That is not a traditional Greek recipe but honestly anything with pork and sausages will always have a spice of Greece in it
(more…)A Blog about Greek Food and Greece
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Pastourmadopita – A dirty pleasure
Pastirmas (or pastourmas) is a sausage that is particularly popular in Turkey and generally in the Arab states. Its name comes from the word pastırma et, which means pressed meat in Turkish, possibly because of the custom of nomads and migratory breeds in general, to have meat with them.
My father who had roots from Asia Minor really loved it and we had him many times cooking it when he was at home.
Pastirmas is made from the side of the animal. It is usually made from calf, lamb, camel, or buffalo. Better and more expensive, it is considered the camel side pastry.
The meat must lose all its liquids and then bake with thick salt. It is first placed between two woods that are tightened slowly and more tightly in order the water is drained. At the last stage, the pasted meat is covered externally with a layer called “çemen”, a mixture of spices consisting of cumin, cassava, garlic and paprika. It dries hung in the air, in the sun, for about 30 days, or smokes for shortening of time.
Many people don’t want to try it because it smells really bed and that is due to the cement, so many remove it before they consume it but thats up to you. It can be eaten with eggs, together with tsipouro, but the best way to appreciate it is the pastrima pie or in Greek “Pastourmadopita” .
The pastourma pie is ready! Ingredients for Pastourmadopita
- 10 slices of pastirma
- 2 slices of peppers sliced
- 200 gr of kasseri cheese or any similar hard cheese.
- 4 tomatoes sliced
- 2 tea spoons of olive oil
- salt/pepper
- 2 sheets of pastry dough
- White mushrooms sliced
- 1 egg
- Poppy seed (not necessary)
All of our ingredients and the pastirma on top! METHOD
Pretty simple to be honest… Its always simple if you dont have to make your own dough
- Lay the first sheet of dough in a deep pan.
- Start adding all ingredients one after the other. Leave some space in the sides so the sheets can stick together easily
- Make sure that your remove the liquids from the tomatoes.
- Break the egg and add the half of it around .
- Put the second sheet and close it using a fork carefully. Make sure that you don’t leave any spaces. Add the rest of the egg on top and sprinkle it around as this will help “close” the edges of our pie.
- Sprinkle with poppy seeds on top.
- Bake for around 1 hour depending on your oven.
Many are adding various herbs also in the pie but i think that kills a bit the flavour from the pastirma, which should be the main focus. Either way, enjoy!
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First Greek to win MasterChef UK
Congratulations to Eirini Tzortzoglou for her win and promoting Greek cuisine to the show.
MasterChef 2019 crowned its winner in a historic all-female finale last night (March 29), and one of the first things the champion did after hearing of her win was offer to share the trophy with the two runners-up.
For the final three-course challenge, she cooked red mullet with a squid risotto, griddled rosemary lamb chops and a fig and hazelnut baklava.
Irini, who took inspiration from her Greek childhood, grew up in Crete and now lives in Cartmel, Cumbria.
She was one of 56 amateur chefs who competed for the coveted MasterChef trophy in the show’s 15th series.
One of the most surprising moments for me of the final was that she cooked a dish using one of the oldest foods in East Europe, and one that is familiar to every Greek, trahanas.
Trahana is made with either semolina, wheat flour, bulgur or cracked wheat. Milk, buttermilk, or yogurt are mixed into the flour or wheat to form a thick mass. In Thrace, a Lenten trahana is made with flour and vegetable pulp, seasoned with sesame seeds and hot pepper flakes.
Trahana is always made at the end of the summer when there is enough of a breeze and enough heat to dry the morsels quickly but also because the summer is a time, in the agrarian cycle, when there is an excess of milk. Once the ingredients have been combined, they are broken into chunks, dried, and then broken up into smaller, pebbly pieces.
Dairy-based trahana comes in two types: sweet and sour. Sweet is made with whole milk, typically goat’s milk, and sour trahana is made with yogurt or buttermilk.
Trahana is an ancient food that fewer and fewer country cooks bother to make at home. But Greeks still love it and as a result a litany of regional artisan producers, mainly women’s cooperatives, have stepped in to fill a market demand. Thanks to them the tradition is surviving.
picture credit:inews.co.uk
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Aubergine Stew with Olives and Capers
Aubergines must be my favourite summer vegetable. Many times when i try to think of different dishes to cook with aubergines i get lost from the various combinations you might have.
In this case i got the ideam from the famous imam baildi and i tried to spice it up a bit with some more ingredients. Eggplants, or aubergines or whatever you want to name them are in the heart of Mediterenean cuisine and you can get a variety of similar dishes if you are at some point in Greece.
As my father used to say it is important to manage and boil it properly and keeping the full texture of the vegetable. In the same time though the aubergine needs to melt in your mouth rather than having to chew it.
Difficult? Well, that’s life!
INGREDIENTS FOR AUBERGINE STEW WITH OLIVES AND CAPERS
- 6 large aubergines
- 2 medium onions sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Around 20-30 olives without the stone
- 20 cherry tomatoes cut in the middle
- 1 glass of red wine
- 1 tomato can juice
- Oregano and Parsley
- 300gr of Greek Yoghurt
- Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
METHOD
- In cutting board start putting your aubergines and cut them in cubes with sharp knife.
- In a deep pot add some olive onion and the onion and the garlic until it becomes brownish. Make sure you stir them all the time so they don’t get burned.
- Add the olives, and the capers together with the tomato juice. Continue to stir them for couple of minutes.
- Next, add the aubergines and leave them for couple of minutes. Pour the wine and let it for a minute more. Throw in the tomatoes , salt and peeper and lower the hit.
- Keep boiling it for 25-30 minutes until they aubergines are done with out loosing there texture as we said before.
- Just a bit before the end, add the oregano.
- Serve in a deep plate by adding a big spoon of Greek style Yogurt on top
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What do you need to have on your fridge for a Greek meal
what have you got in your fridge? In order to be here, maybe you don’t have too many things.. some beverage cans, a clay jar mask jar, and a leftover package from the delivery guy . Maybe we can fix that.
Since you are here, it means you always want to have an equipped refrigerator, which at every moment of the week will contain the necessary materials from which you will “build” healthy, nutritious meals for you and your family that will have a spice of Greece inside them. Obviously, we won’t talk about meat over here but all the things you need to have so you can add a Greek flavor to your burger if you do wish to .
There are some basic things that, if you’ve always got them on your shopping list, you can cook many, many recipes, other easy and more complicated.
Lets Go
Vegetables
Easily keep some vegetables, such as lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, in the refrigerator drawer. Traditional recipes involve a lot of vegetables and always they are used as a salad to accompany your main meal. The type of vegetables depend on the type of the year always, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and courgettes in the summer while carrots and cabbage during the winter. If you have those you are in the right start.
Seasoning
Tomatoes in a local Greek market You cant have Greek food without the necessary seasoning. A bunch of parsley or dill – which will cost you nothing – will help you make the most simple, everyday dish. Always keep a bunch as they will make the difference on your everyday food. Parsley, dill and oregano are the basic ones i would say but… i always have also a bottle of capers with me. You never know where you will use them…
Fresh milk
The only sure thing is that fresh milk will need you. Even if you do not drink it simple, so many recipes ask for it. If you have too much of it, you will have the perfect besamel stuff to put on the baked lasagna in the oven, or the opportunity to make a nice milk pie with a sheet.
Fruit
Put in your fridge apples, oranges, pears and any seasonal fruit you like. If you do not eat them like healthy snacks, you will put them in fancy recipes (sweet pies, jams, cakes, tarts, etc.). Remember, you do not buy huge quantities every time – so you have time to consume – and always put them in the special drawers to keep them fresh and crisp.
Eggs
If you consume eggs fairly often, you can store them outside of the refrigerator, ie on the kitchen counter. But if you use them in the same way, you better put them in the refrigerator, as most do. You may be doing a nice Greek Kayanas (Eggs in tomato sauce with feta cheese) or a simple omelette.
Feta Cheese
Which Greek home does not always have at least one slice in the fridge? It is used in a thousand ways: it enters the salads and the daco, accompanies the olive oil and enters countless recipes. If you do not know what to eat, there is no better meal than some nuts, olives, a tomato cut into 4 (with salt and freshly ground pepper) and a few pieces of delightful feta cheese slice. Still not convinced?
Greek Yoghurt
Ok, some times i do get the classic yoghurt Marks and Spencer have. Nevertheless, if i have to choose there is nothing comparable to the flavor, the texture and taste of a proper greek yoghurt. Try it as the classic morning yoghurt-honey combination, or as an add on sauce on a variety of dishes.
Grated cheese
Pasta comes from Italy but as you might know…we are neighbors and we do love our pasta also. And because pasta with no cheese is not possible, always put in a basket with your shopping a Trimmed Kefalograviera. If you do not use it in pasta, you can put it in omelets, salty buttercups, pies, and still in a chicken broth.
Olive Oil
On a separate category on its own. Greeks use it everywhere… Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. You will see it in 95% of recipes. Obviously use the best one for salads but in generally you need to have a huge bottle on your kitchen.
Or basically you are not Greek…
Pickles / olives / capers / marmalades
Pickles and Olives are best as side dishes, on the table or with the salad. I never have a dish of greek fasolada without pickles and greek kalamata olives. While marmalades are always a part of nice traditional Greek breakfast