The Feast of all Feast

As the late Keith Floyd said on his trip to Corfu, the Greek Easter is "..the Feast of all Feasts". And he was right.
If there is one day in the year that is more important of all, religiously and culinary, is Easter Sunday.
After 40 days of lent and the strictly vegetarian diet, that the Greek Orthodox people usually follow during that period, Easter Sunday is an endless feast of meat and rich food!

Kalo Pascha

For this blog I will include the recipe for the Easter soup we eat (Magiritsa) which includes mainly offal and I will also add some photos from the preparation. I will add a second blog with the roasted lamb and some dips/salads that we usually have on the Greek table.

I am sure that many people will find the soup something out of a horror book... but I can assure you that I have found similar dishes in many cultures. It is of an acquired taste I admit, but for me this soup is what screams "Easter in Greece" more than anything! This recipe has many variations but that is what I am used to from home.

Here it goes!

It is usually made for at least 6 people as the Easter lunch or dinner is a family affair and the more the merrier!

Magiritsa
Ingredients

1-1,2 kg lamb offal
This includes hearts, liver, kidneys, sweetbreads anything offal. I used a heart and liver and kidneys.
We use lamb as this gives the true taste of Easter.
Picture not included for these ingredients for people with a sensitive disposition. But if you feel sick even with the thought of offal please stop reading now!

2 big Romaine lettuces
2 bunches of spring (salad) onions
a bunch of dill
olive oil
salt, pepper to taste

We chop all the offal into bite size chunks. You can ask your butcher to do it for you. Since offal is not the easiest thing to find in this country order from a good butcher well in advance!! The Foodhall in Selfridges has a fabulous butcher, a bit on the pricier side but great quality and they do offal which is fantastic. Borough Market is good too on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Fridays, although I found that liver costs more than fillet there, so I did not leave my custom (£24 per kilo).

You need to brown the meat with some olive oil in a big pot.

Once this is done, you need to pour water to cover the meat and start boiling. Remove the foam that will be created on the top with a slotted spoon.

After about 40 minutes of gentle boiling (top up with water -its a soup after all) chop your greens ready to be added in the soup. Small chunks of onions, roughly chopped lettuce.

Add them at once but wait for the dill to be added almost at the end.

The greens need to be cooked for another 15 minutes at least and then you can add the finely chopped dill.

Continue to cook for another 10 minutes and add the olive oil at the end and take off the heat. The oil should not be much, about two espresso cups.

And here is how it should look like. Now you have 3 options for the finishing touches. You can just add lemon, make lemon sauce or Augolemono which is a lemon sauce with egg. The way I listed the options, goes from light to heavier! 

Augolemono sauce
1 large egg,
2 lemons,
liquid from the soup

(The egg can be replaced with corn flour to make it lighter and create a basic white lemon sauce.)

Beat the egg, start pouring the juice of the lemon. Then take some of the liquid from the soup.

Do not use boiling liquid that will cook your egg to a lemony omelette ...

Gently combine all the liquid whilst whisking, add more of the soup liquid. 

Once the mix is smooth and no curdles have been formed pour into the soup and bring to the boil. Do not forget to stir the soup to avoid curdling. 

You can add less or more lemon according to taste.

Serve immediately and let the Easter Feast begin!!

Kali oreksi!