Greek 'Sweet' Music

I've put together a short slide show here with some Greek sweets. The music is an old romantic Greek song from the '50s performed wonderfully here by some young children. The song is a particular favourite of ours. For the Greeks amongst you, it may bring back some lovely memories!

The recipes for the sweets can be found here.

16 Popular Greek Mezes And Side Dishes

A meze is a small dish - an appetizer or side dish - and it is very popular here for people to eat a selection of these as lunch or dinner. More often than not they are accompanied by ouzo  or tsipouro . There is something quite idyllic about sitting by the sea, listening to the waves lapping onto the shore and nibbling at your mezes whilst slowly sipping your drink!

The word meze came from the same Turkish word, which in turn came from the Persian word maze, meaning 'taste, flavour, smack, relish'.

Below you will find 16 popular Greek mezes and side dishes. Just click on the links to go to the recipes.

Eggplant Dip (Melitzanosalata)

Mmm!! One of my favourites! Smooth and tangy. This is traditionally made with Greek strained yoghurt but can also be made with mayonnaise instead. Try both ways and see which you prefer - with mayonnaise it has a slightly thicker, richer taste.

Tzatziki

This is a classic Greek side dish, which can be served with meat and vegetable dishes, as well as accompanying souvlaki or gyros.


Keftedakia

The classic Greek meatballs are called Keftedes and Keftedakia are a smaller version of them (akia at the end of a word in Greek means "small" in the plural). They can be eaten as a snack, as a meze with ouzo and/or beer or just as part of a buffet meal. Children love these! And they are easy and quick to prepare!

Come To Corfu This Summer!

So you've been reading the delicious Greek recipes on this blog and trying them out at home. Well, why not come to Greece and enjoy the food as it is cooked here?! We'd love you to come to the island of Corfu this summer and meet us!

We can highly recommend the Resort Panorama villas in Nissaki on the north east coast of the island. There are five separate villas catering to different numbers of guests as well as different tastes. Take a look at their site to get the full details. While staying there, you can eat out or you can cook for yourselves - either indoors in the luxury kitchens or outside at the barbecue.

If you like, we could even come and cook for you on some days of your stay! If you do decide to come, then when you have booked, please let us know through the Contact link at the top of this page, so that we can arrange if possible to meet you when you come.

Look forward to seeing you!

8 Traditional Greek Recipes For Clean Monday - Plus Macedonian Halva

This coming Monday - March 7 - is Clean Monday in Greece. This is the start of the Lent period before Easter and there are several traditional dishes that are eaten on this day. Below, you'll find 8 recipes. Just click on the links to go to the recipes.

Taramosalata

This is well-known worldwide. It is made from taramas, which is the fish roe from cod (mosy common) or carp. You may know Taramosalata as being bright pink in colour, but this is usually due to food colouring being added. It should be a colour varying from beige to light pink, depending on the fish roe.

 Traditional Greek Pickles (Toursi)

These are delicious with Gigantes (see below) which is also traditionally eaten on Clean Monday. They can be prepared in a day, so there is time to get them ready.

 Lagana Bread

In addition to the dishes, it is traditional to eat a special type of bread called Lagana, which is flat and hasn't risen as much as normal bread. Usually people buy it from the bakers on Clean Monday, but you can also prepare it yourself.

Greek Meat Pie (Kreatopita) From Corfu

This delicious meat pie is a speciality of Corfu. Traditionally it is only made in the Carnival period (Apokries) leading up to Clean Monday, which is the beginning of Lent. We are in that period now - Clean Monday is next Monday 7th - so, true to tradition, we made the pie. At the bottom of the post you can see the proud cook (none other than my mother-in-law!) holding the pie just after it was taken out of the oven.

Ingredients

For the Pastry

500g all purpose flour

1 free range egg

120ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp vinegar

1 level tsp salt

Tepid water – enough to make a pliable dough

For the Filling

1½ kg leg of lamb cut into small pieces (bitefuls)

400g Carolina rice

9 free range eggs

580g condensed milk

580g water

200ml extra virgin oil

1 tbsp flour

1 clove garlic finely chopped

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

Salt and pepper to taste

5 free range eggs for the eggwash

Preparation

Pastry

Put the egg in a mixing bowl and beat for 1 minute.

Add the oil and vinegar.

Mix the salt into the flour and add to the liquid in the bowl.

Adding enough water, make a pliable dough.

Cover in clingfilm and set aside to rest for 1 hour.

Filling

Put the water in a pan and bring to the boil.

Add the rice and boil for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and stir in the oil and milk.

In a mixing bowl beat the 9 eggs for 2-3 minutes.

Put the meat in a large mixing bowl and add the rice mixture.

Add the beaten eggs to this mixture.

Add the flour, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, salt and pepper, mix well and set aside.

Pastry

Butter an oven dish 40cm diameter and set aside.

Take the dough and with a rolling pin open it out on a flour-dusted surface.

The pastry should be large enough to cover the base and sides of the oven dish plus another 15cm approx. extra around the edge.

With the help of the rolling pin, place the pastry in the oven dish so that it fits tightly along the base and sides – this is important as there should be no bubbles left.

Add the filling.

Fold the edge of the pastry inwards over the filling, making sure that no liquid gets in between the pastry and the inside of the oven dish.

Lightly spread the liquid from the filling evenly over the top with your fingers, again making sure none goes down between the pastry and the dish.

Place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour.

Beat the remaining 5 eggs well and spread over the whole pie when you remove it from the oven.

Put the pie back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes approx.


If you've tried this recipe please rate it!

Eat and Enjoy!