Greek Recipes

Religious traditions often influence the eating habits of a nation. In Greece , Orthodox tradition has influenced our cuisine to such a degree that even those who are not religious keep the traditions. Family memories and customs keep them alive but, mostly, it is the pleasure that traditional food offers.   Fanouropita is a cake made on the 27th of August,- St. Fanourios Day. It is also made every time we have lost something or when we want to make a wish about something, - for example, good health or a new job. We used to make Fanouropita often at home because it’s a nice cake with coffee (Okay, we would make a wish from time to time!). Fanouropita is an egg and dairy free cake and according to tradition only 9 ingredients must be used to make it. Others believe that 12 is the correct number. I will give you the 9 ingredients version I know and also a twist with syrup to make it as a dessert.  Even if you haven’t lost anything, don’t lose the chance to make this! For a 20c...

“To eat a nice cabbage, you have to wait until November” my grandfather used to say. Cold weather makes cabbages really sweet. In Greek cuisine cabbage is a basic winter vegetable because you can’t grow many things in your garden at this time of the year. It gives its special character, taste, and sweetness to many different recipes.          It matches ideally with pork or beef in dishes like ‘’staffed cabbage leaves’’ (dolmades) or pork and cabbage fricassee. It makes nice salads chopped finely with carrot or boiled in water and served warm with olive oil and lemon. But my favorite dish with cabbage is lahanoriso ; with carrot, rice, celery and olive oil, a simple, tasty and filling food.  My mother has been making this dish often in winter maybe because we always had cabbages in our garden at this time of the year. My favorite side dish for lahanoriso is fried potatoes, but if you would like to have a rich winter meal, a nice sausage would be ideal. Serv...

   Most tourists who visit Greece , are familiar with popular dishes like mousaka or souvlaki but probably no one knows that fasolada  (bean soup) is actually considered to be our national dish!  Why such a humble food?      In the old days when meat wasn’t available to everyone, beans were the main source of nutrients. As late as the Second World War, thousands of people survived thanks to soup kitchens offering fasolada. Nowadays, fasolada is a favorite winter dish and there is even a special day, - Shrove Monday -when everyone eats fasolada at home or in open air festivals where we also traditionally fly kites.      Many varieties of beans have been cultivated in Greece since the 16 th - 17 th century. The fact that beans can be easily cultivated in various soil qualities, helped to spread them all over the country. Kastoria in northern Greece is a place where some of the tastiest beans are produced from local varieties. In our t...