Cherry and Sour Cherry Preserves: Kerasi or Vyssino Glyko

Wednesday July 19th, 2023Wednesday July 19th, 2023 aglaia Leave a comment

This is one of the easiest spoon sweets to make. Traditionally in Greece every July all cooks used to make Vissino (sour cherry) preserves to serve with ice cream or yogurt throughout the year.

Adapted from my book The Foods of the Greek Islands.

The cornerstone of Greek sweets are the preserves made with the fruits of every season.

Each home has several different jars of fruit in the pantry, and guests are offered a teaspoon with a glass of water as a welcome to the house.

I know that fresh sour cherries are not the easiest fruit for most people to get, and their season is so short, so I suggest you make the preserves with perokerasa (Rainier cherries) instead.

Unfortunately, the true color of the Rainier cherries preserves is a quite unattractive murky yellow, so you are better off adding a few drops of red food coloring. Instead, I prefer to boil a red beet with the cherries, a trick I learned from Tunisian cooks.

Makes 3 cups (more…)

Strapatsada: Tomato and Olive Oil Scrambled Eggs

Wednesday March 22nd, 2023Wednesday March 22nd, 2023 aglaia Leave a comment

We called it strapatsada, from the Italian uova strapazzate (scrambled eggs); it was the comfort food my mother cooked for me and my sister on summer evenings. In the winter I often make it with the cherry tomatoes from the greenhouses of southern Crete, which are quite tasty, althout a far cry from summer tomatoes.

Last week I decided to fry the tomatoes, and instead of mixing in the eggs, I nestled them in the pan, and after 2-3 minutes, I moved the pan to a 200 C oven and baked for 5-8 minutes, until the eggwhite was opaque. We enjoyed it enormously with fresh crusty bread.

Plain scrambled eggs are not a common Greek dish, but a huge egg and tomato scramble, as you might find in a Greek diner in America, is still a national institution. Some people add crumbled feta in the pan, but I much prefer to sprinkle it at the end; I enjoy my strapatsada with toasted bread or with olive-oil-fried potato slices, a heavenly combination!

Serve with toasted multi-grain, whole-wheat bread and a green salad, or with roast vegetables I often serve it with toasted bulgur pilaf, but simple sliced potatoes fried in olive oil are still my favorite complement.

See also the Scrambled Eggs with Fava beans which is another somewhat different, yet equally delicious combination.

Menemen, the Turkish version, has diced peppers, both sweet and hot, along with tomatoes and chopped scallions. The Provençale bruillade à l’Arlésienne (scrambled eggs from Arles) has grated zucchini, tomatoes and garlic (see variations). Much like classic scrambled eggs, strapatsada needs to be soft and creamy, not dry or too watery. I use my own tomato confit or add a few sun-dried tomatoes to the pan to get the intense tomato flavor I remember from my childhood.

Serves 2-4 as a main course, 5-6 as part of a meze spread (more…)

Winter Luxuries

Thursday February 9th, 2023Thursday February 9th, 2023 aglaia 4 Comments

The last days of January found me in Athens, with José Andrés, the renowned chef-humanitarian, his wife Tichi, and Zaytinya’s concept chef Michael Costa. We strolled around the city tasting dishes and sipping wines and cocktails at some of the most talked-about restaurants and bars.

We had compiled a list of suggestions, but José surprised me when he chose Birdman, the Japanese-inspired Pub, for his fist afternoon bites and drinks in Athens. I had proposed we try a few cocktails there later in the night, since it was already past four, but this didn’t stop José from ordering most of the truly wonderful seafood and meat bites chef Ari Vezenes cooks on live fire. He loved the chicken liver and heart, even the Iberico Katsu that I was afraid would not meet his high standards…

* * *

Dinner was at Bobena fish tavern in Kesariani, arranged by avgotaraho producer Zafiris Trikalinos, ‘one of the world’s most incredible delicacies,’ according to José who could not stop eating it, especially freshly cured as we had it in various dishes throughout our meals. Fortunately, Tikalinos Avgotaraho is available in the US and ideal for a precious Valentine’s meal.

The taramosalata with avgotaraho was as I remember it from my early childhood when this iconic Lenten meze was prepared with this precious Greek fish roe –before cheap cod-roe from Norway and Iceland became available. We We also had linguine with avgotaraho, and loved the two kinds of home-baked breads, and the delicious sea-urchins from Chanea, Crete. The chef chopped and served us his incredible slow-roasted eggplant salad, and José created his avgotaraho-sprinkled olive-oil-fried eggs, as well as a sweet version of meringue lightly sprinkled with avgotaraho…

Before our visit to the Central Market the next morning, we stopped for coffee at Mokka, the usual coffee spot. Besides the traditional Greek/Turkish coffee prepared on hot sand, Jose tried the cold brew which he loved. And we were surprised when visitors commented that these days Athenian cafés serve some of the best coffee in Europe.

January is a particularly good time for fish in Greece, and José was enchanted to find live karavides (langoustines) sold at a price that to me seemed exorbitant, but apparently it was considerably less than Spain or the US. He bought quite a few, and, at the newly established Hasapika restaurant in the Market, he proceeded to cook them for us full of joy! It is obvious that cooking is his favorite job and he misses it now that he is involved with World Central Kitchen and so many other things that keep him away from the kitchen. He simply boiled the langoustines in ‘water heavily salted similar to the sea,’ then peeled them and offered us sublime bites. He then braised some with olive oil and lemon, and fried eggs in their delicious sauce! For me this was one of the most memorable meals I ever had!

We then had a brief tasting at the humble Diporto, the old tavern José remembered from his previous visit, 20 years ago. Even after those incredible langoustines, the beans, chickpeas and fava still tasted wonderful, José exclaimed, as he was eager to be photographed with Mitsos, the old, tireless cook.

* * *

It was a pleasant, not too cold afternoon, and José and Tichi decided to visit the Parthenon. Then we all met at Pharaoh, the much talked-about new restaurant which has become the young Athenians’ favorite, but it is unfortunately small which makes it particularly hard to get a reservation.

Chef Manolis Papoutsakis’ homey dishes may not have included much avgotaraho, but José loved them, while chef Michael Costa besides the food enjoyed the jazz music, well-chosen by the DJ who plays old vinyl records on the turntable. We enjoyed the chestnuts stifado, with pearl onions and warm spices, a dish from the mountains of Crete, and José loved the humble rice with cabbage and leeks, and the rare monkfish avgolemono with ascolymvrous –the thorn particularly loved in Crete. The slow-cooked zygouri (1-2 year old lamb) risotto was exceptional, as was the lamb, and rabbit. As for the long wine list, it included some new Greek natural wines, along with an eclectic selection of international labels.

José, along with everybody else, were delighted and he immediately posted on his Instagram: “Amazing NEO Taverna, celebrating the traditional dishes of Greece with touches of Crete island in a cool place, with awesome food and unique Greek wines with many indigenous grapes and awesome music.”

* * *

Next morning I took chef Mickael Costa to Stani, the old loukoumades (fried dough-puff) and dairy shop, where my father used to take me and my sister when we were kids. It still makes THE best traditional, crunchy loukoumades in Athens.

On our way back, at a busy sidewalk we came upon a lady selling exquisite wild greens, in neat clean bunches: nettles, vrouves (white mustard shoots), mallow, chicory, sorrel, wild arugula.

* * *

At Ergon Market we tried the freshly-grilled, sourdough Greek pita –very different from the crunchy-airy Zaytinya pita—which was drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with oregano and served with black, squid-ink taramosalata, which looked more impressive than it tasted. The lamb hunkiar, with mashed eggplant, and the shrimp saganaki were more interesting.

Nolan, star chef Sotiris Kontizas’ acclaimed small restaurant combining Japanese and Greek traditions, is always full. We only managed to get an outside table, braving the chill with portable heaters. We enjoyed zucchini and smoked eggplant salad with miso vinaigrette, raw shrimp and tuna in crunchy rice paper, and unusual fried chicken bites, among other dishes.

The last Athenian dinner for José and the team was at Kookoovaya, again lavishly arranged by Zafiris Trikalinos. He brought copious amounts of avgotaraho, which chef Periklis Koskinas served in various starters, mostly pairing it with morsels of raw fish. I particularly loved the sea bream topped with blood orange slices and avgotaraho, but also the less sumptuous paper-thin fried zucchini and his rif on the traditional greens’ pie he simply accompanies with thick yogurt.

Jose had a long discussion with the chef, and obviously would have loved to be able to get his hands on some of the exquisite fish the restaurant uses, but it was late and the kitchen was busy cooking for a large group of people…

Thinking back on my days with José in Athens, I would love to arrange for him to cook along with some of the chefs whose dishes he tasted. I only hope that he will soon return to Athens, which he characterized as a very interesting European food scene. Maybe he would also visit Crete and the north of Greece to sample wines and try his hand with our fish, vegetables, and meat, as it is more than obvious that the great José Andrés is certainly happier in the kitchen, cooking and creating for his friends and customers…

The Festive, Fragrant Olive Oil Bread from Provence

Wednesday December 28th, 2022Wednesday December 28th, 2022 aglaia Leave a comment

It is an old Mediterranean tradition to have several sweets on display during the end of the year holidays. Part of the traditional Christmas table in Provence this delicious olive oil bread is supposed to be torn into pieces with the hands and never cut with a knife.

From mid-December and up until after the New Year we usually keep on the festive table nuts and dried fruit, plus melomakarona and kourabiedes.

BREAD Pompe S

BREAD Pompe cut S

Wikipedia refers also to the Sephardic Jewish tradition to serve various nuts, candied and dried fruits during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Catalans and Armenians share similar traditions. (more…)

Yogurt and Olive Oil Cake with Citrus Fruits and Syrup

Wednesday December 21st, 2022Wednesday December 28th, 2022 aglaia 1 Comment

Light and aromatic, it is the perfect dessert that my mother used to make.

For the New Year I decided to dress it up, sprinkling with diced, caramelized citrus peels and pistachios; I also cut the year’s numbers on tangerine peels that I simmered in syrup before placing on the cake.

See more New Year’s Cake recipes HERE and HERE.

Bake the cake at least a day before you plan to serve it so the flavors have time to develop. Cakes are best the day after!

In our family it was simply called Tou Yiaourtiou (the one with yogurt), to distinguish with another, more elaborate festive dessert my mother and aunts prepared with store-bought lady-finger cookies and a heavy margarine-based cream –butter and heavy cream were not a common ingredient in Greece in my childhood years.

Only recently I realized that this, ubiquitous urban Greek dessert is the Gateau aux Yaourt the simplest French cake, the first one kids bake as the portions are measured in the yogurt pot. Obviously my family, as most other bakers in Athens, got the recipe from Tselementes’ book. He obviously copied the French cake, but substituted margerine (!) for the olive oil, calling it Yiaourtopita (yogurt pie) a name that many bakers use today.

Whenever I have, I use lemons from my garden, or our local tangerines and oranges that are wonderfully aromatic. I suggest you seek organic fruits for this and my other recipes.

See also my Orange, Lemon or Tangerine Olive Oil Cake which I make pulsing the whole citrus fruit, not just zesting it.

For a 9-inch (23 cm) round or square pan

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