Few weekends back we went to Athens and I was looking forward to some Greek food. That I got but I also discovered that in the effort of some restaurants to show something "different" they are willing to compromise tradition.
I want talk about The salad ... The food ... The legend!!
The most humble salads of all that was never missing from the table of a Greek house The greek salad!
I have seen it in so many versions some of them quite respectable some of them so badly made that the salad was screaming to be released from the fake name it had!
Famous chefs tried to recreate it too... That's when I have seen the innocent lettuce leaf appear!!! That's when I wanted to scream and say " lettuce is a winter veg!!! What are you doing adding it into a summer salad?" Obviously lettuce is cheaper and gives the salad more volume.... Restauranters don't want make it different... They want to make it cheaper.
Well to make things clear and seasonal here is the basic recipe of the Greek Salad. Some ingredients can be omitted to taste like onion or olives but adding others instead really does change the taste!
Greek Salad (for side dish for 4)
4 ruby red tomatoes not cherry if using cherry a punnet will do.
1 cucumber
1 red onion
a handfull of olives with stones preferably Kalamata
a block of feta cheese
olive oil
oregano
sea salt
quick splash of balsamic or red wine vinegar
flat leaf parsley
A nice generous bowl so everyone can share!
Chop the tomatoes at least in quarters. Try to buy the best tomatoes you can afford and if they are not ripe enough.. well leave the salad for the next day or after. Wash and peel the cucumber by leaving alternated dark green stripes, makes it prettier on the plate. Both tomatoes and cucumber go in the bowl
Chop the onion in half and rub it in your palms with some sea salt. My grandmother said that made the onion sweeter!
Then wash it of the salt and chop it in thin slices and throw on top of the tomatoes and cucumber. Add a pinch of salt now and mix as you do not want salt on your salty olives and feta cheese. Add the olives on top and then the block of feta. You can either cube it or leave it whole on top of the salad. Mix the olive oil with the oregano and a few drops of good quality red wine or balsamic vinegar and pour on top of the cheese and the rest of the salad. Chop your parsley and add a few leaves on top. You are good to go!! Do not forget the bread for some serious dipping in the salad bowl!!!!!
Enjoy!!!
17 February 2010
26 January 2010
In the beginning there was food....
Baking is a science .... and since I was never good with science I chose to cook. I am not going to make a fabulous story about how I used to make desserts and food when I was not even able to read and write.... Cooking came as a necessity in my life, came as a blanket to cover all the things I was missing when I left home. For me cooking was always around but in a more homely and traditional way, watching my mum prepare food watching my grandmother bring food and eating my dads "weird", for some, cooking inspirations.
Cooking was always traditional and some can say, a bit of a standard in my house.
When I left my home and my country, food became an exploration as I had to make "something to eat!"
I discovered the big supermarkets with spices and fruits that I have never seen! Frozen food was something out of the movies and yes it was something that I had to eat before I discovered that I can make things by myself that can taste good!
I chose to cook to satisfy my physical needs, my hunger. That physical hunger became something so much more... cooking was and is so much more!
Cooking is an art - a mission, a pleasure and a passion. Cooking can make you cry, can make you think, can even make you really sick... cooking can make you thank God for the tastebuds you were given on your tongue.
Tastebuds! What a wonderful little word to call those little bumps on your tongue. Taste Buds!!
Like flower buds! Where flower buds need water to fully blossom, your tongue needs so much more.
Tastebuds can melt with the taste of a soothing chocolate ice cream, tastebuds can burst into a fiery dance with a little chilli. As flowers, tastebuds are so different to each other...why treat them with the same tastes again and again. That is not their purpose!
Tastebuds grow with variety, the more you offer them the more you will get out of them. Their magic is that you can feel so many flavours all at once...Why not explore every single sensation they have to offer to you?
From the cold nights with the ready meals when I first lived alone, to the nights that I lay in bed and think of the next time that I will visit that exciting new market that I discovered, I treasure every single moment, cause that is the awakening of my tastebuds. A journey that never ends... a journey with many faces and tastes.
All these experiences, new together with the old will be my little journal. Because life as I said before is not good if you are not sharing it with someone. Same goes with the food!
Cooking was always traditional and some can say, a bit of a standard in my house.
When I left my home and my country, food became an exploration as I had to make "something to eat!"
I discovered the big supermarkets with spices and fruits that I have never seen! Frozen food was something out of the movies and yes it was something that I had to eat before I discovered that I can make things by myself that can taste good!
I chose to cook to satisfy my physical needs, my hunger. That physical hunger became something so much more... cooking was and is so much more!
Cooking is an art - a mission, a pleasure and a passion. Cooking can make you cry, can make you think, can even make you really sick... cooking can make you thank God for the tastebuds you were given on your tongue.
Tastebuds! What a wonderful little word to call those little bumps on your tongue. Taste Buds!!
Like flower buds! Where flower buds need water to fully blossom, your tongue needs so much more.
Tastebuds can melt with the taste of a soothing chocolate ice cream, tastebuds can burst into a fiery dance with a little chilli. As flowers, tastebuds are so different to each other...why treat them with the same tastes again and again. That is not their purpose!
Tastebuds grow with variety, the more you offer them the more you will get out of them. Their magic is that you can feel so many flavours all at once...Why not explore every single sensation they have to offer to you?
From the cold nights with the ready meals when I first lived alone, to the nights that I lay in bed and think of the next time that I will visit that exciting new market that I discovered, I treasure every single moment, cause that is the awakening of my tastebuds. A journey that never ends... a journey with many faces and tastes.
All these experiences, new together with the old will be my little journal. Because life as I said before is not good if you are not sharing it with someone. Same goes with the food!
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