many foods we grew up with and take for granted, I have somehow overlooked until now the humble fried bits of pork used on Kea as general flavoring for eggs, greens, and any vegetable or bean dish.

Kean women prepare it each winter with leftover scraps of pork and fat, after the traditional slaughtering and butchering of the family pig. In the old days, the bits were heavily salted so that they wouldn’t spoil as they were stored in clay jars to be used much like Maggi cubes –a common European food flavoring– throughout the year. Costas calls paspalas ‘the Kea bacon,’ but unlike bacon it is not smoked and it is already fried when you use it to flavor eggs and other dishes.

Read about Pig Slaughtering on Kea as I had described it at the Atlantic.

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The importance of this rustic flavoring became apparent when I prepared it in the kitchen of Zaytinya—Jose Andres’ Greek and Middle Eastern restaurant, in Washington DC. During my annual January visit, a few years back, we were trying traditional winter dishes from Kea and other Cycladic islands for a pork and xinomavro wine feast, and Chef Michael Costa was immediately taken by paspalas’ intense and versatile flavor. We made several batches, using pieces of locally grown pork that the chef and his sous-chefs butchered in the kitchen. Besides the Kean scrambled eggs–also called ‘paspalas’ –we filled jars with the pork confit for future use. Bonnie Benwick, the former food editor of Washington Post got enamored with it, as well as with the eponymous scrambled eggs from Kea, and made the dish famous in her column!

(more…)

Sykopita: Fig ‘Pie’

Wednesday September 30th, 2020Thursday October 1st, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

Using up the surplus of figs, the over-ripe fruit is mashed and mixed with nuts, spices and liqueur or sweet wine, then shaped as a thin flat cake and dried in the sun, as it was done since antiquity. Now you can dry it in a low oven or in a food dehydrator.

Wrapped in fig leaves and stored in a dry, cool place it keeps well for months; not in our house, though, as it has become Costas’ beloved snack, along our lightly toasted almonds. Traditionally it is cut into small pieces and enjoyed in the winter accompanied by sweet wine and/or paximadia (twice-baked, savory biscotti).

Similar fig ‘pies’ are made in Cyprus, in southern Italy, Spain, Malta, and all around the Mediterranean with variations in the spicing and the various favorite liqueurs.

For a 30 cm (12-inch) about 2.5 cm (1 inch) ‘pie’ (more…)

Fast Preserved Lemon Wedges

Saturday March 7th, 2020Saturday March 7th, 2020 aglaia 2 Comments

These wonderful lemon pieces are complimenting my skordalia (garlic sauce), as well as potato salads, boiled greens (horta), steamed broccoli or cauliflower, and of course poached fish or chicken. I like to julienne the preserved lemon pieces and use in my salad dressings, and to flavor freshly cured olives , and all kinds of bean salads.

For 1 litre (quart) Jar (more…)

Quince Preserves (Kydoni Glyko)

Wednesday October 30th, 2019Saturday May 9th, 2020 aglaia 2 Comments

Quince is one of the most popular Greek spoon sweets. It is served as a dessert topping for yogurt in taverns all around the country. Tourists love it, though unfortunately most restaurants use cheap commercial preserves.

By cooking down the cores and seeds that contain most of the pectin, and adding their rich broth to the sweet, we can make our own quince preserves with less sugar and more fruity flavor and aroma. I prefer to fill small jars—once opened, the contents are difficult to resist. At least with small jars you might pause before breaking the seal, but then again you might not! By adding spices, I turn some of the spoon sweet into an unusual relish (see Variation).

Makes 3 1/2 pints (1.5 L) or 6 one-cup (250 ml) jars (see Note) (more…)