Greek Recipes

     Legumes are an important part of the Greek diet. Lentils ( fakẻs in Greek) are usually cooked as a soup with carrots and garlic and are traditionally served with a drizzle of olive oil and vinegar.      I remember lentil soup was a Tuesday dish in my home and, as you know, kids don’t usually like legumes. So my grandmother would make omelet for me with my mother hesitating to agree, - thinking  that I would become spoiled. So I was almost ten years old when I first tasted my mother’s lentil soup. We were on summer vacation with my cousins who loved lentil soup and they convinced me to try it. Since that day I have never argued about this dish. Actually I really like lentils a lot, so why don’t you try them for yourself? Serves 4 500gr brown lentils ½ cup olive oil 1 large onion chopped 1 carrot grated or cut in cubes 1 bay leaf or some fresh dill 2 garlic cloves 1 ½ litre water salt and pepper to taste      Place the lentils in a large skillet. Cover with 2 litres of water. Pla

           This year, Greek Orthodox Easter is on Sunday April 15, a week after the Catholic Easter.            During the “ Holy Week" preceeding Easter, my grandmother would make the Easter cookies and sweetbreads. You can imagine the aromas of vanilla, butter, orange zest, and mastic, spreading all over the house and my anticipation to taste everything coming out of the oven. Unfortunately, I was forbidden to touch anything until Sunday because dairy products and eggs were not consumed during the “Holy Week”. So I had to watch all these goodies being wrapped in colorful transparent plastic wrap to keep them fresh and pretty, before half of them would be given to friends and relatives for Easter.  This entire “patience test” didn’t serve to make me any more religious!          The sweetbreads my grandmother used to make are called “tsourẻkia” .They were once special Easter sweet breads , but nowadays they are made in every bakery in Greece and throughout the Mediterranean world