Greek Recipes

Moussaka (moussakás in Greek) comes from the Arabic word  musaqa‘h which, oddly enough, means something chilled.  The Greek version, however, comes hot out of the oven and is probably the most famous Greek dish of all.  Several variations and cooking methods are found in many Mediterranean cuisines. Most versions are based on sautéed eggplant and tomato, usually with minced meat. The Greek version includes layers of meat and eggplant topped with a Béchamel ("white") sauce. Béchamel was another import - introduced in the late 1920’s to Greek cuisine by the famous Greek chef Nicholas Tselementes, a great admirer of French cuisine. He brought many more innovations to Greek cuisine and his influence is still felt. In the old days, before béchamel, moussaka was topped with a cream made with yogurt, eggs and a little flour.  Other variations include adding more sautéed vegetable slices.  Zucchini and potatoes are popular additions. Moussakás 4 medium size eggplants,...

Everyone loves the wonderful taste of sun dried tomatoes. When you pick a small jar of them in the super market it is hard to imagine just how many ripe tomatoes needed to dry out, in order to fill this small jar. Tomatoes are more than 90% water by weight. The prospect of reducing them is one of the reasons why some people seem to find store bought ones easier to use although the truth is that homemade sun dried tomatoes are tastier by far. At the end of August till late September we usually harvest many ripe tomatoes. They are at the peak of their season and although we use them in salads and give them away to friends, they are always too many to consume while perfect and ripe. This year we made ketchup, sauce for pasta and, of course, our favorite meze: sun dried tomatoes. The weather was hot (33 C) with low moisture so it only took 2 days for the tomato fillets to dry out. We only had the classic round tomatoes to work with so we cut four fillets from each tomato (you need skin-on ...

After exchanging our motor scooter no less than five times , George the motor scooter man  finally came through with a decent bike for us to hire for the rest of our stay here in Limnos. It is such a relief to be riding a comfortable bike now. We have been on a couple of rides so far, along the north-western inland road from Kaspakas to Sardes, and the south-west coastal road through Thanos, Kontias, Portianou and Nea Koutali. For today's post I'm going to let the pictures express the beauty of some of the landscapes and villages we've visited, and at the end of the post, the recipe for Koula's Fanouropita (Greek Spice Cake). Streets of Androni: Dapia Fortress and views of Myrina: Relaxing in Kaspakas: Between Kaspakas and Sardes: Views along south-west coast of Limnos: Portianou: Palio Pethino: Nea Koutali: We only have five more days here in Limnos and I've hardly told you any of what we've been doing. Life in Limnos is very relaxing and carefree. It's a v...