The Greek Food

A Blog about Greek Food and Greece

  • For the Greek grandmothers

    For the Greek grandmothers

    Greek GrandMothers

    You know looking about the fame of the Greek food around the world there is always a conversation regarding the Greek mothers and how they like to cook enormous amount of food for their sons, daughters or in general who ever makes the mistake to come to their house for lunch, dinner or just drink coffee. You are to a point where you cannot eat anymore and are begging for mercy while you are watching the Greek Mother to continue bringing more and more food out of her kitchen.

    Despite that no one ever gets to think about that there is something even far greater and more dangerous (in terms of amount of food that she can deliver) than the Greek Mother… The Greek Grand Mother!

    So you see, whenever I spend holidays in Greece I always try to visit my grandparents one day for a coffee. They are leaving in a nice house outside Athens near Rafina which makes it a nice small trip especially during summer.  Despite that, I never do make the mistake to go for lunch as I know that I need to spend the next few days trying to digest the food.

    Never? Well, I did go this time for lunch…

    Me, my brother and one good friend decided to go to my grandparents’ house and check how my grandfather was and whether my grandmother still had the skills to cook enormous amounts of food in few minutes.

    They are not called grandmothers for nothing…  They are the ones that taught the Greek mothers how to cook so definitely they have enormous amounts of food stored everywhere for those moments when there grandchildren are coming.

    I will not come to special details about the cooking procedures but I was extremely surprised about the speed and the way that she managed to cook a whole baking pan of chicken thighs, pork chops, greek salad, some ntolmadakia, saganaki shrimps and some other things that she had already stored in her magic cellar somewhere around the house.

    Greek grandmother cooking

    Obviously, everything was followed by fruits, and ice cream and a little disappointment in her face that we didn’t managed to eat all the three tons of food that she managed to prepare in just under an hour… as my brother fall asleep for 1-2 hours trying to digest the food.

    I just wanted to make that blog in order to remind you this. Every time you are in Greece and you see to a small old lady in the corner (usually in black) sitting, make no mistake, she has the abilities to prepare food for a whole army faster than Usain Bolt can run the 100 meters…

    Love

    GrandSon 🙂

  • Cabbage and leek rice

    Cabbage and leek rice

    You know there are some things that are not in the cooking books and there are not in any encyclopaedia for Greek cuisine. There are things that just come up from real life and are…just there!

    When I was young one of the many foods that I hated was the so called, Lachanoprassoryzo! Ok I know you don’t understand what it is but it means, Cabbage and leek rice. Why did I hated it? Cause it had only vegetables inside and that’s something that no child can ever take!

    Despite all that, when you get older, things changes and you want more vegetables into your diet in order not to feel bad about the excessive alcohol that you consumed the previous night… So the previous weekend I remembered about this recipe and in fact I found details in some papers with recipes that my mother wrote for me when I first came in to UK.

    However, here is  the thing, when I checked around in the net to make sure that my mother has written the recipe correctly , I never found a similar recipe!. It was either cabbage rice or leek rice the typical greek recipe. I was angry! So I asked my mother to explain herself!  I couldn’t believe that all those years I was brought up with a recipe that it wasn’t cooked as thousands and thousands of years before!!! Surely there had to be a reason!

    According to her , the traditional recipe is either cabbage rice or leek rice but once my father had the idea to “marry” all of the ingredients into one dish and she how it will come up adding also carrots.

    To be honest I am sure my father heard that story somewhere else also, but it was a good story to tell , I think 🙂

     CABBAGE AND LEEK RICE (LACHANO PRASSO RIZO)

    • 1 medium but beautifull cabbage sliced
    • 3-4 leeks cut in rounds
    • 2 (sweet) little carrots cut in small rounds
    • 1 cup of -extremely- white rice (more or less for 2 people)
    • A small -cute- bunch of parsley, chopped
    • Salt and pepper
    • A teaspoon of olive oil
    • (red hot) Chili peppers (not necessary, if we want)
    • The juice from half a lemon

    Update 5/12/2013

    My brother complain recently that the recipe wasn’t clear enough. So he couldn’t how to make the food now that he lives 2 blocks away from in London. I guess he was right but i will not tell him that. I think i was more caught in the history of this dish rather than how to make it. So, lets makes it clearer.

    • In a big pot put a bit of olive and in medium heat throw the leeks inside that you have cut before in small round pieces. Let them sizzle for 3-4 minutes and then add, the cabbage, the parsley and stir really good.
    • Add some water to cover the cabbage, the carrots and let it boil for around 20-30 minutes. Basically until you see the cabbage and the carrots to start and become softer.
    • Add the rice, and then add more water if needed, in order to cover the rice. stir a bit more and let it boil for 15-20 minutes.
    • Remove the water with a strainer and serve it adding some lemon.

    Unfortunately in the picture is not really clear…but the more vegetables, the better rather than rice.. either way enjoy it! 🙂

     

  • Holidays in Greece and…Moussaka

    Holidays in Greece and…Moussaka

    Ok, this post is special because it is written while being in Greece where I spent my holidays for this year. In addition to that talks about one of the most well-known Greek foods around the world, the famous….(drums)… moussaka!

    Writing an article about moussaka was in my mind for a long time but always postponed. There were a lot of things that I had to learn before. Basically, how to make mousaka…

    Even if there are a lot of recipes out there, I have to say it doesn’t look, and as far as I asked its not the easiest food either. However, after the first day in Greece for my holidays this year it I remembered again why everyone really loves this dish…

    Every time when I return to Greece, my mother asks me what I want her to cook for me to eat on the first day.   Usually my favorite choice is stuffed vegetables or in greek, “gemista”. This time it was different, I asked from my mother to cook the famous Greek mousaka so i can have the recipe from her and hopefully, one day I will manage to make something close to that…

    That’s the ultimate prize ladies and gentleman! When you master moussaka, (and the cheesepie, and the spinach pie, and the gemista, and the mayiritsa, and making a greek lamb, and the fasolada…and some others) then you have mastered the Greek kitchen…So, yes i haven’t managed to cook it here in London but i am hoping in the future. Its the first time i post a recipe before cooking it …but ok its a special food also. My cooking powers are not yet fully developed ….

    Well, anyway, here is the recipe straight from my mother…old school…

    Some notes, she finds it difficult to put down exact quantities as she has used to do everything by experience . Despite that the quantities here should be more than enough for 4 people. As she always tells me, small changes on the recipe don’t really matter…eventually you will get there.

    moussaka-recipe
    The famous Greek  Mousaka

    INGREDIENTS FOR MOUSSAKA RECIPE

    • 700 gr potatoes
    • 700 gr courgettes
    • 700 gr Aubergines
    • 700 gr minced meat
    • 1 large onion chopped
    • 1/2 cup of oil
    • 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
    • 1 glass of red wine (but if you like yellow we won’t get angry)
    • 1/2 glass of water
    • 1 vegetable stock cube
    • Chopped Parsley
    • Salt and Pepper

    INGREDIENTS FOR THE BECHAMEL CREAM

    • 3 tablespoons of butter
    • 410ml of milk. (1 can of milk)
    • 820ml water (My mother just fills two times with water the empty box of milk… 🙂 )
    • 1 vegetable stock cube
    • 300gr flour
    • 2 beaten eggs
    • 5 tablespoons of grated cheese
    • grated nutmeg
    • salt and pepper

    HOW TO COOK MOUSSAKA

    1. We shall begin by preparing the aubergines. Remove the stalks from them and cut them into slices, 1 cm thick. Season with salt and let them on the side.
    2. Drizzling the aubergines with some olive oil and bake them for 20 minutes. Do exactly the same with potatoes and the courgettes.
    3. Prepare the meat sauce for the moussaka. Heat a large pan to medium -high heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the chopped onions and sauté, until softened and slightly colored. Stir in the garlic, tomato puree and the mince breaking it up with a wooden spoon and sauté. Pour in the red wine and wait to evaporate.
    4. Add the tinned tomatoes, vegetable cubes, chopped parsley and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes, until most of the juices have evaporated.
    5. Now it gets tricky! Time to prepare the béchamel sauce. Use a large pan to melt some butter over low-medium heat. Add the flour whisking continuously to make a paste. Keep adding warmed milk in a steady stream while in the same time you keep whisking in order to prevent your sauce from getting lumpy.
    6. Remove the pan from the stove and stir in the egg yolks, salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and the grated cheese. Whisk quickly, in order to prevent the eggs from turning an omelette!
    7. Now its time to build the moussaka!
    8. You will have to get a large baking dish and butter the bottom and sides of the pan before you start adding the layers of the vegetables. First the potatoes, then the aubergines, and on top of them the courgettes.
    9. Pour in the meat sauce and even out.  Add a second layer of eggplants, topping with the béchamel sauce.
    10. Finally, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake the musaka in preheated oven at 180-200C for about 60 minutes, until crust turns light golden brown.

    Make sure you wait until the moussaka gets cold a bit as it will be difficult to eat otherwise.!

    greek-moussaka
  • Beetroot Salad with Yogurt

    Beetroot Salad with Yogurt

    Going in a restaurant in Greece to eat sometimes suprises me to see how many different salads exist that I have never tried. Surely most know the typical Greek salad or “country salad” as it is also said but there are so many more.

    Especially during summer it is ideal to try as many as possible as they are fresh and so tasty to combine them with any food. On the other hand having a salad with beet roots wasn’t something that I really had in mind but it is always nice to experiment.

    When I was younger I never liked beetroots because of that red liquid they get out when you eat them or cut them. Minor details now I say…

    They make excellent salads, and this is one way to eat them.

    INGREDIENTS FOR BEETROOT SALADS WITH YOGURT

    • 3-4 Small beetroots
    • 500gr of strained yogurt
    • 2-3 cloves garlic mashed
    • 1 small cup of olive oil
    • Salt and pepper

    METHOD

    Clean the beetroots and wash them. Start boiling them in a pot for 15-30 mins until you start to feel that they are soft

    When they are ready, strain them well discarding the stalks and cutting them into cubes.

    Add the yogurt, the mashed garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix them well. Your salad is ready to serve!

  • “Tigania” Pork with leeks

    “Tigania” Pork with leeks

    In Greece there is a kind of dish which they call “tigania”. Basically fried meat combined with some sauce. Any fried combination of meat in Greece is called like that and is usually dish that people take in combination with others as  “mezedes”,

    Its not difficult but frying pork in combination with other spices always brings special flavors. I have tried various combination in the past and always i got something different.

    For this specific one i read how nice it was to combine it with leaks as it is something that is done widely in Greece. (trust me i checked forums where Greek mothers are discussing there cooking secrets)

    To be honest  think its easy to make different variations and its not something really difficult or uncommon nevertheless  oregano gives it a special flavor while you can mix it with greek feta cheese or other spices like thyme.

    Its up to you

    INGREDIENTS FOR “TIGANIA” PORK WITH LEEKS

    1. 500gr of pork chops cut in small cubes.
    2. 2-3 leeks cut in small pieces
    3. ½ cup of Olive oil
    4. Salt-Pepper
    5. ½ cup of white wine
    6. Oregano

    METHOD

    Cut the pork into medium size pieces wash and leave it to drain

    Put the oil into a pan and sauté the pork chops

    As soon as it is brown add the wine and let it “drink” all the alcohol.

    Add salt pepper and oregano as much as you want and continue to stir it.

    Just a little bit before it is done, add the leeks and stir for 4-5 minutes more.

    Serve it together with rice or chips.