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Showing posts from June, 2008

Feta Fritters (Φέτα Τηγανίτες)

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Feta fritters best served hot! - Click to Enlarge Image This coming Wednesday, I will be doing a Greek cooking demonstration entitled “Things to Do with Feta Cheese” to an audience of some 20 people or so; this is one of the recipes that I will be presenting. Credit for the recipe goes to my Aunt Dimitra, who has been making these tasty little bites for as long as anyone in my family can remember. She has graciously allowed me to add this dainty to my repertoire of Greek food recipes and thereby make it my own. This little morsel is especially popular with the kiddies, and makes for a great appetizer or snack with some cold Retsina wine and a few Kalamata olives. The key to this recipe is to chill the fritter mix well before cooking to ensure cohesion throughout the frying. Ingredients: 1 cup (250 ml.) good quality crumbled Greek feta cheese 2 lbs (1 kg.) potatoes 2 eggs, well-beaten 1 medium sized onion, finely diced ½ cup (125 ml.) dried bread crumbs ½ cup (125 ml.) Greek extra virgi

Epirote Makaronopita (Μακαρονόπιτα Ηπειρώτικη)

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Epirus, Land of Mystery and Makaronopita - Click to Enlarge Image Last summer, my wife and I decided to explore Northern Greece. So, we rented a car in Athens and added 3600 kilometres to its odometer in the course of our excursion. Traveling from Thessaloniki , we entered the region of Epirus by highway from the east, over and through the Pindus mountain range which forms the rooftop and backbone of the northwestern end of the Greek mainland. This corner of Greece remains a wild country; isolated, mountainous, heavily forested and sparsely populated. There is still a hint of primeval mystery that permeates the fresh clean air of Epirus, something like the coolness of an evening shade borne upon the winds throughout the region. If there are still undiscovered curiosities in Greece, rest assured, they lie hidden among the ethereal morning hazes and the deep wooded ravines of Epirus. As far back as the archaic days of its semi-barbaric status as a hinterland of the Ancient Greek worl