Greek Recipes

Julia Child said in her book, My Life in France, "...Our first lunch together in France had been absolute perfection. It was the most exciting meal of my life..." and so has begun the story of many a devoted Francophile, including my own dear Papa. To celebrate his birthday, what better present to offer than a day of finding French gourmet delights across Sydney. Unlike many suburbs of Sydney, which are buzzing cultural food hubs (such as Earlwood/Marrickville being the  'little Greece' of Sydney, Haberfield home to Italy, Auburn for Turkish food, Cabramatta for Vietnamese cuisine etc) there is no one 'little France' in Sydney. The French community of Sydney, its cafes and restaurants are spread out across many of Sydney's "little villages" or suburbs.  Setting out to find these gems, we jumped on a bus early on Saturday morning at Sydney's Central Station. Greeting us, our guides for the day were Maeve O'Meara - the Sydney food legend, a...

Skordalia often makes a regular feature on our weekly family menu. The thick, creamy, garlicky puree is definitely not for the faint hearted! It's the perfect partner for really any kind of seafood - so good a pairing in fact, that on my mother in law's home island fish stock or the cooking liquid from the fish is usually used to make the skordalia.  The other traditional ingredients for skordalia are usually potato or bread and almond meal.  My usual skordalia recipe required a tweak recently, when we had friends call in for a casual lunch. Gluten, dairy and potatoes were strictly off their menu - hence my milder cauliflower skordalia came to be. The almond milk in this recipe is a little nod to the traditional almond meal that is often used to make skordalia. The creamy puree contrasted nicely with the crunchy, lemony coating of the garfish. In this recipe I have used the excellent Sparoza herb and spice blend with lemon zest, which is available online from Homer St. ...

If you need a quick meze when entertaining, that requires minimal effort but has maximum effect, then this is a recipe for you.  This simple, delicious feta, rigani and garlic dip hails from Kefalonia.  The last time we stayed on the island, we bought it in simple little terracotta tubs from the local 'Galaktopoleio'. I love the fact that Greece still has speciality stores instead of only homogeneous supermarkets. The Galaktopoleio, is dedicated to selling milk and dairy products - plus the odd carton of eggs and it is where you can find treats like this! I make a milder form of this dip, in Kefalonia the version at the galaktopleio had been left to mature for a little while and the cheese was very sharp and pungent.  Like with all Greek food, the success to this easy dip is using very high quality ingredients. Make sure you buy good quality Greek feta cheese, made with sheep or goat's milk and aromatic rigani from Greece. In this dip, I used some more of the wonderful ra...

The largest of the Cyclades archipelago, Náxos is one of the few Greek islands that is completely self-sustainable and could feed itself. Every square inch of the island, including the main town proudly boasts either a small vine plot or abundant market garden, squeezed in between low rise apartment blocks and villas. Further into the centre of the island, you will see flocks of sheep and goats everywhere, along with row upon row of silvery-green olive trees. Naxos also has some of the Cyclades loveliest beaches and its most dramatic scenery: vast mountains, lush terraced valleys and traditional white-washed villages. It has a unique regional food identify, famous for the grapefruit like "kitron" which is the key flavouring for the smooth local liqueur and spoon sweet. Naxiot potatoes are also renowned throughout Greece - as is the islands impressive array of both sheep and goat's milk cheeses. There is more than enough on offer in Náxos to keep you fully occupied for a w...