Selene restaurant, that The New York Times once included on its list of the ten most spectacular in the world, has now turned a new page.

I met Giorgos Hatziyannakis, Selene’s proporietor, in the early ‘90s when we planned the first ever Oldways Mediterranean food conference with Greg Drescher and the late Dun Gifford. It was held in Chalkidiki, Greece’s northern resort, a place of bewildering beauty where verdant surroundings edge into the crystal waters.  But our luxurious, obtrusively large hotel, which was practically in the middle of nowhere, was totally incongruous with the incredible local flora and fauna – fittingly, it has since turned to a casino. Giorgos was an invaluable help to me as I struggled to bring the atmosphere and flavors of the various Greek regions into the concrete, impersonal hotel halls and verandas. Journalists and food writers from the US and other parts of the world who came to taste authentic Greek food still remember Hatziyannakis’s stand where he fried marides — tiny Aegean fish — and served tomatokeftedes – the traditional Santorini tomato fritters — and other meze from the Cycladic islands.

Giorgos Hatziyannakis, Selene’s creator and soul.

The young, creative chef Constantina Faclari cooks with the products of the island.

Pastry chef Thodoris Moisidis, ready to make tomato preserves.

View of the sea and the vineyards from Selene’s terrace.

Another stunning view of the volcanic rocks.

Santorini is always stunning, as you see the volcanic rocks from the sea.

Delicious and small vegetables grow in the volcanic, arid soil of Santorini.

Hard barley rusks used to be an island staple.

Caper leaves flavor the trademark Selene salad.

Capers dried in the sun retain a unique flavor.

Caper berries complement fish and other dishes at Selene.

They used to be peeled in stone hand mills (recreation from the museum).

The yellow split peas grown on the island.

A modern creation: Mashed yellow split peas scented with mastic are served with pickled mackerel.

A private cooking class and tasting at Selene.

Tiny tomatoes, crunchy local cucumber, caper leaves, and spicy island cheese in Selene’s trademark salad.

Gourmet tomato paste is again produced on the island.

Traditional cookies stuffed with honey and walnuts.

Goat’s cheese which ages in wine dredges.

Depiction of an old Santorini kitchen from the museum.

In the museum one can see the basket-like pruning of the vines that protect the grapes from the fierce island winds.

Wine aging in barrels in the museum caves.

  Slide Show: In Santorini, a restaurant brings the past to life

At a time when most upscale Athenian restaurants served bad imitations of French and Italian dishes, Selene dared to experiment in the vernacular with mashed yellow split peas — the Greek fava, a traditional Santorini product. Hatziyannakis insisted that the restaurant’s menu showcase the tiny and densely flavored tomatoes of the island, the bulbous capers and their leaves, hard barley rusks, and sweet white eggplants — all ingredients indigenous to Santorini. He is a pioneer who inspired many younger restaurateurs, and helped promote not just the food but also the wines of Santorini, which are now among the most popular of Greece’s vineyard exports. When, about 15 years ago, The New York Times included Selene in its list of the ten most spectacular restaurants in the world, it was no small accomplishment if you consider that our country has practically no gourmet restaurant tradition. (more…)

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From the very old and robust grape vines that engulf the fence of our property in Kea we gather and stuff tender grape leaves in May for our trademark dolmades. But the dark grapes our vines produce late in August, although sweet, are filled with seeds and difficult to swallow. Plus we hardly ever manage to harvest them when they ripen, since wasps and all kinds of insects attack them as soon as they start to blush. Come harvest time we just find bunches of rotten half-eaten grapes.

See also my piece on how I made my own Sour Grape Condiment.

_{Aglaia Kremezi}

So we decided to cut our grapes green and use them to make condiments, like the medieval verjuice or the old Persian ab-ghooreh and its Middle Eastern variations. The easiest way for us is to crush the grapes in a blender, pass the pulp through a sieve, and either use it immediately or freeze it. This freshly pressed juice is wonderfully tart, and not too sour. I often use it instead of lemon in vinaigrettes and in skordalia, the traditional garlic sauce, as a cook from the Pelion Mountain, in central Greece, suggested to me years ago. (more…)

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To try my tomato recipes, click here for the TOMATO RELISH, here for the TOMATO SALAD BREAD, andhere for the STUFFED TOMATOES WITH FENNEL.

“Tomato is the best cook,” my grandmother used to say. She meant that by simply adding it to any food, tomato had the power to make a simple dish extraordinary. Her belief was shared by many enthusiastic cooks, who at the end of the 19th century adopted the New World vegetable/fruit and made it an essential ingredient of Greek cuisine.

In my previous post about moussaka, I mentioned the early use of tomato in the beginning of the 1900s, and a reader expressed disbelief in his comment: “what about the fact that tomatoes didn’t exist in Greece until around the 1600’s? How far back is enough for a food culture?” I think he meant what happened between 1600, when Columbus brought tomatoes to Europe, and the end of the 19th century—or more accurately the beginning of the 20th, when the use of tomatoes finally spread all over Greece. (more…)

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