Greek Herbs and Spices - Bay Leaf (Daphni)

Image: Wikipedia Commons

This is the second in the series of posts on herbs and spices used in Greek cooking.

Bay laurel leaves are called Daphni (soft d) in Greek and has been cultivated since the time of the ancient Greek writer and philosopher Homer. In his Odyssey he mentions bay laurel as a herb and medicine used by Ulysses.

It is usually the dried bay leaves that are used, though fresh leaves can also be used, and are common as a herb in Greek cooking - especially in dishes with plenty of tomato. The leaves are removed before serving.

The origin of the name and the history are particularly interesting. The Greek name Daphni comes from the eponymous nymph, who was daughter of the river god Peneios (Lathonas) and earth goddes Gi. Her parents transformed her into a bay laurel tree (daphni) so as to escape the god Apollo and keep her virginity.

It was used for laurel wreaths - a symbol of high status - in ancient Greece, and was also given as the prize at the Pythian Games because the games were in honour of Apollo - the laurel was one of his symbols.When he slayed the dragon Python at Delphi he is said to have made a crown of victory from laurel, hence the presenting of 'crowns of victory' at the Pythian and Olympian games. The Oracle of Delphi and priestess of Apollo, Pythia, is also said to have chewed bay leaves before making her proclamations.


As well as its use in cooking, the bay laurel is also said to have healing properties. Its essential oil is said to alleviate arthritis and rheumatism with massage, and is used to treat earaches and high blood pressure in aromatherapy.  Additionally, a poultice soaked in boiled bay leaves is a folk remedy for rashes caused by poison ivy, poison oak, and stinging nettle.

One To 1,000 Campaign To Help African Small Farmers

This blog is all about recipes that we can all cook for ourselves and enjoy. However, there are over 1 billion people hungry in the world that are hungry and do not even have the basics, let alone the luxury of being able to try out various recipes. I would like to focus this post on a wonderful campaign to help African small farmers.

Bill Gates recently challenged readers of his blog to develop tools to increase awareness of the importance of small farmers in addressing the problem of hunger. The Adventure Project (TAP) is responding with its One to 1000 initiative, and TPRF is one of its sponsors. This program will not only increase awareness of this important subject, but also help 1,000 small farmers in Africa through TAP's collaboration with Kickstart.

The idea is for at least 1,000 people to set up an about.me page that tells the small farmer story. Read all about it here, and then set up your own about.me profile!

Check out my about.me profile!

Greek Bougatsa Sweet

This is a recipe for Bougatsa (pronounced with a soft g) which is yet another delicious sweet. People often buy these from small shops on the street and eat them as they are walking. The quality in these shops varies, as you can imagine, but the recipe below will produce a tasty pastry and delicious filling.

Ingredients

Pastry

500g all-purpose flour

200g butter

50g butter for finish

260ml soda water

1 tsp salt

½ sugar

Icing sugar (to sprinkle on top at the end)

Filling

1 litre milk

40g corn flour

80g fine semolina

200g sugar

4 eggs

100g butter

30g butter (to spread on top)

2 vanillas

Preparation

Pastry

Put the flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl and add the soda water to make a pliable dough.

Knead the dough well for approx. 10 minutes.

Divide into 4 balls, wrap them in cling film and set aside to rest for 1 hr.

After the 1 hour, take one of the balls of dough and on a floured surface roll it out into a circle approx. 40cm diameter.

Half melt the 200g butter and brush ¼ of it generously over the pastry.

Fold the pastry into a square in the stages shown in the photos below, tapping it with your hands to make sure there are no air bubbles.

Set aside.

Roll out another ball of dough into a circle approx. 40 cm diameter.

Brush it with another ¼ of the half-melted butter.

Place the first square of pastry in the centre of the circle and fold into a square as in the photos below.

Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for 1 hr.

Repeat this process with the other 2 balls of dough.

After the 1 hr has passed, roll out one of the squares on a floured surface, large enough to cover the bottom of an oven dish as well as the sides and to go over the edge.

Butter the dish and place the pastry on the bottom, flattening it with your hands, up the side and over the edge.

Filling

Put the milk and the 100g butter in a pan and stir until the butter has melted.

Before the milk boils, Put the corn flour, semolina, sugar, eggs and vanillas in a bowl and mix well.

When the milk comes to the boil, add the mixture from the bowl and stir very well until it thickens.

Remove from the heat and pour into the oven dish on top of the pastry.

Fold the edge of the pastry inwards on top of the edge of the filling.

Roll out the other square of pastry and place it on top.

Melt the 30g butter and brush over the top.

Score the surface into helpings.

Place in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes or until it has gone golden brown.

Sprinkle icing sugar on top.

Eat and Enjoy!

Greek Ek Mek Sweet

This is a delightful, refreshing sweet! It's also very light and is often accompanied by ice cream. You will need kataifi phyllo and mastic to make it - if it is difficult for you to obtain where you live, then there are a couple of links at the bottom of this post where you can order them on the internet. You will then need to crush the mastic drops.

Ingredients

½ packet kataifi phyllo

200g pistachio nuts (unsalted and unroasted) roughly crumbled

1 litre milk

½ litre whipping cream

100g butter

450g vanilla corn flour (if you can’t get vanilla corn flour, then use ordinary corn flour plus 1 vanilla)

½ tsp ground mastic

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp icing sugar

For the Syrup

2 cups water

1¾ cups sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

Crumble the kataifi phyllo into a buttered oven dish (approx. 35cm x 30cm x 5cm)

Melt the butter and spread evenly over the phyllo with a spoon.

Put in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or until it is golden brown.

Just before the 30 minutes is over, prepare the syrup by boiling the water, sugar and lemon juice for 4 minutes.

Remove the phyllo from the oven and pour the hot syrup evenly over it.

Set aside to cool and absorb the syrup.

Heat ¾ of the milk in a pan.

While the milk in the pan is heating, but before it has come to the boil, dissolve the corn flour and sugar in the remaining ¼ of the milk.

Add this slowly to the milk in the pan, stirring continuously.

Bring to the boil and once it thickens, remove from the heat.

Add the ground mastic.

As soon as it cools, add 250ml of the whipping cream, stirring very well.

Sprinkle half of the crumbled pistachio nuts over the kataifi phyllo.

Spread the cream mixture on top of this.

Set aside to become completely cold.

Whip the remaining cream with the icing sugar.

Spread this on top and even out the surface.

Sprinkle the remaining crumbled pistachio nuts evenly on top.

Put in the fridge for at least two hours.

 Eat and Enjoy!

Greek Mince and Leek Pie (Prasopita me Kima)

This is a delicious pie, not only the filling, but the lovely pastry as well. Because of the importance of the way the pastry is made, we have included photos of the various stages so that you can see it clearly.

Ingredients

Pastry

500g all-purpose flour

200g butter

50g butter for finish

260ml soda water

1 tsp salt

½ sugar

Filling

1 kg leeks (white section and some green, but not the leaves) finely chopped

½ kg mincemeat

250g Regatto cheese roughly grated

1 onion roughly grated

1 tbsp butter

2 eggs

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp chopped fennel

Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation

Pastry

Put the flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl and add the soda water to make a pliable dough.

Knead the dough well for approx. 10 minutes.

Divide into 4 balls, wrap them in cling film and set aside to rest for 1 hr.

Filling

Boil 1½ litres of water and add the leeks when it comes to the boil.

Continue boiling for 5 minutes.

Drain well.

Whisk the 2 eggs.

While the leeks are still warm, mix in the eggs, cheese and butter.

Set aside to cool.

Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes.

Add the mincemeat and sauté for another 5 minutes.

Add 1 cup water, the fennel, salt and pepper, mix well and simmer until there is no liquid – approx. 20 minutes.

Add the mincemeat to the leek mixture and mix well.

Set aside to cool.

Pastry

Take one of the balls of dough and on a floured surface roll it out into a circle approx. 40cm diameter.

Half melt the 200g butter and brush ¼ of it generously over the pastry.

Fold the pastry into a square in the stages shown in the photos below, tapping it with your hands to make sure there are no air bubbles.

Set aside.

Roll out another ball of dough into a circle approx. 40 cm diameter.

Brush it with another ¼ of the half-melted butter.

Place the first square of pastry in the centre of the circle and fold into a square as in the photos below.

Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for 1 hr.

Repeat this process with the other 2 balls of dough.

After the 1 hr has passed, roll out one of the squares on a floured surface, large enough to cover the bottom of an oven dish as well as the sides and to go over the edge.

Butter the dish and place the pastry on the bottom, flattening it with your hands, up the side and over the edge.

Put the mincemeat and leek filling on top of it.

Fold over the pastry on top of the edge of the filling.

Roll out the other square of pastry and place it on top.

Make a small ridge around the edge. (see photo below)

Melt the 50g butter and brush over the top.

Score the surface into helpings.

Lightly spray the surface with water.

Place in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes, until it has gone golden brown.

Eat and Enjoy!

 

Greek Herbs and Spices - Basil (Vasiliko)

 Image: Wikipedia Commons

This is the first of a series of posts on herbs and spices used in Greek cooking. We're going to keep it in alphabetical order.

The word Basil comes from the Greek word Vasiliko, which is what it is still called in Greece today, meaning royal. It is believed to have grown above the spot where St. Constantine and Helen discovered the Holy Cross in 330 AD and it has been speculated that it may have been used in "some royal unguent, bath, or medicine" (Oxford English Dictionary).

In ancient Greece Hippocrates regarded basil as beneficial to the heart and prescribed it for treatment of constipation and as an anti-emetic.

It also has religious significance. Many Greeks bring basil plants as gifts to the church and the priest will bless the plants for the health and prosperity of people's homes. The Greek Orthodox Church also uses it to prepare holy water. The ancient Greeks, along with the Egyptians, believed that if basil was placed in the hands of a dead person, it would ensure a safe journey and open the gates of heaven for them.