Foraging for Flavor Greek Herbs/Bean Cuisine / Spa ... - Kerasma

Foraging for Flavor Greek Herbs/Bean Cuisine / 

Spa Food à la Grecque/ Dinner with Kazantzakis/ 

Greek Wines on the Global Table/Greek Summer Fruit/ 

New Greek Salad 

SUMMER 2007 

O6

Contents 

ISSUE 6 SUMMER 2007 

Letter from the President of HEPO 4 

Letter from the CEO of HEPO 5 

The Greek Economy at a Glance 6 

Letter from the Editor 9 

Foraging For Flavor: Greek Herbs 

By Diana Farr Louis 

11 

Bean Cuisine 19 

By Georgia Kofinas 

Spa Cuisine à la Grecque 27 

By Anthee Carassava 

Kerasma Spa Cuisine Recipes 34 

At the Table with Kazantzakis 

By The Cretan Scribe 

38 

Flavors of the Aegean 47 

By Diane Kochilas 

Greek Wine on the Global Table 55 

By Sofia Perpera 

Sweet Summer Bounty: Greek Fruits 65 

By Diane Shugart 

Greek Salad Grows Up 73 

By Dimitris Andonopoulos 

Kerasma: New Greek Salad Recipes 78 

Kerasma: Treat Your Taste with Great Recipes 

for Herbs, Beans, Summer Fruits and More 

85 

3 GREEKGOURMETRAVELER

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF HEPO 

We continue our efforts to update the public on great Greek products and cuisine. 

Our various activities from one end of the world to the other have been crowned 

with success and warmly embraced. 

The success of the last year's KERASMA conference in Athens prompted us to 

organize a second international conference. This year we've chosen two of the 

most magical settings, Crete and Santorini, as the venues for the 2nd KERASMA 

conference. 

Now we have an added goal: We want to illustrate the Greek way of living, which 

is indelible linked with Greek food and wine, with the friendly atmosphere of a typical 

Greek table, with good company and with the sharing of exquisite food. Food is 

our pretext for socializing, the vehicle we Greeks turn to in order to forget life's 

hardships. 

Our sound nutrition and delicious cuisine help us recharge and go on with life. They 

also have much to offer the rest of the world. In times like these, when health issues 

are on the forefront of the news, where the epidemic of obesity is spreading all over 

the Western world, the Greek diet offers more than a few pearls of wisdom. The Greek 

diet and the world renowned Cretan diet, which constitutes the core of 

Mediterranean nutrition, offer the tools necessary to confront today's burning health 

issues, because they combine both pleasure and usefulness. We touch upon that in 

this issue of the GreekGourmetraveler, too, in an enlightened article on spa cuisine. 

In the current issue, we also broach the issue of global accessibility, by presenting 

the success Greek wines have enjoyed around the world. Our conference guests will 

be given the opportunity to taste our wines in the striking environment of 

Santorini. 

We address health in this issue by offering up a gamut of articles and recipes for 

beans, herbs, and seasonal fruits, all of them part of the Greek diet, culled from the 

Greek earth. Those are just a few of the things you will find within the pages of our 

latest issue. 

Looking down the road, we want to invite you to enjoy even more healthy Greek 

treats by keeping us on the calendar next October and visiting us at ANUGA. We 

will be more than happy to meet you there and share with you the vast gamut of 

Greek products, our best examples of KERASMA, our Greek cuisine. 

Panagiotis I. Papastavrou 

President 

HEPO 


LETTER FROM THE CEO OF HEPO 

A year and a half has passed since we at HEPO initiated the “Kerasma” campaign 

and in that time Greek food and beverage exports have increased more than 42%, 

to _2.93 billion between 2004 and 2006. 

The success of the Kerasma campaign is unquestionably linked to the increase in 

food and beverage exports and we here at HEPO are proud. 

Since it began, “Kerasma” has been at the heart of some of our most successful 

activities in the international market. With Kerasma as our vehicle, we've forged 

new business partnerships by opening up new markets and upgrading the image of 

Greek products in existing markets. 

Beyond such tangible achievements, though, Kerasma means something else to us 

here at HEPO. Kerasma's success has shown us that our strategy is the right one, 

our direction correct. 

Greek exports have been on such a positive course, evinced by the biggest growth 

rate in years,that now we are thinking ahead to how we'll achieve an even bigger 

increase and intensify our presence abroad. 

We face a few challenges: how to attract the interest of businesses and food and 

wine professionals abroad, and how to broaden and systematize our interaction 

with reliable distribution networks in target markets. 

We here at HEPO believe that only through a continuation and strengthening of 

activities that illustrate all the unique characteristics of Greek food and beverages, 

will we be able to sustain and augment our successes abroad: 

• By identifying Greek food and beverages with Greek- Mediterranean nutrition, a 

model that is now an internationally acknowledged vehicle for balance, health, 

well-being, and longevity 

• By incorporating food with the entire Greek culture, the Greek way of living 

• Through original, qualitative ways of presentation and marketing 

Food and beverages are indelibly linked to quality of life, which is an indisputable 

ingredient in the commercial success of culinary products. With that in mind, we 

have created a new communications tool-a slogan--that will support all our activities, 

embrace our products, and incorporate and boost the notion of offering, of 

Kerasma. We have a great lifestyle, a great table, a great vineyard here in Greece, 

and our new slogan relays that with immediacy and precision: 

From us here at HEPO to you around the world, enjoy our Great Greek style of 

Eating, Drinking, Living. 

Panagiotis Drossos 

CEO, HEPO 


RAPID DEFICIT REDUCTION 

• Deficit of the general government 

has been reduced by 5.3 

percentage points of GDP since 

2004 - from 7.9% of GDP in 2004 

to 2.6% in 2006. It is the first 

time since EMU entrance that 

the deficit falls below the 3% 

limit. 

STRONG GROWTH 

• Economic growth reached 3.7% in 

2005 and 4.3% in 2006. 

• Greece enjoys one of the highest 

growth rates in the European 

Union and the eurozone. In 

2005, the growth rate for EU 

countries was 1.7% and for eurozone 

members 1.4%. 

JOB CREATION AND FALLING 

UNEMPLOYMENT 

• The unemployment rate has fallen 

from 10.5% in 2004 to 8.9% in 

2006. 

• This is the first time that unemployment 

falls below 9% since 1998. 

INCREASING INVESTMENT 

• Total investment in Greece went 

up by 9.5% in 2006 in comparison 

with 2005. 

• In 2006, Foreign Direct 

Investment reached_4.2bn (2% of 

GDP), nine times higher than 

2005. 

RISING EXPORTS 

• Exports went up by 13.7% in 2005 

and by 18.2% in 2006. 

IMPROVING COMPETITIVENESS 

• Greece went up eight places 

according to the latest ranking of 

the Institute for Management 

Development based in 

Switzerland. 

IMPROVED ECONOMIC 

ENVIRONMENT 

• The index of economic climate 

composed by the EU and the 

Foundation for Economic and 

Industrial Research is on a 

steadily upward trend since June 

2005. 

• The latest ratings of Fitch, 

Moody's and R&I reviewed 

Greece's outlook from stable to 

positive. 

The Greek Economy 

at a Glance 


• The Prime Minister of Greece, Mr Kostas Karamanlis with the Greek 

Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr George Alogoskoufis. 

• The Greek Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. George 

Alogoskoufis and his Chinese counterpart Mr. Jin Renqing met in 

Beijing in October 2007 in the context of the largest Greek business 

delegation's visit to China. 

• The Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. George Alogoskoufis 

addressing members of the Japanese business community on “Greece: 

The ideal business partner in Southeastern Europe and the prospects 

of the economy after the Olympic Games”, in Tokyo in May 2005. 

• TThe Greek Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. George 

Alogoskoufis, rings the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange 

in November 2006. 

• The Greek Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. George Alogoskoufis, 

during the India-Greece Business Forum organized by the Hellenic 

Foreign TradeBoard (HEPO) in New Delhi in February 2007. 

• The Greek Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. George Alogoskoufis 

speaks at the presentation of HEPO’s programme for 2007. 


GreekGourmetraveler 

Greek Food, Wine & Travel Magazine 

Editor-in-Chief 

Diane Kochilas 

Editorial Assistant & Translations 

Evelyna Foukou 

Art Director & Designer 

k2design 

HEPO Liaison 

Anastasia Garyfallou 

Contributors 

Dimitris Andonopoulos, Anthee Carassava, 

Georgia Kofinas, Diana Farr Louis, Sofia Perpera, 

The Cretan Scribe, Diane Shugart 

Contributing Chefs 

Yiannis Baxevannis, Hector Botrini, Nena 

Ismirnoglou, Dimitris Lemonis, Miltos Karoumbas, 

Martin Kirchgasser Lefteris Lazarou, Jean Metayer, 

Stelios Parliaros, Christoforos Peskias, Athanasios 

Skouras, Kostas Vassalos 

Photography 

Athens News Agency, Benaki Museum 

Photography Archive (Nelly's, Dimitris Charisiadis, 

Elli Papadimitriou), Yiorgos Dracopoulos, 

Contantinos Pittas, Vassilis Stenos 

Food Styling 

Dawn Brown, Tina Webb 

Printing 

Korifi Publications SA 

ISSN 

1790-5990 

Cover 

Vassilis Stenos 

Publisher 

Hellenic Foreign Trade Board 

Legal representative 

Panagiotis Drossos, CEO 

Marinou Antipa 86-88 

Ilioupoli, 163 46 Athens, Greece 

Tel: 00 30 210 998 2100 

Fax: 00 30 210 996 9100 

http://www.hepo.gr 

http://www.kerasma.com 

8 GREEKGOURMETRAVELER 

SUMMER 2007 

O6 

Information and subscription 

GreekGourmetraveler, a publication of the Hellenic 

Foreign Trade Board, promotes Greek cuisine, wine, 

travel, and culture. The magazine is distributed free 

of charge to food-, beverage-, wine-, and travelindustry 

professionals. 

If you wish to subscribe, visit our website at 

www.hepo.gr or www.kerasma.com 

Reproduction of articles and photographs 

No articles, recipes, or photographs published in 

the GreekGourmetraveler may be reprinted without 

permission from the publisher. All rights 

reserved. GreekGourmetraveler©Hellenic Foreign 

Trade Board.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 

From juicy watermelon to Greek salad revisited, our sixth issue of the 

GreekGourmetraveler is overflowing with the delicious flavors of a sun-drenched 

Greek summer. 

In this issue, we visit islands and savor the cuisine and pantry of the Aegean, but 

we also take you on a delicious, healthful journey to some of Greece's most extraordinary 

travel destinations, its world-class spas, in an article written by Time magazine 

reporter Anthee Carassava. She interviews spa chefs and nutritionists and 

illustrates how our ancient Mediterranean cuisine is still relative and apt for the 

healthful needs of contemporary spa cooking. 

Health and flavor have always gone hand in hand in Greek cuisine. It's no wonder 

that a country with over 6,000 edible plants should also have one of the most profound 

relationships to herbs, as veteran GGT writer Diana Farr Louis reports. 

Tradition abounds in every aspect of the Greek kitchen, but so does innovation, and 

nowhere is it more evident than in the iconoclastic approach modern chefs have 

taken to the most recognized icon of the Greek table: Village Salad. As well-known 

Athenian restaurant critic Dimitris Andonopoulos writes, Greek chefs are putting a 

new spin on this timeless classic. 

In this issue we also pay homage to cuisine in its broader social and cultural terms, 

with a visit upon one of Greece's most renowned literary figures, Nikos 

Kazantzakis, whose works provide a mirror to the food lore of his native Crete. 

No Greek summer table would be complete without a bite into a wedge of cool, 

ripe, succulent summer fruit, from ruby-red cherries to mouthwatering watermelons. 

Greece produces some of the most desirable fruits in Europe, as seasoned GGT 

contributor Diane Shugart relays. 

Arguably, though, no other product of our considerable gastronomic heritage has 

surpassed ethnic boundaries as successfully as our wines have, able to pair up to a 

whole new world of international foods. Oenologist Sofia Perpera pours forth a 

fascinating vintage of Greek wine knowledge, offering valuable advice for how to 

marry the distinct wines of Greece with the global gourmet table. 

This is a strong issue, perhaps our strongest to date, filled with sunny pictures, 

great, informative articles, inspired recipes and more. Enjoy it all summer long, no 

matter where you are! 

Kali Orexi! 

Diane Kochilas 

Editor-in-Chief 


“If you don't have mint, you have nothing,” says Litsa 

Anagnostaki, a taverna owner in Chania, Crete, as she adds a 

finely chopped bunch of fresh leaves to her filling for the 

island's signature cheese pies. “Tea made from rigani (oregano) 

is good for coughs,” advises a bright-eyed great-grandmother 

in Rethymno but, she cautions, “don't sprinkle too much on 

your food because it can make you swell up.” 

Foraging 

For Flavor 

Herbs in Greek Cooking 

and Health 

By Diana Farr Louis 

Photography: Vassilis Stenos 

Food Styling: Dawn Brown 


Both women represent twin 

threads in Greek botanical lore: 

herbs as essential seasonings for 

food and as natural aids to health. 

From earliest times, Greeks had an 

intimate relationship with their 

plants, gathering them from fields 

and mountains, devising uses for 

them over millennia of trial and 

error. Herbs even played a part in 

rituals. 

Some, like thyme and rosemary, 

were burnt as incense--the former 

to instill courage in warriors before 

battle, the latter to banish evil spirits. 

Sweet yet pungent oregano 

branches found their way into both 

wedding garlands and wreaths on 

tombs. Thought to have been created 

by Aphrodite as a symbol of 

happiness, the very word means 

jewel of the mountains (ori = 

mountains, ganos = jewel). 

Marjoram, its milder cousin, was 

also woven into wedding crowns 

and funeral wreaths to bring peace 

and contentment in this life and 

the next. 

Other herbs originated in myth, 

usually as nymphs attempting to 

escape a god's attention or a goddess's 

wrath. Mint (Menthe), for 

example, was a comely favorite of 

Pluto. His ardor inflamed 

Persephone's jealousy. Long since 

accustomed to spending half the 

year in Hades, the queen of the 

underworld started to kick and 

trample the unfortunate lass, but 

Pluto intervened. He transformed 

her into a fragrant, resiliant shrub 

that would remind him of her presence 

every time he touched her 

leaves. 


The laurel or bay tree came into 

being when Apollo pursued the 

lovely but chaste nymph, Daphne. 

Rather than submit to him, she 

turned—with some help from her 

mother, Gaea—into a tree with 

strongly aromatic leaves. Although 

thwarted, Apollo made the tree 

(daphne in Greek) his symbol. He 

wore a pliant branch as a crown to 

herald his victory over the giant 

serpent Python on Mt. Parnassos. 

Later, the winners at the Pythian 

Games at Delphi were also 

crowned with laurel wreaths, while 

the priestess there apparently 

chewed bay leaves before muttering 

her ambiguous prophecies. Its 

connotations of merit and distinction 

have come down to us in 

terms like Nobel Laureate or “to 

rest on one's laurels.”

But an infusion of bay leaves can 

also soothe stomach cramps, and 

their volatile oils act as a tonic for 

the stomach. At the same time, 

they are an indispensable flavoring 

for bean and lentil soups, stews of 

all kinds, marinades, baked fish, 

roast chicken, and even dried figs. 

HERBS THAT HEAL 

Nearly every herb used in Greek 

cooking possesses healing properties. 

Food historian Alan Davidson 

defines an herb as “a plant with a 

stem which is not woody and 

whose green parts, usually leaves, 

sometimes stalks, are used to 

flavour food, as well as a plant of 

medical importance.” This definition 

would exclude bay and rosemary 

and even some varieties of thyme, 

sage and oregano, so we might 

ignore it except as a general guide. 

In fact, it is difficult to draw the line 

between herbs and edible plants in 

Greece, where so many species 

exist and find their way into the 

kitchen or medicine cabinet. 

Any botanist will tell you that 

because of its position between 

Europe, Africa, and Asia, Greece 

accounts for a prodigious wealth of 

plants. At least 6,000 species have 

been identified, 750 of which are 

endemic. Contrast this with 

Britain, which has a mere 2,300 

species. Hippocrates, the father of 

medicine, discovered therapeutic 

uses for 237 plants in the fifth century 

B.C. Two hundred or so years 

later Theophrastus demystified the 

so-called magical attributes of 

healing plants, and in the first century 

A.D. Dioscorides expanded on 

his predecessors' knowledge when 

prescribing cures. His Roman successor, 

Pliny the Elder, managed to 

analyze eight percent of the 6,000 

species. His achievement is truly 

exceptional if you consider that 

barely five percent of the world's 

600,000 species have been studied 

even today. Sadly, after Galen of 

Asia Minor, who was physician to 

Marcus Aurelius in the second century 

AD, all scientific inquiry into 

the nature and qualities of plants 

came to a halt and was not taken 

up again for another 1,400 years. 

This does not mean that ordinary 

people stopped using herbal remedies. 

On the contrary, they continued 

to draw on long-established 

practices, advising camomile for 

eye problems, spearmint for colic 

and vomiting, basil for migraines 


and constipation, parsley for kidney 

disorders and hypertension, 

and sage for almost everything else 

that ailed them, from lack of energy 

to colds, sore throats, and 

memory loss. 

In addition to basic remedies that 

were common knowledge, every 

village had its mendicant, a wise 

man or woman with special 

expertise in plant cures. To this 

day, people go to the herb vendors 

in urban markets and rely on their 

advice for healing various ailments. 

Over time, some areas became 

famous for their folk healers. One 

of these was the Vikos Gorge district 

in Epirus. Specialists known as 

komboyiannites, a composite word 

perhaps deriving from herbal pack- 

ets (kombi) and Yiannina, the town 

nearest the gorge, used to gather 

herbs from the mountains and 

then travel around the Ottoman 

Empire selling them and dispensing 

their cures. Interestingly, when 

spelled with one 'n,' the word also 

means quack. 

But there was no doubt as to the 

benefit of Greek herbs and a diet 

based on them--although it would 

take Westerners until a few 

decades ago to realize this. As 

Paula Wolfert reports in her book 

Mediterranean Greens and Grains at 

the turn of the last century, an 

Ottoman physician dispatched to 

Crete complained to his superiors 

in Constantinople: “Everyone here 

is his own doctor. The people eat 


only herbs, greens, and olive oil. 

They don't need me.” 

They were just doing what came 

naturally. Linear B tablets 

unearthed at Mycenae document 

trade in such herbs as coriander, 

cumin, mint, and fennel. Although 

they were probably used in essential 

oils and perfumes rather than 

condiments, there is strong evidence 

from molecular analysis of 

clay cooking pots that herbs found 

their way into ancient stews. We 

also have the recipes of Athenaeus 

and later Greeks and Romans (who 

always had Greek cooks) that call 

for seasonings such as fennel, 

aniseed, basil, oregano, rue, savory 

(throumbi), sage, and thyme, to 

mention just a few. The Romans 

Herbs capture the 

very essence of 

Greece: light, 

warmth and rocky 

soil

prized dill so highly that the state 

took advantage of its desirability 

and levied a tax on the herb. And 

everyone with a smidgen of knowledge 

of ancient culinary habits 

knows the fate of silphium--a plant 

so popular it was gobbled to 

extinction. 

ANCIENT HERBS, MODERN PLATES 

Many of these herbs are as intrinsic 

to Greek cooking now as they were 

in antiquity; just a few are no 

longer in fashion. Aniseed and 

coriander (whose odor the 

ancients compared to that of bedbugs) 

rarely appear in dishes, sage 

and rue practically never, although 

rue in the garden is thought to 

deter malicious gossip. Other 

herbs are enjoying a comeback. 

Take chervil, for instance. Two varieties, 

called kafkalithres and myroni, 

have recently joined the vast displays 

of greenery at Athens street 

markets as ingredients for salads, 

soups, and stews. A decade ago 

you would have found them only in 

certain dishes in the southern 

Peloponnese. 

Wild fennel (maratho) is also gaining 

favor. With a much more pronounced 

touch of anise than the 

fennel bulb and its feathery leaves, 

it traditionally turns up in the 

cooking of the Aegean islands and 

Crete, and combines beautifully 

with octopus and cuttlefish stews, 

artichokes, greens pies, and on its 

own in fritters (marathokeftethes). 

The name derives from the 

Marathon battlefield, where it supposedly 

grew in abundance. Its 

more delicate relative, dill, appears 

all over the country in lettuce salads, 

spinach and artichoke 

casseroles, pickles and stuffings for 

vegetables and vine leaves. 

While you could gather almost any 

herb except parsley and basil just by 

wandering on a Greek hillside, most 

Greeks today are too busy and too 

urbanized to forage themselves. 

Luckily, they don't have to. At their 

weekly open-air markets, they can 

choose from an array of potted 

plants for their balconies, fragrant 

bunches picked that morning, and 

sachets or bundles of dried herbs. 

The variety is overwhelming. But 


Greek shoppers are notorious in 

demanding only the freshest ingredients 

and sometimes mix up to 

thirty different kinds of greens and 

herbs in their legendary hortopittes 

(greens pies). 

A visit to the herb and spice emporiums 

on Evripidou street around 

the Athens Central Market highlights 

the importance of herbs to 

city dwellers. One corner shop, no 

bigger than a closet, boasts 300 

varieties for sale, neatly stacked in 

cellophane envelopes like office 

files. A larger neighbor, with sackfuls 

of familiar and arcane seasonings, 

never has fewer than 10 cus- 

tomers standing at the counter, 

contradicting the notion that 

Greek cooks hesitate before experimenting 

with new tastes. Says one 

shopkeeper, “You can't predict 

what people will buy. One day 

everyone will want mountain tea, 

the next it might be branches of 

wild rigani.” 

In fact, there are signs that imaginative 

entrepreneurs are beginning 

to look beyond the local market for 

customers. From the covered market 

in Chania to tourist shops in 

Plaka and dozens of resorts, prominent 

displays of attractively packaged 

herbs from all over the coun- 


try show that herbs are fast becoming 

trendy souvenirs. And why not? 

Tastes and memories are inseparable 

and herbs capture the very 

essence of Greece: light, warmth 

and rocky soil. Oregano might well 

grow in a northern climate but it 

will never develop the oils that we 

associate with that extra something 

in our village salad. 

As Andrew Dalby concludes in Siren 

Feasts, a history of food and gastronomy 

in Greece, the reliance on 

certain herbs since time immemorial 

means that “Europe's oldest 

cuisine has never lost its original 

and unique flavor.” 

Herbal infusions are 

a longstanding tradition 

as Greeks have 

always thought of 

herbs for their therapeutic 

as well as aromatic 

qualities.


Every time I ask my Greek student chefs to name a national 

Greek dish, they undoubtedly mention fasolada, bean soup. This 

hearty bean soup, made with plenty of onions, tomatoes, olive 

oil, and aromatic vegetables like celery and carrots or herbs such 

as parsley, is both frugal and nutritious. It is also a mirror of 

regional culinary distinctions, spiked with hot peppers in 

Macedonia, where spicy food is embraced, or perfumed with 

orange zest in Crete. 

Bean 

Cuisine 

By Georgia Kofinas 




Beans and legumes have always 

been essential to the Greek table, a 

staple during fasting, a life-saving 

food during wars and famine. 

Today, beans and legumes are status 

symbols for healthy eating. 

Legumes, which include beans, are 

second only to the cereal grasses in 

their importance in the human 

diet. They contain high percentages 

of protein, iron, and fiber; little 

to no fat; no cholesterol; and 

significant amounts of other minerals, 

such as potassium, zinc, and 

magnesium. They're also a rich 

source of calcium, especially blackeyed 

peas and chickpeas, which 

contain over 200 mg. of calcium in 

one cup, even more than some 

cheeses. 

Legumes have been part of the 

human diet since the days of our 

hunter-gatherer ancestors 12,000 

years ago. The ancient Greeks 

called legumes phaselos (hence the 

Greek word for bean, phasoli), 

which became the Latin Phaseolus, 

a name adopted to describe the 

New World bean family. Legumes 

can be divided into Old World 

legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, 

peas, soybeans, fava beans, 

lupines, and black-eyed peas, and 

New World legumes, which 

include limas, kidney beans, black 

turtle beans, cranberry, and can- 


nellini beans. Today those distinctions 

are essentially academic, 

since New World legumes have 

been cultivated in the 

Mediterranean for centuries. 

GREEK BEAN CUISINE 

While there are regions of Greece 

renowned for the cultivation of 

specific legumes , other parts of 

the country are known for specific 

bean recipes. 

Santorini is known for its many 

recipes for the humble yellow split 

pea and Rhodes and Sifnos are 

renowned for their chick pea dishes. 

In Sifnos, the local specialty is a 

slow-cooked, clay-baked chick pea

soup that simmers all night in 

wood-burning ovens; in Rhodes 

chick-pea fritters spiced with 

cumin are a local treat. 

GREEK PGI BEANS 

Some of Greece's best 

beans are found in the 

northern central regions 

of the Prespes Lakes, 

Nevrokopi, Florina, and 

Kastoria. The famed Greek 

gigantes and elephantes, 

which are varieties of the 

giant white kidney bean, 

have been cultivated up 

here since the 1980s and 

are renowned for their 

Beans and legumes 

have always been 

essential to the 

Greek table. 

excellent quality, thanks 

to the region's moderate 

temperatures and rainfall, 

calcium-rich soil, and 

good drainage of the terrain. 

In 1996, the European 

Union acknowledged the 

giant and elephant 

beans of the Prespes 

Lakes as products of 

Protected Geographic 

Indication (PGI). There 

In Crete, an island with countless 

bean dishes, chick peas are crushed 

and fermented and used as starter 

in one of Greece's most unusual 

are five other PGI designations 

for Greek beans: 

Fasolia Gigantes- 

Elefantes, Kastorias; 

Fasolia Gigantes- 

Elefantes, Kato 

Nevrokopi; Fasolia 

Gigantes-Prespon 

Florinas; Fasolia Koina 

Mesosperma, Kato 

Nevrokopi; and Fasoli 

Plake Megalosperma 

Prespon Florinas. 

breads. They are also served forth 

with fish, especially salt cod. 

But by far, no legume captures the 

local imagination among Cretan 

cooks as much as the ancient 

broad bean, which islanders savor 

both fresh and dried. The former is 

floured and pan-fried when young, 

served raw in salads together with 

wild artichokes, braised with artichokes 

and peas and other spring 

vegetables into lemony one-pot 

masterpieces, and turned, like the 

Santorini split pea, into a luscious 

puree that is the perfect match for 

preserved fish, raw onions, herbs, 

and more. Dried broad beans also 

find their place in the local kitchen, 


soaked in salt water and roasted 

into an irresistible snack that 

tastes almost like popcorn, or 

stewed fragrantly with onions, bay 

leaf, tomatoes, and cinnamon. 

One of the oldest legumes are 

black eyed peas, and in the 

Peloponnese cooks have a special 

affinity for them. Simply boiled, 

they make an appetizing summer 

salad combined with chopped 

fresh onions, parsley or dill, and 

capers. Southern Peloponnese 

recipes for black-eyed peas combine 

them in a stew with chervil, 

celery or wild greens, or baked in a 

thick tomato sauce. 

Legumes and beans are a natural 

match with the countless greens 

and herbs that grow throughout 

Greece, and many a casserole marrying 

both can be found all over the 

country. Cranberry beans cooked 

with celery and pasta make for an 

old Corfu dish of Jewish origin; 

chick peas and spinach are a classic 

of the cuisine of Epirus, as are bean 

soups with country style sausages 

or with cabbage, and even stewed 

lamb or pork with beans. 

So many bean and legume recipes 

are region-specific, but bean cui- 

Dishes that marry beans and greens 

are found all over Greece. 


sine is enjoyed far and wide all over 

the country. Legumes are paired 

with rice in nutritionally balanced, 

simple dishes; fakorizo, or lentilrice 

pilaf, and chick peas with rice 

are two classics. Pasta and beans 

are among some of the oldest 

Greek dishes, especially in places 

like Rhodes, where chick peas and 

noodles are a match, and in Corfu, 

where cranberry beans, celery and 

pasta combine to make one of the 

heartiest Greek stews. Soups are 

made with all manner of legumes, 

but the lentil and the cannellini 

reign supreme.


OTHER REGIONAL BEANS 

Greece's northern clime, 

with its ample rainfall and 

rich soil is conducive to bean 

production, but other 

regions in the country, especially 

some of the islands, 

are known for their excellent 

A GIANT IN EVERY WAY 

But by far, the one Greek legume 

that stands above all others, as 

standard fare on taverna menus, as 

an ambassador of the elegant simplicity 

of the best Greek cooking, 

and as fodder for modern chefs, is 

quality old-world varieties. 

Santorini, for example, with 

its dry climate, and calciumrich, 

porous soil, is particularly 

conducive to the production 

of yellow split peas, called fava 

in Greek. Arguably, Santorini's 

fava, tiny, pale yellow, and 

almost chalky, as if to evince 

the island's volcanic soil, is one 

of the most “haute” of Greece's 

regional legumes. This topquality 

yellow split pea melts 

when boiled into a delicious, 

velvety puree. Although yellow 

split pea puree is common 

the Greek giant bean, gigantes. 

Boiled then baked in a rich tomato 

sauce until the skin becomes 

crispy while the bean retains its 

buttery softness, gigantes are one 

of the all-time favorite Greek dishes. 

They are also extremely versa- 

There are six Greek bean varieties 

acknowledged by The European Union as 

products of Protected Geographic Indication. 


fare all over Greece, typically 

served with raw onions and 

olive oil, it has been the staple 

food on the island for eons. It 

is also the stuff of contemporary 

Santorini cuisine. Chefs 

turn the humble yellow split 

pea into fritters, sauces, pie 

tile. Fine Greek restaurants might 

serve them as an accompaniment 

to charred octopus, with nothing 

more than a simple dressing of 

olive oil, vinegar, salt, and 

oregano. 

In my cooking classes we've

crusts, and luscious purees, 

served forth in martini glasses 

and terrines, and garnished 

with everything from seafood 

to capers to kiwis. 

An even rarer and much less 

commercial regional legume 

is the tiny, delicate, pale 

boiled, skewered, and rolled them 

in bread crumbs before frying 

them in olive oil as a tasty meze, 

and I have encouraged my students 

to add them to the classic 

Greek salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, 

onions, and feta. 

brown lentil cultivated in the 

high altitude village of 

Englovis on the Ionian island 

of Lefkada, where the mild 

temperatures allow for its 

early harvest. Local cooks 

simply boil lentils with garlic, 

oregano, and olive oil and 

press them against the sides 

of the pot until they are 

mashed, adding just enough 

water to make a thick 

creamy soup. 

A very popular Old World bean 

is the kouki, or large, green 

broad bean, which Americans 

Certain preparations, such as 

soups and some of the heartier 

stews, are seasonal, winter dishes, 

but by and large most Greek bean 

dishes know no season and are 

delicious year-round. They may 

also be served at room tempera- 

typically call fava beans. Crete, 

especially the island's moderately 

wet Lasithi plateau, is 

known for its broad beans, 

but so are Alexandroupoli and 

Halkidiki in northeastern 

Greece, Ioannina in the northwest, 

and Corfu. 

ture when cooked on their own 

with olive oil. Contemporary chefs 

are rediscovering legumes as a way 

to offer healthy menu items but 

also as a way to play with the textures, 

colors, and flavors of these 

versatile ingredients. 


Does the thought of Spa Cuisine conjure up visions of a lone 

lettuce leaf and insipid proteins? Does a “detox menu” beckon 

a denial of pleasurable foods or an acceptance of unpalatable 

ones? If so, then think again. There's no reason, say skilled 

culinary experts and nutritionists across Greece, why the 

notion of health and fitness can't blend smoothly with a savory, 

satisfying meal, one in which the basics of the Greek- 

Mediterranean diet marry perfectly. 

Spa Cuisine 

à la Grecque 

Greece's culinary traditions marry 

perfectly with healthful spa fare 

By Anthee Carassava 


“Spa cuisine,” says Roula Tsakalou, 

head nutritionist at the Hotel 

Grande Bretagne's GB Spa, “is not 

about dieting, fads, or weightreduction 

programs that strain the 

emotional and physical balance of 

the body.” The emphasis, she says, 

is a “mindful approach toward food 

that encourages healthy dietary 

habits.” That means high-quality 

whole foods, minimally processed 

and simply prepared to maximize 

natural beauty, flavor, and health 

benefits.” 

“For us,” says Tsakalou, who spent 

months developing a spa cuisine 

menu with Grande Bretagne's head 

chef, “spa cuisine has less to do 

with calories or grams of carbohydrates 

and fats, and more with a 

wholesome, healthy meal that 

complements the relaxing experience 

offered at the spa.” 

Take the GB's savory tuna carpaccio, 

as an example. Drizzled with 

sesame ginger dressing and often 

followed with green asparagus 

splashed with fresh Greek yogurt 

dressing and toasted pine kernels, 

the dish is just one of the scrumptious 

healthy choices offered at the 

hotel's sprawling Atrium. 

Other popular menu items include 

a (very Greek) fricassee of seasoned, 

pan-seared chicken breast 

with artichoke hearts. Sprinkled 

with chopped thyme, the dish 

rivals any gourmet meal offered at 

the five-star Grande Bretagne. “We 

went to great lengths not to 


deprive our meals of taste and 

enjoyment,” says Tsakalou. 

Low calorie food dominated the 

1980s, switching, a decade later, to 

low-fat products. Then, came the 

“carb-craze” era. Today, a wiser nutritional 

approach to eating is taking 

root, one in which vegetables—one 

of the mainstays of the Greek diet— 

play center plate. Good taste, of 

course, is crucial, and in the Greek 

kitchen flavors are always robust. 

In recent years, food researchers in 

the United States have started 

working on spa-inspired entrees 

with lighter flavors, different ingredients, 

and larger vegetable portions. 

Such was the interest, that 

spa cuisine and its panoply of easyto-prepare 

dishes took home-cook-

ing and connoisurs by storm. "Spa 

food is very health-conscious," says 

Jeff Crosland, executive chef at Red 

Mountain Spa in St. George, Utah. 

"Its aim is to maintain the highest 

integrity of the food, both nutrient- 

and taste-wise." 

With Greek food maintaining many 

salient features such as the use of 

olives, olive oil, cheeses made with 

goats' or sheeps' milk, and other 

natural products, chefs and nutritionists 

concede the national cuisine 

is naturally apt for spa cuisine. 

Greek cuisine, they say, displays an 

overwhelming capacity to absorb 

and reprocess influences from 

practically any direction. 

“Greece could be the host of spa 

cuisine,” says Keith-Thomas Ayoob, 

Greek cuisine, with 

its emphasis on freshness, 

is naturally apt 

for spa cookery. 

a Greek-American nutritionist, television 

host, and national 

spokesperson for the American 

Dietetic Association. “Greek cuisine 

is all about freshness—plenty of 

fruits and vegetables, beans, lots of 

fish, and, of course, the olive oil.” 

Despite Spa Cuisine's new-found 

craze and Greek influence in the 

West, spa cuisine in Greece is just 

beginning to gain momentum. 

Most deluxe hotels in Athens offer 

menus with light, healthy mealsmainly 

leafy salads, fresh juices 

(made with the country's excellent 

selection of seasonal fruits), and 

herbal teas, another tradition in 

Greece, where herbs have long 

been consumed for their therapeutic 

values. 

Still, the Grande Bretagne has been 

one of the initiators of spa cuisine, 

nudging the lifestyle-cum-culinary 

trend to a new level since inaugurating 

its palatial, five-star spa in 

the heart of the Greek capital in 

2003. Since then, other hotels and 

spas have followed suit. 

The key to spa cuisine is fresh, 

organically grown produce. Savory 

rubs, brines, and marinades are 

used more commonly, adding zest 

without fat. Fish, also, are 

smoked, cured, and poached and 

complemented with fresh sauces 

and garnishes of garlic, lemon, and 

parsley. 

At Life Gallery, a modern hotel nestled 

in the northern outskirts of 

Athens, hotel chef Dimitris 


Lemonis says he gives “serious consideration” 

to the food's origin, seasonality, 

and nutritional value as 

well as the complete culinary experience. 

Lemonis' innovative and 

appetizing menus highlight his 

culinary expertise in gourmet 

restaurants. 

Among the tasty monthly selections 

offered: tender spinach leaves 

with a variation of Greek nuts, 

olive oil and lemon vinaigrette, 

roasted salmon, and a captivating 

carrot granita. 

“The objective is to avoid highly 

processed foods and artificial additives, 

and to reduce the intake [of 

foods ] that are high in saturated 

fat or cholestorol,” says Lemonis. 

“With this is mind,” he quips, “Greek 

cuisine offers the best basis for spa 

cuisine.” 

Indeed. With its high intake of 

cereals, grains, vegetables, dried 

beans, olive oil, fresh herbs, and 

seafood, the Mediterranean diet— 

believed to help reduce the risk of 

heart disease and increase life 

expectancy—offers an easy basis 

for the switch to spa cuisine. 

In Aedipsos, Evia, north of Athens, 

the Thermae Sylla Spa Wellness 

Hotel makes use of the fertile earth 

that provides the raw ingredients 

for a tantalizing variety of delicious 

and healthy dishes. 

Greece, says chef Thomas 

Constantine of Thermae Sylla, “is 

rich in food resources due to its climate 

and geographic location. We 


make great use of those natural 

products and produce our own 

seasonal vegetables and oil in a 

local garden.” Local producers are 

also carefully screened for their 

products. 

“Any use of ready-made, canned or 

processed foods is forbidden,” he 

says. 

Among the dishes carefully prepared 

at Sylla's resort spa: wild rice 

with baby shrimp, grilled fillet of 

pork with homemade applesauce, 

and Cretan barley rusk with fresh 

tomato, aromatic herbs, olive oil 

and Cretan soft sheep's milk 

cheese. 

Feta fits in too. But instead of 

using a huge slab on top of the 

salad, suggests Ayoob, take about


a quarter of the portion and crumble 

it over the salad. Dessert is also 

part of spa cuisine. A pear poached 

in some Mavrodaphne wine or a 

fruit salad with a little sweet 

Samos Muscat wine are both great 

ends to a healthful meal. An other 

option, says Ayoob, “ is some of the 

low-fat strained Greek yogurt and 

spoon sweets. The idea here is that 

they are 'spoon' sweets not 'scoop' 

sweets. That means that you have 

a small spoon of your favorite one 

and not the whole jar with your 

yogurt.” 

On the island of Crete, the Six 

Senses Spa offers another succulent 

experience. Situated within 

the Elounda De Luxe Resort, the 

breathtaking spa provides an unrivalled 

range of signature treatments 

and treats that focus on 

health, beauty, stress reduction, 

and rejuvenation using pure and 

natural products. 

Most importantly, Elounda chefs 

and managers say the menu's 

emphasis is on the region's most 

prided products: fish and seafood. 

“For us,” says Jean Metayer, the 

French-born chief chef of the 

resort, “the emphasis was working 

with Greek products not Greek cuisine 

per se to produce the basis of 

a healthy spa cuisine menu.” 

Calorie counts and diet thinking 

were “taken least into consideration” 

says Metayer who crafted the 

menu three years ago with Jacque 

Le Divellec, star chef and owner of 

Frances' Michelin 2-star Le Sea 

Grill. 

The result? A lavish Spa Cuisine 

menu available to every customer, 

Anthee Carassava is the Athens correspondent for Time magazine. 


not just to the resort's spa-goers. 

Starters include a string of light 

entrees ranging from lobster 

carpaccio and lemon-olive oil vinaigrette 

to octopus salad with local 

Cretan pligouri (cracked wheat). 

The sea bass tartar with light 

lemon mousse tops the menu's 

main course meal, together with 

crayfish and aubergine caviar, and 

sole filets with Greek yogurt-herb 

pesto. The menu is a star attraction 

for most visitors who take to 

Elounda for a deluxe vacation. 

Greeks have always known that 

their native cuisine and sun-andsea-drenched 

raw ingredients provide 

the basis for one of the world's 

healthiest diets; it makes perfect 

sense that these timeless traditions 

marry perfectly with contemporary 

spa trends.

Marinated Sea Bream 

Grande Bretagne, Executive Chef Martin Kirchgasser 

For 4 servings 

1 3/4 pounds (400 gr) seabream 

100 ml lemon juice 

1 scant tsp. salt 

1 scant tsp. sugar 

3 tsp. chopped spring onions 

1 small red chili pepper 

100 ml olive oil 



Kerasma recipes Spa Cuisine 

1. Cut the sea bream into very thin 

slices and marinate with the salt, 

sugar, lemon juice, chili and spring 

onions for about 10 minutes. 

2. Place the sea bream on a plate, 

sprinkle with fresh spring onions and 

olive oil. Serve.

Grilled Swordfish with Fennel and Eggplants 

Grande Bretagne, Executive Chef Martin Kirchgasser 

For 4 servings 

2 pounds (800 gr) Swordfish fresh 

1 3/4 pounds (200 gr.) eggplant, sliced 

1 3/4 pounds (200 gr.) zucchini sliced 

1 3/4 pounds (200 gr.) fennel sliced 

100 ml olive oil 

60 ml lemon juice 

1 pound (400 gr.) potatoes sliced, cooked 



1. Grill the swordfish until medium 

done. Grill the sliced eggplants, zucchini, 

fennel and potatoes and place 

them on a warm plate. 

2. Mix the lemon juice and the olive oil 

with some salt and pepper and sprinkle 

over the swordfish. Serve. 


Tomato Salad 

Life Gallery Spa, Chef Dimitris Lemonis 

For 1 serving 

3 oz. (100 gr.) tomato 

2 oz. (60 gr.) cucumber 

1 ½ oz. (40 gr.) arugula leaves 

2 Tbsp. chopped water cress 

2 Tbsp. curly endive, chopped 

1 scant Tbsp. chopped scallion 

30 gr. light Greek Anthotyro or cottage cheese 

1 ½ Tbs. extra virgin Greek olive oil 

1 scant Tbsp. lemon juice 

Salt and pepper to taste 




1. Dice the tomato and cucumber and 

finely chop all the greens and scallion. 

2. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon 

juice, salt, and pepper. Serve the salad 

in a bowl, drizzle with the dressing 

and garnish with the cheese. Serve.

Baked Gilthead Bream with Steamed Vegetables 

Life Gallery Spa, Chef Dimitris Lemonis 

For 1 serving 

1 whole gilthead bream (about 1 pound/400 gr.) 

1 oz. (30 gr.) cauliflower 

1 oz. (30 gr.) broccoli 

1 oz. (30 gr.) carrots 

1 oz. (30 gr.) asparagus tips 

1 oz. (30 gr.) thin green beans 

30 ml extra virgin Greek olive oil 

Fleur de sel 

Pepper to taste 



1. Wash, scale, and gut the fish very 

well. Cut into two fillets and pat dry. 

2. Marinated the fish fillets in olive oil, 

lemon juice, fleur de sel, and pepper. 

3. Steam the vegetables for 5-8 minutes. 

In the meanwhile, grill the fish 

on high heat for 5-6 minutes. Season 

the vegetables with salt and serve all 

together. 


Of all the contemporary depictions of Greece, perhaps none 

has left as lasting an impression as Zorba the Greek, brainchild 

of Cretan writer and Nobel candidate Nikos Kazantzakis. 

Although Zorba was not a Cretan, Kazantzakis graced his protagonist 

with one of the most emblematic Cretan characteristics: 

leventia, a word that combines gallantry, honor, defiance of 

unjust authority, bounteousness, largesse, open-heartedness, 

and panache all in one. 

At the Table with 

Kazantzakis 


By the Cretan Scribe 

Photography: Athens News Agency 

Benaki Museum Photography Archive 


Vassilis Stenos

Kazantzakis (1883-1957), the 

emblematic literary figure of Crete 

par excellence, was born in 

Herakleion and made the island 

the backdrop for many of his 

books. Through his works, we 

glimpse the rich heritage of Crete, 

its history, its daily life, its leventia. 

We also garner much about the 

ancient yet constant food ways of 

the island. 

In two of his works, namely Report 

to Greco and Freedom or Death, 

Kazantzakis includes references to 

food that provide glimpses of the 

islanders’ relationship to the table, 

level more profound than that of 

mere nutrition. These depictions, 

though written five decades ago, 

are still fitting and telling of the 

island's rich food culture, which 

epitomizes the generosity of the 

Cretan, and Greek, spirit. 

Hospitality might find itself connected 

with quantity and largesse. In 

Freedom or Death, a novel about a rev- 


olutionary commander in Ottomanoccupied 

Crete, Kazantzakis writes 

about centenarian grandfathers 

who express the fullness of their life 

by enumerating their offspring, then 

tallying the enemies they had killed 

in honest battle and the war 

wounds they had received in the 

process. Inevitably, they describe 

their cellars overflowing with 

wheat, barley, olive oil, wine, 

honey, raisins, and dried figs, then 

declare that they are ready to 

Dimitris Charisiadis © Benaki Museum Archive

depart this life, as they have provided 

their descendants with freedom 

(through battles) and with 

material goods (the filled cellars). 

Such a reckoning is as old as man, 

evident in the Homeric eidata polla 

(“a multitude of foodstuffs”), and 

the Bible: 

And they took strong cities, and a fat 

land, and possessed houses full of all 

goods, wells digged, vineyards, and 

oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: 

so they did eat, and were filled, 

Through 

Kazantzakis’ work, 

we glimpse the rich 

heritage of Crete. 

Nelly’s © Benaki Museum Archive 

and became fat, and delighted themselves 

in thy great goodness. 

(Nehemiah 9:25) 

The bounty of the land continues 

to this day in Crete, a place blessed 

with a varied geography and climate, 

with people who still live 

close to the land, and with cooks 

inventive enough to turn simple 

vegetables into delicious, nutritious 

fare—the quintessence of the 

Mediterranean diet. It is not accidental 

that agricultural produce, 


and especially cereals (the staff of 

life), are called gennimata in Greek, 

which means “that which the earth 

has given birth to.” 

Food, however, does not limit itself 

to the notion of plentifulness, for the 

simple reason that agricultural 

bounty has been a phenomenon 

that is no more than four decades 

old. Food is also intimately tied to 

the deepest of all Cretan sentiments: 

hospitality, camaraderie, and pride. 

In Freedom or Death, Kazantzakis 


Elli Papadimitriou © Benaki Museum Archive Nelly’s © Benaki Museum Archive

gives us Aliagas, the emaciated 

and smooth-faced neighborhood 

pauper, who describes eloquently 

and poetically to the neighborhood 

housewives the [fictitious and nonexistent] 

elaborate meals that he 

has prepared and consumed. The 

housewives all marvel at his gastronomic 

prowess, and then exhort 

and implore him to accept some of 

their own homely, simple food; this 

is nothing but a stratagem to offer 

alms and food to the pauper in a 

way that would not hurt his pride 

or make him appear the beggar. 

Hospitality is overriding in Crete to 


the point that, even nowadays, 

Cretan hosts will urge a guest to 

partake of their food in ways and 

with language the guest could 

consider obtrusive, even brash. 

This constitutes part of an ageslong 

shrewd and astute game, in 

which the host has to preempt the 

guest's initial, polite, refusal of the 

food offered. 

In Report to Greco, Kazantzakis 

describes a poignant incident that 

shows how Cretans interpret their 

duty of hospitality. In one of the 

author's treks throughout Crete, 

nightfall found him at an unfamil- 



iar village. He knocked on the door 

of the village priest, knowing that 

he could spend the night at his 

house. The priest welcomes him 

cordially, offers him dinner and a 

bed for the night. In the morning, 

he prepares breakfast for him and 

then bids him farewell. Minutes 

later, on the street, Kazantzakis is 

informed by a passerby that the 

priest's only son had died the day 

before and that, even as he was 

being served dinner by the priest, 

the bereaved female relatives were 

holding a vigil to lament the son's 

loss. However, it was unthinkable

to the priest not to open the door 

and offer food to a stranger. 

In the middle of August, walking in 

the sultry afternoon heat, 

Kazantzakis meets an old lady on 

the street who treats him to two of 

the figs she had just collected. 

Surprised, Kazantzakis asks the old 

woman: 

“Lady, do you know me?” 

She looks at him as if she were 

startled by the question, and 

answers back: 

“No, child. Do I have to know you 

to offer you a treat? Aren't you a 

human being? I am a human being 


too. Isn't that reason enough?” 

The word the writer uses here for 

'treat' is filévo, which comes from 

“offer a tidbit (what the rest of 

Greece calls a kérasma) to a friend.” 

Crete has always been an agrarian 

society and the close ties people 

have to the land, its cycle of 

growth and all it gives them are 

evinced in Kazantzakis' works. 

In another August incident from 

Report to Greco, Kazantzakis 

describes his childhood memory of 

sleeping outdoors in a watermelon 

patch and being alarmed by unfamiliar 

creaking and squeaking nois- 

es. He sidles over to his uncle, who 

was sleeping some distance away, 

and asks him if he knows what 

these noises are. “Go back to sleep, 

city boy,” his peasant uncle says, irritated 

that his sensitive nephew had 

interrupted his sleep. “Is it the first 

time you hear that? It's just the 

watermelons as they are stretching, 

expanding, and growing.” 

In yet another stroll through Cretan 

villages, Kazantzakis sees a bird of a 

steel-blue hue flying overhead and 

whistling. Fascinated by it, he asks 

a villager for its name. The villager, 

ever-practical, shrugged his shoul- 


Nelly’s © Benaki Museum Archive

ders and responds: “What are you 

fretting about? That bird's not an 

edible one!” 

In yet another passage from Report 

to Greco Kazantzakis mentions a 

laurel wreath awarded to him for a 

university saber-fencing victory. At 

that time, he was planning to travel 

around Europe with a friend, 

who suggested they should take 

the laurel wreath up north with 

them, as the leaves would be indispensable 

for stifàdo, a slowbraised, 

spiced ragout of meat, 

tomatoes, and onions. After a twoyear 

stint in Germany, all the laurel 

leaves (and tokens of his victory) 

were gone, sacrificed on the altar 

of many successive stifàdos. 

It is not accidental that Crete is 

called Megalonisos, the big island, 

for its largesse extends not only to 

physical size (it is the fifth largest 

island in the Mediterranean) but 

to its spirit and its people, who 

regale you with stories—and 

meals—larger than life. Even the 

smallest of gestures evince that 

spirit, from the impromptu offering 

of a shot-glass (or two) of tsikoudia, 

the fiery grape distillate 

each Cretan house is amply 

stocked with, to the offering of a 

glyko tou koutaliou, fruit preserve, 


Dimitris Charisiadis © Benaki Museum Archive 

upon visiting any Cretan at home. 

Even small things will be offered 

with a richness of gesture. But the 

guest has a reciprocal responsibility, 

too. Once you have satisfied 

your hunger and thirst, don't be 

surprised if you hear your host 

utter a variation of this Homeric 

turn of phrase: 

We opened our door for you, we offered 

you water to clean up, and have put 

plenty of food and drink before you. 

Now, it's your turn to delight us by 

telling us who you are, who your family 

is, where you come from, and what 

you saw and experienced in this journey 

that has led you to our table. 

Nelly’s © Benaki Museum Archive

Nothing conjures up the dreamy images of Greece better than 

the Aegean, home to countless islands big and small and to 

cooking traditions as old as Homer. 

Flavors of 

the Aegean 

Greece's islands are home 

to some of the country's 

most unique foods 

By Diane Kochilas 




Islanders have their unique existence, 

defined by the deepest bond 

to place and familial roots, in common 

with one another, regardless of 

whether they come from places as 

off-the-beaten track as Ikaria or as 

cosmopolitan as Rhodes or 

Santorini. Even the most touristed 

islands, overrun by throngs of visitors 

between April and October, 

revert to their ancient selves once 

the crowds go home. Agrarian 

rhythms mark the days and seasons. 

Beyond the strong sense of place 

islands impart to their native sons 

and daughters, the Aegean islands 

are truly each and every one a sep- 

arate universe. Their landscapes 

are different from one another, 

their histories individual—some 

grand and indelibly linked to the 

history of modern Europe; others 

humbler and untrammeled still. 

Even within specifically grouped 

islands like the Cyclades and the 

Dodecanese, each place is distinct, 

often with its own dialect, its own 

customs, and, without a doubt, its 

own cuisine and place-specific 

ingredients and dishes. 

Yet, Aegean cooking may also be 

seen as a whole, hewn of the peculiarities 

of island life, the isolation, 

the uncompromising arid land- 


scape that characterizes most 

Aegean islands, where raw ingredients 

were traditionally limited to a 

few garden vegetables, pulses, wild 

greens, fish, some meat, typically 

goat or lamb. But this simple litany 

of raw ingredients evolved over 

time into countless delicious dishes, 

paeans to the ingenuity of simple 

cooks who hold one thing dear: 

a respect for fine, seasonal foods. 

The cooking of the Greek islands is 

elemental Greek cooking. In some 

places, fish plays a more important 

role than in others; in some 

islands, such as Sifnos, the staple 

food might be the humble chick 

Syros’ famed sweet, loukoumi.

pea, whereas in others, like 

Santorini, the tiny yellow split pea 

is the food of sustenance. In 

Rhodes, the chick pea is also the 

stuff of a national dish, in the form 

of fritters seasoned with cumin, a 

spice rarely found in other regional 

Greek dishes and one that perhaps 

evinces the island's place as a gateway 

East and South. But Aegean 

cookery is nonetheless defined by 

its foundations: The three pillars of 

the Mediterranean, grapes, grains, 

and olives, reign supreme in all the 

islands in one form or another. 

The pantry reflects agrarian customs, 

from oddities like the salt- 

Island cooks prefer 

honest, straightforward 

dishes that 

allow the ingredients 

to shine. 

cured goat-meat pastourma on my 

native island (it's hardly a commercial 

product and is almost always 

used to flavor bean soup) to more 

elaborate charcuterie such as the 

wine-soaked specialties of the 

Cyclades and the unusual cured 

fish that have been specialties of 

Santorini, Sifnos, and other places. 

In parts of the Dodecanese, certain 

rare shellfish are put up in seawater 

brines, and to this day accompany 

fishermen on their journeys 

out to sea. 

One of the grandest chapters in 

the culinary annals of the Aegean 

is surely its cheeses, with each 

island claiming at least one specialty 

and many boasting a handful of 

unique, fascinating products. 

Regardless of specific products and 

dishes, the cuisine of the Aegean is 

marked by a pared down, no-nonsense 

aesthetic, one that surely 

derives from the hardships of island 

life. Cooks here prefer honest, 

straightforward dishes that allow 

the ingredients to shine. In an effort 

to share knowledge of at least some 

of those raw ingredients, I have 

included a brief pantry of the Aegean 

as a way for distant mariners to 

enjoy the simple delights of the 

Aegean's mystical islands. 


The Aegean Pantry 

(Adapted from The Glorious Foods of 

Greece, William Morrow Publishers, 

2001) 

NORTHEASTERN AEGEAN CHEESES 

Anthotyro Lesvou. Hard, bluerind, 

fez-shaped, aged whey 

cheeses that are made from 

sheep's milk and are a tradition on 

Lesvos. Sometimes the cheese, 

once air-dried, is further dehydrated 

in low-temperature ovens, 

which helps it keep for long. 

Kalathaki. The name means basket 

and it refers to the lovely basket-shaped, 

goat's milk white brine 

cheese, akin to feta, that is native 

to Limnos. 

Ladotyri. Another cheese from 

Lesvos, Ladotyri, or “oil cheese,” is a 

Ikaria 

hard, yellow sheep's milk cheese 

that is air-dried then steeped in 

olive oil to preserve. 

Mastello. A relatively new cheese, 

mastello is produced on Chios and 

is mild and sweet. It is an excellent 

cheese for frying. 

Melichloro. This is a sea-washed, 

sun-dried goat's milk cheese that is 

made only on Limnos. 

Touloumotyri. One of the most 

ancient Greek cheeses, touloumotyri 

is essentially a fermented 

goat's milk cheese, extremely pungent, 

and aged in goat skins. 

OTHER NORTHEASTERN AEGEAN 

PANTRY ITEMS 

Mastiha. The crystal, resinous 

spice hails exclusively from Chios, 

where it has been produced since 


antiquity. It is highly aromatic and 

therapeutic; in the kitchen, 

Mastiha traditionally is used in 

bread-baking and pastries, but 

contemporary chefs marry it with 

myriad other ingredients, from 

chocolate to fish. 

Kalloni Sardines. The delicious, 

lightly salted sardines that come 

from the Bay of Kalloni in Lesvos 

are considered one of the best 

meze in all of Greece. 

CYCLADES CHEESES 

Arseniko. A hard, yellow table and 

grating cheese from Naxos, 

arseniko is one of the many delicious, 

combination aged sheep's - 

and - goat's - milk cheeses in the 

Greek pantheon. 

Chloro. The simple white goat's 

Manoura from Sifnos (foreground) is aged in 

wine dregs; Kalathaki, right, is a goat’s milk 

cheese from Limnos.

milk cheese from Santorini, can be 

eaten either fresh (and soft) or 

aged, as a grating cheese (either 

air-dried or brined) and is especially 

delicious over island pasta. 

Manoura Sifnou. One of the most 

unique, pungent, delicious specialty 

cheeses in all of Greece, manouri 

from Sifnos is a hard goat's milk 

cheese with a pinkish hue and 

dark, winy aroma thanks to the 

time it spends aging in wine dregs. 

Graviera. There are too many 

types of graviera cheeses to list 

individually, however the Cyclades 

hold the distinction of being the 

only place in Greece where cow's 

milk graviera is produced. 

Generally, graviera is a lovely, 

sweet and nutty table cheese that 

pairs well with everything from 

From left to right: graviera, kopanisti cheese, 

and Santorini capers 

pasta to sauteed vegetables to 

fruit and honey. 

Kopanisti. The name means 

“whipped” or “beaten,” and the 

cheese, soft and very peppery, is a 

specialty of Mykonos, Tinos, 

Andros, and other Aegean islands, 

where it often ages in clay jugs 

until it acquires its characteristic 

pungency. 

Myzithra. A soft, mild whey 

cheese found all over the islands, 

indeed all over Greece. 

Petroti. From the Greek word for 

rock (petra), this lovely disk-shaped, 

cow's milk cheese is pressed 

between rocks and drained. It is 

mild and semi-soft. 

San Mihalis. Although it is a relative 

newcomer to the pantheon of 

Greek cheeses, San Mihalis, a hard, 

cow's milk, PDO cheese from Syros, 

is one of the most esteemed in 

Greece. 

Spilias Milou. One of the many 

artisanal cheese produced in the 

Greek island’s; what distinguishes 

this hard, yellow cheese from the 

island of Milos is its aging process: 

The cheese is rubbed with pressed 

olive mash and aged in clay jugs for 

at least six months. 

Xynomyzithra. This is a cheese 

whose name refers to slightly different 

cheese’s, all soft and peppery, 

depending on where the cheese is 

made. In the Cyclades it is produced 

mainly on Naxos and Tinos, but is 

also produced on Crete. 

OTHER CYCLADES PANTRY ITEMS 

Apokti. A vinegar-brined and cinna- 


mon-and pepper-tinged cured pork 

loin that is a specialty of Santorini. 

Capers. In various parts of the 

Cyclades, but mainly in Santorini 

and Sifnos, capers are picked wild 

and used in all sorts of dishes. The 

berries, buds, and leaves are all put 

to good culinary use in salads, 

stews, and more. 

Fava. In Greek the term refers to 

the yellow split pea, which is a specialty 

of Santorini. Thanks to the 

island's chalky, volcanic soil, the 

yellow split peas grown here are 

delicious, with concentrated flavor 

and an unrivalled ability to cook 

down into the most velvety of 

mashes, which is how islanders 

Lountza, a cured pork product 

and others generally eat them. 

Louza. From the word for loin, as 

in pork loin, louza is a wine-andspice 

cured meat made in Syros, 

Tinos, and Andros. 

Tomatinia Santorinis. These are 

the nearly “waterless” (thanks to the 

island's dry clime) small, intensely 

flavored tomatoes that have been 

part of Santorini's culinary lore for 

almost two centuries. A vibrant 

tomato canning industry still exists 

on the island; the tomatoes are 

even made into spoon sweets. 

DODECANESE CHEESES 

Krassotyri. This specialty of Kos is 

a log-shaped, ribbed wine-soaked 

Note: For information on Cretes Cuisine and pantry, look in the 

GreekGourmetraveler, issue 3, summer 2006. 


cheese that has enjoyed some 

commercial success in recent years 

as large island cheese manufacturers 

have begun to produce it and 

sell it off the island. Similar winesoaked 

cheeses are also produced 

in Nyssiros and Leros. 

Sitaka. One of the most unusual 

dairy products in Greece, sitaka is a 

tart, creamy spread, not unlike 

yogurt cheese, made from slightly 

fermented sheep's and/or goat's 

milk, which has been salted slightly 

and reduced over low, traditionally 

wood-burning, fire. It is a specialty 

of Kassos and served with a 

delicious local pasta dish together 

with caramelized onions.

Tandoori and carpaccio are two types of food most people 

wouldn't think to marry with Greek wine. But the truth is, from 

the spicy Greek wines of the north to the mineral-rich wines of

the Aegean islands, Greek wines are surprisingly compatible 

with the global table. Food-friendly and chef-friendly, they 

marry impressively well with a vast range of flavors and cuisines. 

Greek Wine 

on the Global 

Table 

By Sofia Perpera 

Photography: Constantinos Pittas, Vassilis Stenos 

Food Styling: Dawn Brown, Tina Webb 


I can say this now, after a decade 

or so of promoting Greek wine in 

the world's toughest wine market, 

America. When I moved to Atlanta 

from my native Athens, where, as a 

trained oenologist, I had seen firsthand 

the exciting transformation 

of the Greek wine industry, shock 

rippled across my professional life. 

As I made my first forays into the 

American wine scene I realized 

that Greek wines were dismally 

unknown and poorly distributed. 

The wines didn't even exist as a 

category; instead they were 

thoughtlessly relegated to viticultural 

limbo, inevitably lumped 

under the banner of “other wines 

from around the world.” 

FROM ETHNIC MARKET TO 

MAINSTREAM 

Part of the problem was that until 

the late 1990s, the Greek wine 


industry had done little to promote 

or distribute their exciting new 

products; most producers instead 

relied on longstanding relationships 

with traditional importers 

who themselves lumped Greek 

wines together with other Greek 

products, thereby confining most 

labels to the ethnic Greek market. I 

knew instinctively that the future 

of Greek wines was outside the 

Greek community, and so I set 

Greek wines represent 

a unique departure 

from the standard 

international 

varieties.

about to establish them in the 

mainstream market. 

Once American consumers, openminded 

and not as price-conscious 

as Europeans, tasted the new generation 

of Greek wines I was sure 

they would be won over. 

In the summer of 2003, I went 

back to Greece and convinced a 

group of wineries to join forces for 

a promotional campaign in the 

U.S. and Canada. The campaign 

was called All About Greek Wine 

and was financed entirely by the 

producers. We started with 16 

wineries the first year and by the 

second we were up to twenty-five. 

Today, as we enter the fourth year 

TASTING NOTES 

Greek wines are more competitive 

in the white wine 

category, especially now that 

the market is changing 

towards lighter, crisp, and 

aromatic wines. 

WHITE WINES 

MOSCHOFILERO 

Moschofilero is a distinctly 

aromatic variety grown in 

Mantinia, in the central 

Peloponnese. Its grapes have 

a gray colored skin and therefore 

produce a Blanc de Gris. 

Moschofilero has a firm acidity 

and beautiful floral aroma 

of violets and roses together 

of our campaign, we have seen 

some remarkable changes in the 

perception of Greek wine, especially 

within the trade. 

Many people in the trade had little 

or no concept of Greek wine; I saw 

that as an opportunity. Our mandate 

at first was simple: We wanted 

to convince wine professionals that 

Greek wine was good and worth 

learning about. For most sommeliers 

and buyers, the tastings were a 

revelation; although Greek wines 

have flavors that are familiar, they 

represent a unique, but interesting 

departure from the standard international 

varieties and should be 

evaluated on their own merit. Greek 

with citrus flavors and hints 

of spice. It produces fragrant, 

light dry white wines, 

sparklings, and rosés. 

Because of Moschofilero's 

explosive aroma it sometimes 

leaves the erroneous 

impression of sweetness 

while in most cases it is bone 

dry. When someone asks for a 

sweet rosé wine he can easily 

settle for a Moschofilero. 

Food PairingS 

Moschofilero's acidity and 

aromatic character make it a 

very good match for salads, 

smoked salmon or trout and 

spicy foods, especially Thai 

food, with its blend of spicy, 

sour, salty, and bitter flavors, 

as well as fresh herbs. 

Sparkling Moschofilero, with a 

hint of sweetness, is excellent 

with oysters and fruits de mer, 

as well as with salty foods 

such as smoked turkey or 

salmon, olives, and prosciutto. 

Semi Dry Sparkling 

Moschofilero is great with 

lightly sweet Chinese food. 

ASSYRTIKO 

Assyrtiko is one Greece's 

finest multi-purpose white 

grape varieties. It was first 

cultivated on the island of 

Santorini, where it has devel- 

wines are produced from a vast 

assortment of indigenous varieties 

(over 300 in all). That fact alone has 

helped provide Greece's marketing 

advantage to compete with other 

well-established winemaking 

regions. Trade and consumers alike 

are eager for more alternatives to 

the same grape varieties that are 

produced all over the world, and 

Greece has many different choices 

to offer. The whites display an array 

of fruit and floral aromas with crisp, 

clean, mineral flavors. The native 

red varieties combine fruit and 

earthy aromas that lend themselves 

to the production of many different 

styles of wine, ranging from fresh, 

oped a unique character. In 

the last 25 years Assyrtiko 

has been planted throughout 

Greece where it expresses a 

milder, more fruity character. 

Assyrtiko can also be blended 

with the aromatic Aedani 

grape for the production of 

the unique, dessert wines 

called VinSanto, well known 

since the Middle Ages. 

Assyrtiko has the ability to 

maintain its high acidity as it 

ripens with high levels of 

sugar and yields bone-dry 

wines with citrus aromas 

and an earthy, mineral aftertaste, 

due to the volcanic soil 

of Santorini. 


pleasing, aromatic reds and rosés to 

extraordinarily complex, full-bodied 

wines with long aging potential. 

FOOD-FRIENDLY WINES 

Another advantage that Greek 

Food PairingS 

Assyrtiko, stainless steel, or 

barrel -aged, is the perfect 

match for grilled, fried, or 

roasted fish. Barrel aged 

Assyrtiko and smoked salmon 

are excellent together. The 

wine also cuts through rich 

sauces for fish without overpowering 

the flavor of the 

fish, but it is equally good 

with fried vegetables. 

Another great match is lamb 

with avgolemono sauce. 

We had great fun pairing 

Assyrtiko with Indian food. 

The numerous spices and 

herbs used in Indian cooking 

wines offer is their ability to pair 

well with food. In Greece, food is 

rarely served without wine and 

wine never served without food, 

and this symbiotic relationship is 

reflected in the way Greek wine- 

make a flavorful mix that 

provides some exciting 

match es. We particularly 

enjoyed matching a barrel - 

fermented and aged 

Assyrtiko with tandoori 

chicken and lamb. We also 

enjoyed southern Indian curries 

with coconut milk and 

barrel - aged Assyrtiko. 

MALAGOUSIA 

Malagousia is an up -andcoming 

grape with great 

potential. It originated in 

Nafpaktos in Western Greece 

but is cultivated primarily in 

Macedonia, Attica, and the 


Peloponnese. It is an aromatic 

grape that produces elegant, 

medium- to full-bodied wines 

with medium acidity and exciting 

aromas of exotic fruits, citrus, 

jasmine, and mint. 

Food PairingS 

Malagousia is great with 

seafood, especially scallops, 

crab, langoustines, and lobster. 

We loved pairing 

Malagousia with lobster and 

saffron as well as with pasta 

with creamy white sauces. 

The wine stands up well to 

chicken or pork dishes and to 

light but spicy Thai food. 

makers craft their wines. The 

wines match well with a variety of 

cuisines and support the new trend 

away from barrel-aged, full-bodied 

whites and red wines that are way 

too over-extracted and suffer from 

RODITIS 

Roditis is a rosé-colored 

grape cultivated throughout 

Greece. It produces the most 

elegant, light-bodied, crisp 

white wines with citrus flavors 

when cultivated with 

low yields on mountainous 

slopes. 

Food PairingS 

Roditis is the perfect match 

to grilled fish and is found in 

most seafood places 

throughout Greece. Contrary 

to the super powerful aromatic 

white wines that dominate 

most wine lists, Roditis

excessive levels of alcohol. 

One other characteristic that 

makes Greek wine so “food friendly,” 

especially the whites, is their wonderful 

acidity. For a chef, acidity is a 

key element in the successful mar- 

delivers balance by not overpowering 

but enhancing the 

flavors of seafood. 

The Greeks use lemon in 

almost everything from 

seafood to grilled meats and 

this makes the citrusy 

Roditis a great match. We 

also found that Roditis goes 

well with stir-fried Chinese 

vegetables and with aromatic 

Thai food, especially when 

seasoned with kaffir lime 

leaves. It is also a good 

match for that most difficult 

to pair food, the artichoke, 

especially with avgolemono 

sauce. 

riage of wine with food. Many of 

the chefs I have worked with have 

found it difficult at first to believe 

that wines with such expressive 

aromas and firm acidity are produced 

in one of Europe's most 

ATHIRI 

Athiri is one of the most 

ancient Greek grape varieties, 

originally from 

Santorini, which is also 

known as Thira. Athiri is 

found in several regions of 

Greece, including Macedonia 

and Rhodes, where it produces 

VDQS Rhodes wines. 

Athiri grapes have a thin skin 

and yield a sweet and citrusy 

fruit. The wines are slightly 

aromatic with medium body 

and relatively low acidity. 

Food PairingS 

Athiri is a very food friendly 

white wine which matches 

salads, seafood, pasta with 

cream sauce, and goat 

cheese. When it is planted in 

high altitudes and the yields 

are kept low, Athiri is more 

intense and can also be 

matched with light but spicy 

Asian dishes, especially Thai. 

SAVATIANO & RETSINA 

Savatiano is the most widely 

planted grape in Greece and 

is mainly known for the production 

of Retsina. It is the 

predominant grape in Attica, 

where it displays excellent 

resistance to the dry sum- 

southern wine-producing regions. 

We seized on the capacity of Greek 

wines to match well with many 

styles of food and began to showcase 

them at some of the wine and 

food world's finest venues, demon- 

mers. With low yields it 

makes elegant white wines 

with a citrusy aroma and 

medium body and acidity. 

Food matches 

At the beginning of our campaign 

we wanted to keep 

away from Retsina, opting to 

make the statement that 

Greek wines have moved far 

beyond the well-known cliché. 

Now we realize that some 

foods, such as fried vegetables, 

the garlic sauce skordalia, batter-fried 

salt cod, and fried or 

salted sardines match better 

with Retsina than with any 

other Greek wine. 


strating in the process that there 

is, indeed, a place for Greek wine in 

the mainstream market. 

In one of our first events, in 2004 

we decided to try something daring 

and chose New York's Le 

Bernardin to host a press lunch. 

Chef Panos Karatassos, of Kyma 

Restaurant in Atlanta, teamed up 

with his former mentor, Le 

Bernardin's Executive Chef Eric 

Ripert, to create the menu. Each 

chef planned two items, not necessarily 

Greek, and together we 

RED WINES 

AGIORGITIKO 

One of the most noble of the 

Greek red grapes, Agiorgitiko 

is grown primarily in the 

VDQS region of Nemea in 

the central Peloponnese. It 

produces wines that stand 

out for their deep red color 

and remarkable aromatic 

complexity. Agiorgitiko's velvet 

tannins together with its 

balanced acidity lead to the 

production of many different 

styles of wine, ranging from 

fresh, pleasing aromatic reds 

to extraordinary full-bodied 

aged reds. Agiorgitiko is also 

paired each recipe with several different 

wines. Chef Ripert's seared 

white tuna with cucumber and 

mango was a hit with the aromatic 

Moschofilero we served, as well as 

the bone-dry Assyrtiko from 

Santorini. And, Chef Panos's 

braised lamb shank provided a 

great match for the luscious, darkberry 

flavors of Agiorghitiko as well 

as the complex spicy notes of 

Xinomavro. For us, the Bernardin 

lunch becomes a benchmark; we 

were convinced that it was only a 

known for producing pleasant 

aromatic rosé wines. 

Food Pairings 

I am extremely fond of light 

and aromatic reds with 

medium tannins and good 

acidity made from 

Agiorgitiko. There is a big 

range of foods that go well 

with Agiorgitiko, from topquality 

charcuterie, to hamburgers 

and even pizza. 

Equally enjoyable is a light, 

slightly chilled Agiorgitiko 

with tuna, red mullet, octopus 

or light beef curries. 

Fresh Agiorgitiko’s also goes 

great with grilled meats. A 


more velvet expression of the 

wine is a good match for 

Chinese food. 

Full bodied, aged 

Agiorgitiko's pairs excellently 

with steaks, roast beef, 

lamb, Chateaubriand, and 

most hard and rich cheeses. 

XINOMAVRO 

Xinomavro, which means 

“acid-black,” is the predominant 

noble red grape variety 

of Macedonia and its wines 

resemble the style of 

Nebbiolo. Xinomavro wines 

are known for their superb 

aging potential and their rich 

tannic character. Their com- 

matter of time before Greek wines 

were accepted in the mainstream. 

Since then, we've taken Greek 

wines on the road many times, 

from Aspen to Vermont, but one of 

the boldest forays was into the 

heart of Las Vegas, which has 

become the high-end dining capital 

of the United States. Las Vegas is 

home to the largest concentration 

of Master Sommeliers in the world. 

Pushing the limits of the wines and 

moving into new terrain, we paired 

Greek wines with Asian and Indian- 

plex aroma combines red 

fruits such as gooseberry 

with hints of olives, spices, 

and dried tomatoes. In the 

Macedonian region of 

Amyndeo Xinomavro is also 

known for the production of 

world class rosés. 

Food pairings 

Xinomavro wines are made for 

food; delicate, elegant, but 

not overpowerful, Xinomavro 

is a great match with eggplant 

stews, moussaka, charcuterie, 

sausages, offal, chilli 

con carne, game casseroles, 

poultry, roasted leg of lamb, 

and hard and aged cheeses.


GREEK ROSÉS 

Consumption of rosé wines 

is rising worldwide, and the 

international consensus is 

that Greece produces some 

of the most interesting 

rosés—light, with bright 

acidity, and beautiful aromas. 

Greek rosés are a chef 's 

food-wine-pairing dream. 

Greek rosés have enough flavor 

and acidity to match a wide 

inspired dishes prepared by chef 

Martin Hierling at one of Vegas' 

newest, trendiest restaurants, 

Sensi, at the Bellagio. The dinner 

demonstrated the range of flavors 

that Greek wine can handle. The 

delicious lamb tandoori paired 

extremely well with the spicy characters 

of a Greek Xinomavro, and 

range of foods, from pasta and 

salads to pizza and charcuterie. 

They go equally well with 

seafood, poultry, and pork. Try 

a Greek rosé made from 

Agiorghitiko or Xinomavro 

with spicy Indian food. 

GREEK DESSERT WINES 

Some of the most distinguished 

dessert wines in the world have 

been produced in Greece unin- 


terruptedly since ancient times. 

From light, young aromatic 

whites to long-aged and fullbodied 

elixirs produced either 

from sun-dried or fortified 

grapes, the dessert wines of 

Greece please any wine aficionado. 

They are extremely 

affordable, too. 

Light, young aromatic white 

Muscats from Samos, Patras 

or Rhodes go very well with 

the crisp, aromatic whites were an 

easy match for the scallops and 

tuna with ginger confit. The 

atmosphere was truly electric that 

afternoon as some of Vegas's top 

sommelier's came away talking 

about the exciting opportunity 

they saw for Greek wine and the 

fun they would have introducing 

fruit salads, lemon or orange 

pies, ice cream, fois gras, 

chocolate, and Roquefort 

cheese. Try a Mavrodaphne 

with English stilton cheese, 

pork or duck liver paté, berry 

pies, tiramisu or chocolate 

cake. And finally enjoy a 

VinSanto with an aged cheddar, 

a crème brulée, chocolate 

puddings, or nutty desserts 

like baklava or pecan pie. 

these new wines to the American 

market. 

Greek wine is, and always has 

been, part of a complete cultural 

experience, inseparable from the 

food, people, and history of Greece 

but also flexible enough to pair brilliantly 

with an enormous spectrum 

of flavors and culinary traditions. 

Sofia Perpera is an aenologist and the director of All About Greek Wines.

Seasons in Greece are marked by the rituals of the kitchen. 

Summer is fruit time, when home cooks put up all manner 

of fruits, make liqueurs and jams and marmalades with 

Greece's sweet bounty, or simply enjoy one of the simplest, 

greatest joys of nature eating a fresh, ripe piece of sunripened 

summer fruit. 

Sweet 

Summer 

Bounty 

Greek Summer Fruits 

Glitter like Jewels and Taste 

like Honey 

By Diane Shugart 




Cherries, apricots, peaches, and 

figs are enjoyed right off the tree all 

over the Greek countryside; watermelons 

and musk melons are unrivalled 

for their sweetness; grapes 

of every hue dangle from overhead 

trellises and proper vines alike, 

savored for their succulent, intense 

fruit, one of the last juicy pleasures 

of the long, hot Greek summer. 

One of the rites—and duties—of 

the season is reserved for women, 

mainly in the countryside, as their 

fingers stain dark by painstakingly 

deseeding, with straight pins or 

bobby pins, thousands of tiny sour 

cherries, called vyssino. These 

make for one of the most prized of 

Greece's array of spoon sweets. The 

cherries are put up as conserves or 

cordials for winter. Even in Athens, 

home cooks fill large glass jars with 

cherry pits and alcohol or cognac 

to macerate on sun-battered bal- 

conies throughout the summer, as 

the heat slowly transforms the 

sour cherries, sugar, and alcohol 

into the homemade “tserri” liqueur, 

which is later offered to guests 

together with almond cookies at 

Christmas or drizzled over a scoop 

of ice cream. One lick conjures up 

the sweet perfume and the jewellike 

colors of cherries ripening on 

trees or piled high on the stalls at 

open-air produce markets in June. 

Summer fruit makes its appearance 

on the Greek table in a variety of 

forms, from cooling granitas or ices 

made from pulp and juices to the 

sesame-flecked karpouzopitta or 

watermelon pie, popular on Milos 

and nearby islands. Mostly, summer 

is the season when lunch is 

often not more than a large wedge 

of sweet watermelon or a bowl of 

grapes, both typically enjoyed with 

a wedge of creamy, salty feta. 


FRUIT BY VARIETY 

CHERRIES 

Cherries are just one of the fruits of 

Greek summer. Known in Greece 

since antiquity, when they were 

likely brought over from Asia Minor 

and later cultivated, cherries are 

grown in lush mountain villages 

like Steno and Partheni in the central 

Peloponnesos province of 

Arcadia and Arna in the southern 

Peloponnesos province of Laconia; 

at Ayios Lavrentios in Magnesia, 

central Greece; and, most famously, 

the water-rich northern Greek 

towns of Naoussa and Edessa, 

which all host annual cherry festivals 

to celebrate the year's crop. 

Cherries are among the first’s fruit 

of the season, heralded by the 

crunchy petrokerasso with its white 

or pale-yellow flesh and maraschino-red 

skin that makes a brief, but 

eagerly anticipated appearance in

the market once the weather 

begins to warm in late May and 

early June. Next are the ruby-red 

kerassia and the succulent, nearpurple 

Vodenon variety from 

Edessa. The area also produces the 

Tragana Rodohoriou, a dark red 

fleshy and quite juicy cherry that 

enjoys the European Union's 

Protected Designation of Origin 

(PDO) status. 

Greece produces about 34,000 

metric tons of cherries per year. 

Most of the annual production is 

for domestic consumption, with 

just 10 percent going to exports. 

Germany and the Netherlands are 

the two biggest markets for Greek 

cherries, accounting for about 

two-thirds of exports. 

WATERMELONS, PEACHES, APRICOTS 

AND GRAPES 

Watermelons, peaches, apricots, 

nectarines, and grapes are Greece's 

main summer fruit exports, accord- 

ing to George Polychronakis, special 

advisor to Incofruit, the association 

of Greek fruit, vegetable, and 

juice exporters. “The biggest 

demand, by volume, is for watermelon, 

which is in the range of 

about 170,000 tons.” 

According to Incofruit data, annual 

watermelon production averages 

about 580,000 metric tons. 

Exports in 2006 reached 150,000 

tons; Greece's neighbor, Italy, 

imported just over 70,000 tons of 



watermelons from Greece while 

exports to Germany accounted for 

roughly 25,000 tons more. The 

remainder was spread among 

other European markets, with 

Poland, the Czech Republic, 

Hungary, the U.K., and the 

Netherlands each taking up 

notable slices. 

“All our exports are mostly within 

the European Union,” says 

Polychronakis. “In fact, European 

Union countries—which means the 

enlarged EU—account for about 70 

or 80 percent, sometimes more, of 

non-domestic consumption.” 

Watermelons are produced mostly 

in the south, with the earliest crop 

coming from the island of Crete. As 

the season progresses, provenance 

shifts to the Peloponnese, inching 

northwards from the south to the 

primary watermelon-producing 

areas in the flat plains of the Eleia 

province, on the western 

Peloponnese coast, and Achaia, in 

the region's center. Polychronakis 

says there's also a small but growing 

production of watermelons in 

Thessaly, central Greece. The latter 

is one of the leaders in cultivation 

of the new varieties of “mini” or 

smaller watermelons for which 

there is growing demand from consumers, 

both abroad (especially 

from northern European countries) 

but also at home as Greek consumers 

adopt more westernized 

lifestyles and habits. 

“In internationalized markets, there 

really are no 'varieties' for products 

like watermelons as [cultivation] is 

adjusted to [market] specifications,” 

says Polychronakis. “The trend in 

the last couple of years has been for 

smaller varieties of watermelon as 

well as seedless varieties.” 

ORGANIC TRENDS 

Consumer preferences do vary 

according to market and this, producers 

lament, is increasing pressure 

for standardizing texture, 

color, and taste for the broadest 

appeal. Reacting to the trend 

towards standardization, some 

producers are turning to organic 

production as a means of preserving 

local varieties as well as commanding 

the higher prices that 

make their cultivation viable. As 

one producer from northern 

Greece noted, “a fruit like watermelon 

takes time to grow and 

mature, but market prices don't 

allow for this time. Organic cultivation 

is probably the only method 


that allows us, as growers, to give 

our produce the care and time it 

demands.” 

The trend towards organic is also 

becoming stronger in the production 

of other summer fruits, including 

peaches, apricots, plums, and 

grapes. Peaches are an important 

crop, with annual production averaging 

750,000 metric tons. 

Exports account for about 10 percent, 

with the bulk absorbed by 

Russia and Romania, while the rest 

is split almost evenly between raw 

domestic consumption and processing 

for canning or juice. Fresh 

apricots are a far smaller crop, but 

consumption is split more evenly 

between domestic consumption, 

processing, and exports, mainly to 

Germany. Again, producers point 

out that market trends are squeezing 

out local varieties, like the pale, 

delicate “butter” apricots that 

make a short appearance in market 

stalls, and diluting others like 

the sweet, fleshy Diamantopoulou 

grown mainly in the Peloponnese. 

The Peloponnese accounts for a large 

share of Greece's grape crops, one of 

the most successful summer fruit 

exports in terms of market price. 

“Table grapes are the leader of 

Greek exports, in terms of expensive 

products,” says Polychronakis. 

“This is especially true of the 


Thomson seedless variety, where 

we're especially strong in the U.K.” 

Indeed, according to Incofruit data, 

the U.K. and Germany absorb 

about three-fourths of Greek grape 

exports. Exporters say the key to 

cracking markets is standardization, 

and recognizing and following 

trends in consumer demand 

“Competitive prices are paramount,” 

says Polychronakis, but 

producers also point to Greece's 

grape crops as a case where a 

product's reputation for quality can 

help drive demand to support a 

higher price. Corinthian grapes and 

raisins, for example have long been 

valued by European consumers.

I would venture to say that when a foreigner thinks of Greece 

three things come to mind: the Parthenon, bouzouki music, 

and Greek salad, or, as the Greeks call it, village salad, a luscious, 

juicy potpourri of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, 

onions, feta, oregano, and olive oil. 

Greek Salad 

Grows Up 

Modern Chefs Put a New Spin on 

the Tomato-Feta-Cucumber Classic 

By Dimitris Andonopoulos 




Village Salad is quintessentially 

Greek: Doric in its spare essence 

and simplicity, yet succulent and 

juicy, a perfect example of 

Greece's sun-drenched seasonal 

cuisine. Although more than a few 

ingredients go into a typical Greek 

village salad, the flavors of each 

are distinguishable with great 

clarity; in this, separate-buttogether 

approach to a national 

culinary icon, the village salad 

evinces the basic difference 

between our clean cuisine and 

that, say, of the French, which 

depends on the artful, complex 

blending of ingredients. 

Greece is blessed, among other 

things, with a great climate for certain 

kinds of crops, among them all 

the summer garden vegetables and 

fruits. A tomato ripened under the 

Greek sun reaches depths of 

authenticity, of primordial flavor, 

unmatched by tomatoes grown 

anywhere else. The sun caresses it 

as it grows; when mature, red, 

plump yet firm, it becomes the perfect 

expression of a tomato, full of 

fruit flavor, juicy. 

A crisp Greek cucumber is the tomato's 

perfect companion, countering 

its fleshiness with crunch, its aromatic 

sweetness with cool restraint. 


The third partner in the Greek summer 

salad trinity is the country's 

national cheese, feta. In fact, the 

quality of the cheese determines 

whether the dish is, indeed, worthy 

of its name. True Greek feta, a 

product of protected designation 

of origin, is made of sheep's milk or 

a combination of sheep's and 

goat's milk; it has a sharp, sour, 

pungent, peppery taste that marries 

perfectly with the sweetness of 

the tomatoes and the coolness of 

the cucumbers. The cheese's inherent 

sharpness is why Greeks never 

season their national salad with 

pepper. All the salad's piquancy

comes from a sprinkling or a thin 

slab of feta; oregano plays its part, 

too, adding the undertones that 

subtly link the basic trio of ingredients; 

olive oil is essential, the 

embrace, that holds the whole 

thing together. 

These are not the only ingredients 

used to prepare a Greek salad. A 

few crisp fresh red onion rings give 

it a pleasant sharpness; large, 

fleshy, Kalamata olives impart a 

touch of bitterness; green pepper 

rings add a welcome vegetal coolness, 

one more reminder of the 

best ingredients in season, grown 

under the brightest of skies. 

Village Salad is the 

quintessential 

expression of sundrenched, 

clean 

Greek cuisine. 

Lettuce, especially iceberg, is a New 

World affectation and a downright 

affront to the simple perfection of a 

classic Greek salad. 

SO WHY TINKER WITH PERFECTION? 

Chefs, arguably enjoying a simple, 

delicious Greek salad, just have not 

been able to leave well enough 

alone. Nudged by the post-modern 

temptation to tweak, Greece's 

most progressive chefs have taken 

the national salad to the chopping 

block, the blender, the robocoupe, 

the soup bowl, the martini glass, 

the ice cream maker, the freezer, 

the foam canister, the gel route, 

and the saucepan. For some, 

molecular Village Salad is nirvana; 

for others, it's the thing itself, perhaps 

pureed, with a scoop of feta 

ice cream on top that speaks 

tomes of culinary ingenuity. 

Regardless where the new generation 

of chefs stands in regard to 

this national culinary icon, one 

thing is for certain: The Doric trinity 

of tomatoes-cucumbers-and 

feta has been forever changed. 

One simple change came from the 

hands of a chef who decided to cook 

his Greek salad, and so roasted the 

tomatoes, onions, and peppers, 

melted the feta cheese, and mixed 


their juices with olive oil before 

punctuating the concoction with 

cucumbers, olives, salt, and 

oregano. Warm Greek salad surely 

isn't as refreshing as a fresh version, 

but it shows one of the many ways 

of rethinking the dish. 

Chef Christoforos Peskias of 

Athens' well-known 48, The 

Restaurant, in his attempt to reach 

the inner essence of the tomato, 

uses its water, concentrating it so 

that it becomes an ethereal aroma. 

He makes a Greek salad-soup and 

uses the tomato extract as garnish, 

an abstraction that works 

because it leads back to the core of 

the salad's inherent flavor. One of 

the most playful attempts to 

change the Greek salad was exe- 

cuted recently by award-winning 

Italo-Greek chef Hector Botrini, 

owner of Etrusco in Corfu. Using 

techniques of molecular cuisine, he 

turns the Kalamata olive and 

capers into a crisp confection. 

Chef Nikos Pouliasis of 

Koukoumavlos in Santorini and 

Kitrino Podilato in Athens, draws 

inspiration from the Greek custom 

of eating not only tomatoes but 

watermelon with feta, and so adds 

cubes of the ripe, juicy fruit to his 

salad. He also enriches it with avocado 

slices. 

One of the most creative attempts 

to rethink the Greek salad belongs 

to chef partners Ilias Balaskas and 

Vassilis Tsangaris of the newly 

opened Capital restaurant in 

Dimitris Andonopoulos is one of Athens' best-known restaurant critics. 

He writes for the weekly city guide Athinorama. 


Athens. They created a Greek 

garpacho and topped it with a 

heaping scoopful of feta ice cream. 

Finally, arguably the most iconoclastic 

Greek salad change was 

constructed by chef Yiannis 

Loukakos, at the Semiramis 

Restaurant north of Athens: He 

serves the salad like a napoleon, 

placing sweet tomato confit, feta 

jelly, and olive marmalade in 

between layers of crunchy phyllo, 

à la mode with basil ice cream. 

One can look at the unmaking of 

the Greek salad as sacrilege or as 

art. As for me, if the acclaimed 

British chef Heston Blumenthal 

can turn English breakfast into 

dessert, why shouldn't I have my 

Greek salad with ice cream, too?


Greek Salad Napoleon with Basil Ice Cream 

1. Prepare the phyllo: Spread one piece 

of phyllo, brush it with melted butter 

and sprinkle with confectioner's 

sugar. Repeat the same procedure 

with a second piece of phyllo and 

cover with a third piece of phyllo. Cut 

the phyllo in 2x4-inch pieces (4,5x10 

cm). Place in a pan covered with silpat 

and cover with another silpat. Bake in 

the oven at 350°F/180°C until golden. 

Chef Yiannis Loukakos 

12 sheets commercial phyllo 

2 oz. (50 gr.) butter, melted 

1 oz. (20 gr.) confectioner's sugar 

For 4 oz. of Tomatoes Confit 

in Syrup 

12 tomatoes, halved and seeded 

1 star anise 

1 vanilla stick 

10 thyme sprigs 

1 small cinnamon stick 

For 7 oz. (200 gr.) Syrup: 

1 pound (600 gr.) sugar 

1 pound (400 gr.) water 

For 2 oz. (50 gr.) Feta Jelly 

4 oz. (125 gr.) milk 

2,5 oz. (65 gr.) Greek feta 

cheese 

2,5 oz. (65 gr.) Greek anthotyro 

cheese 

2 gelatin sheets (10 gr.) 

2. Prepare the tomato confit: Place 

the tomato halves and the rest of the 

ingredients in a pan and bake in the 

oven at 300°F/150°C until the tomatoes 

are soft and the syrup thickens. 

3. Prepare the feta jelly: Soak the gelatin 

in water. Using an electric mixer, 

whisk together all the ingredients. 

Add the gelatin. Place a large sheet of 

plastic wrap inside a large pan, leav- 


Kerasma recipes New Greek Salads 

For 1 oz. (20 gr.) Olive 

Marmalade 

3 oz. (100 gr.) black olives 

9 oz. (300 gr.) sugar 

2 oz. (50 gr.) water 

For 7 oz. (200 gr.) Basil Ice 

Cream 

1 pound (500 gr.) milk 

1 pound (500 gr.) cream 


4 egg yolks 

2 oz. (45 gr.) basil leaves 

ing some hanging over the edges, and 

pour in the mixture. It should be 

about ½-inch (1 1/4 cm) deep. 

Refrigerate until set. Cut the jelly into 

cubes the size of the phyllo pieces, 

2x4-inch (4,5x10 cm) in diameter, and 

refrigerate again. 

4. Prepare the olive marmalade: Place 

the olives in a pot and fill with water. 

Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Repeat the procedure changing the 

water until the salt is leeched out of 

the olives. Put the olives and the rest 

of the ingredients in a double boiler 

and simmer until soft and the syrup 

thickens. The whole procedure is quite 

time-consuming. Finally, pulse the 

mixture in a blender. 

5. Prepare the basil ice cream: Pour 

the milk into a pot together with the 

cream and half the sugar and bring to 

a boil. In a bowl combine the remaining 

sugar and egg yolks. Add the milk 

mixture gradually into the egg mixture 

whisking constantly. Pass the mixture 

through a chinois and add the basil 

leaves. Pulse the mixture in a blender, 

cool immediately, and refrigerate for a 

few hours. Then pass the mixture 

through the ice-cream machine 

according to unit's instructions. 

6. To serve: Place a phyllo piece on 

each of the serving plates and spread a 

dollop of olive marmalade over each. 

Next, place the tomato fillets on top 

and then the feta jelly. Repeat the procedure 

in napoleon style until you use 3 

pieces of phyllo and 2 layers of filling 

for each serving. Serve with basil ice 

cream. 


Photography: G. Dracopoulos, Food Styling: Tina Webb

Village Salad Soup 

1. Prepare the tomato water: Using an 

electric mixer whisk together the 

tomatoes and salt to combine well. 

Strain the mixture through a colander 

or a cheese cloth, and refrigerate, 

preferably overnight. If the water is 

too red, like tomato juice, strain it one 

more time. The final mixture should be 

Photography: G. Dracopoulos, Food Styling: Tina Webb 

Chef Christoforos Peskias 

4 servings 

For 4 cups Tomato Water 

12 large tomatoes 

1 Tbsp. salt 

½ pound (200 gr.) feta cheese 

2 tomatoes, peeled and seeded 

1 red onion, finely chopped 

2 Tbsp. fresh oregano 

1 green pepper, finely chopped 

2 small Cretan cucumbers, finely chopped 

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling 

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 

a translucent liquid. The tomato 

water may be refrigerated for 3-4 days 

or frozen for longer. 

2. Prepare the village soup salad: 

Pulse the feta, 1 tomato, and half the 

onion in a food processor until a 

smooth cream forms. Add the 

oregano. Refrigerate. 



3. Pour 1 cup of tomato water, a little 

chopped pepper, cucumber, tomato 

and onion in individual soup bowls. 

Place a little feta cream in the middle 

of each bowl, drizzle with some olive 

oil, and sprinkle with oregano, salt, 

and freshly ground pepper.


Alternative Greek Salad 

1. Cut the tomatoes into round slices, 

2-inch (5-cm) thick (3 slices per serving). 

Cut the zucchini and cucumber 

in carpaccio rounds, and the avocado 

in horizontal slices. Cut the feta into 

Φ-inch (1-cm) oblong pieces (2 per 

serving). 

Chef Nikos Pouliasis 

4 medium to large tomatoes, cut into 2-inch cubes (5 cm) 

2 zucchini, cut into slices 

1 cucumber, cut into slices 

1 avocado (ripe), cut into strips (3 mm) (lengthwise) 

2 green peppers, cut into julienne strips 

5 oz. (150 gr.) feta cheese, cut into Φ -inch oblong pieces (1 cm) 

Extra-virgin Greek olive oil, to taste 

Salt and pepper, to taste 

Cider vinegar, to taste 

15 chives 

10 oz. (300 gr.) watermelon, cut into small cubes 

15 black olives, pitted 

1 oz. (30 gr.) capers 

Fresh oregano, to taste 

2. Place one tomato round in the middle 

of the serving plate, alternating 

layers of zucchini, cucumber, pepper 

and avocado on top. Place one more 

tomato round and repeat the above 

layers finishing with a tomato round 

on top. 

3. Prepare vinaigrette dressing by mixing 

three parts olive oil and one part 

apple vinegar, salt and pepper. 


4. To serve, insert 3-4 chives vertically 

into each napoleon salad and drizzle 

with vinaigrette dressing. Cut the 

watermelon into small cubes and garnish 

the salad. Sprinkle the salad with 

some olives, capers, and fresh 

oregano. On one side of the serving 

plate place 2 pieces of feta crosswise. 


Village Salad Gazpacho with Feta Ice Cream 

1. Prepare the village salad gazpacho: 

Place the peeled and seeded tomatoes 

in a blender and pulse together with 

the remaining ingredients. Strain 

through a fine chinois. 

2. Prepare the feta ice cream: Scald 

the milk and cream, and pulse the hot 

mixture in a blender with the cheeses. 


Chefs Hlias Balaskas and Vassilis Tsagkaris 

For the Village Salad Gazpacho 

2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded 

½ cucumber, peeled 

Φ green pepper 

1 scallion 

2 fresh oregano sprigs 

Extra-virgin Greek olive oil, as needed 

Salt, to taste 

For the Feta Ice Cream 

700 ml milk 

300 gr. cream 

1 1/2 pound (700 gr.) Greek feta cheese 

½ pound (300 gr.) Cretan anthotyro cheese 

6 oz. (180 gr.) egg yolks 

White pepper, to taste 

Whisk the egg yolks and add the milkcheese 

mixture. Season with white 

pepper to taste. Combine well and 

place back in the pot. Heat the mixture 

until the temperature reaches 

180°F/82°C. Let cool and process 

through an ice cream maker according 

to unit's instructions. 



3. To serve: Pour the gazpacho in a 

martini glass and garnish with an icecream 

quenelle or ball.


Village Salad in Spherical Olive “Ravioli” 

1. Prepare the olive sphere: Dry out the 

capers and olives in a warm oven at 

210°F (100°C). Combine all the ingredients, 

spread them in a silpat and bake 

in the oven at 325°F/160°C until melted 

(about 5-7 minutes). Let cool and 

pulse in a blender until pulverized. 

2. Place metallic ring molds (2-inch/5cm 

in diameter) on top of a silpat, 

spread the pulverized ingredients 

Chef Hector Botrini 

For the Olive Sphere 

7 oz. (200 gr.) fondant sugar 


3 oz. (100 gr.) glucose 

1 oz. (20 gr.) capers 

1 oz. (20 gr.) black olives, pitted 

0,5 oz. (5 gr.) coarse salt 

For the Village Salad 

3 oz. (100 gr.) cucumber 

3 oz. (100 gr.) tomato 

2 oz. (50 gr.) red onion 

200 ml extra-virgin Greek olive oil 

Lemon juice, to taste 

Fresh oregano, to taste 


3 oz. (100 gr.) feta cheese 

Olive oil, as needed 

Vinegar, to taste 

inside, and bake in the oven at 

250°F/120°C until the mixture melts 

and turns into a homogeneous mass. 

Remove from oven and cool. 

3. Prepare the village salad: Dice all 

the ingredients and marinate in olive 

oil whipped with lemon and oregano. 

Season with salt to taste. Prepare a 

vinaigrette dressing by mixing feta 

cheese, olive oil, and vinegar. 


4. To serve: Spread an olive round on 

top of a silpat. Fill it with village salad 

and feta vinaigrette and cover with 

another round. Repeat the procedure 

until all the ingredients are finished. 

Then, pass them under a salamander 

at 250°F /120°C until the rounds stick 

together and a spherical “ravioli” is 

formed. Remove and cool. Serve cold. 


V. Stenos / D. Brown

Kerasma: 

Treat Your Taste 

with Great Recipes for Herbs, 

Beans, Summer Fruits, and 

More from Greece's Top Chefs 

Photography: Yiorgos Dracopoulos 

Food styling: Tina Webb 


Salad with Chickpeas and Smoked Trout 

1. Place the chickpeas in a pot with 

boiling salted water, add the thyme 

and carrot, and cook until the chickpeas 

are tender but al dente, 45 minutes. 

Strain the chickpeas, discard the 

thyme sprigs and keep the broth 

aside. Pour 300 ml broth in a blender, 

5 oz. (150 gr.) chickpeas, vinegar, olive 

Chef Lefteris Lazarou 

4 servings 

500 gr. (1 pound) chickpeas, soaked in water overnight 

4 ½ oz. (140 gr.) carrot, coarsely chopped 

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme 

2 quarts/liters water 

½ tsp. salt 

4 smoked trout filets 

For the Vinaigrette Dressing 

300 ml chickpeas broth 

5 oz. (150 gr.) boiled chickpeas 

2 Tbsp. white vinegar 

120 ml extra virgin olive oil 

½ Tbsp. salt 

½ Tbsp. pepper 

5 Tbsp. finely chopped scallions 

1 Tbsp. fresh oregano, minced 

Boiled carrot, used above, cut into small cubes 

oil, salt and pepper and pulse together 

until pulverized. Pass the vinaigrette 

through a fine-mesh sieve and set 

aside. 

2. Combine the chickpeas, scallions, 

oregano, and chopped carrot and stir 

to combine well. Pour in the vinaigrette 

and refrigerate for 1 hour. 


Kerasma recipes 

3. Fillet the trout into thin slices. Place 

some chickpeas in a ring mold, place 

the trout on top and continue in alternating 

layers until the ring mold is 

filled to the brim. Drizzle in some of 

the remaining vinaigrette and some 

drops of olive oil. Sprinkle with 

chopped parsley and serve.

Yellow Split Peas Married with Fresh Anchovies 

1. Heat the olive oil in a pot and sauté 

the onion for 3 minutes. Add the split 

peas, sauté for another 2 minutes and 

pour in the vegetable broth. Season 

with salt and pepper and boil over 

medium heat for 12 more minutes until 

all the liquid is absorbed. While still 

hot, pulse the split peas in a blender, 

add the milk and vinegar and process 

together at high speed until the mixture 

is smooth. Add the 50 ml extra-virgin 

olive oil and set the mixture aside. 


6 servings 

For the Fava 


½ pound (220 gr.) chopped red 

onion 

1 pound (500 gr.) fava from 

Santorini 

1 quart/liter vegetable broth 

½ Tbsp. salt 

½ tsp. pepper 

100 ml Greek balsamic vinegar 

250 ml fresh milk 


For the Anchovies 

1 ½ pound (800 gr.) fresh 

anchovies, cleaned and 

deboned 

Greek sesame oil, for frying 

2. Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking 

or blending all the ingredients together. 

3. Filet the fresh anchovies and place 

in a bowl with ice water to drain the 

blood. Strain the fish 10 minutes later 

and wash thoroughly. Dredge the fish 

in flour and fry in sesame oil over high 

heat. When golden, carefully pour the 

oil out of the skillet and, while the 

skillet is still hot, pour in the vinaigrette. 

Remove the skillet from the 

heat and sprinkle with fresh oregano. 

½ pound (200 gr.) flour for 

dredging 

Vinaigrette Dressing 

100 ml white vinegar 


50 ml thyme honey 

1 tsp. salt 

½ tsp. pepper 

2 Tbsp. fresh oregano, minced 

For “Marrying” the Fava 

1 large red onion, chopped 

3 tomatoes, peeled and seeded, 

diced 

1 small bunch parsley, chopped 

70 ml extra-virgin Greek olive 

oil 


the onion over medium heat for 3 minutes. 

Add 2 tomatoes, diced. Add the 

parsley and split peas. Mix well to 

combine all the ingredients, adjust the 

seasoning, and serve in 6 individual 

plates. Place the fresh anchovies on 

top, garnish with the remaining diced 

tomato and sprinkle with parsley. 

Drizzle with olive oil and serve. 


Kerasma recipes

Lentil-Chickpea Burgers in Potato Crust, Yogurt 

and Mint Sauce 

1. Bring the lentils to a boil with the 

bay leaf and simmer for 10 minutes, or 

until tender. Drain well. 

2. Heat the olive oil and sauté the 

onion with the ground coriander. 

Remove. 

3. In a blender or food processor, pulse 

together half the lentils, the chick- 

Chef Nena Ismirnoglou 

4 servings 

For the Burgers 

½ cup red lentils 

1 Tbsp. extra virgin Greek olive oil 

1 onion, chopped 

1 bay leaf 

1 cup chickpeas, boiled and 

drained 

1 egg 

3 Tbsp. parsley, washed and 

finely chopped 

2 Tbsp. mint, washed and finely 

chopped 

1 cup plain bread crumbs 

½ tsp. ground coriander 

½ tsp. ground ginger 

Salt and freshly ground pepper 

For Frying 

½ cup flour 

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin Greek olive oil 

peas, egg, and onion for about 20 seconds. 

Transfer the mixture to a deep 

bowl. Pour in the rest of the lentils, 

parsley, mint, ginger and bread 

crumbs. Knead well. 

5. Let the mixture stand in the refrigerator, 

covered, for at least 30 minutes. 



For the Potato Crust 

250 gr. potatoes 


For the Yogurt Sauce 

1 cup Greek yogurt 


2 Tbsp. milk 

2 Tbsp. lemon 

1 Tbsp. fresh mint 

Salt and freshly ground pepper 

For Garnish 

8 small plum tomatoes, 

washed 

Some salad leaves, washed and 

wipe dried 

6. Place the flour on a large plate. 

Divide the mixture into eight equal 

mounds and shape into burgers. Dust 

lightly with flour. Heat the olive oil in 

a nonstick skillet, pour in the olive oil, 

and fry until golden brown on both 

sides. Transfer to paper towels and 

drain. Keep them warm.

7. Make the potato crust: Grate the 

potatoes along the coarse side of a 

cheese grater. Wipe dry with a kitchen 

towel. Heat the olive oil in a small 

nonstick skillet. Put 1/8 of the potatoes 

inside and press with a spatula 

until a thin layer covers the bottom of 

the skillet. Fry over medium heat for 

2-3 minutes on each side until the 

crust is golden brown. Transfer to 

paper towels and drain. Repeat to get 

8 flat potato cakes. 

8. Combine all the ingredients for the 

yogurt sauce in a bowl. 

9. To serve: Cut the tomatoes in half 

and season with salt and pepper to 

taste. Spread 4 potato crusts on 4 

large plates, place two burgers and 

the tomatoes on top of each crust. 

Cover with the rest of the potato 

crusts. Garnish the sides of the plates 

with some yogurt sauce and the salad 

leaves and serve. 


Cod with Giant Beans and Green Peppers 

1. Soak the salt out of the cod in cold 

water overnight, changing the water 

three or four times. 

2. Wash the cod, clean, debone and cut 

into serving pieces. 

3. Boil the giant beans until tender, 

about 1 ½ hours. Drain and reserve the 

broth. 

Chef Athanasios Skouras 

6 servings 

2 ½ pounds (1,300 gr.) salt cod 

2/3 pound (300 gr.) Greek giant beans (gigantes), 

soaked overnight 

2 red onions, finely chopped 

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

5 tomatoes, peeled and diced 

2 green peppers, diced 

1 bunch parsley, finely chopped 

1 bunch dill, finely chopped 


2 bay leaves 

Salt and black pepper 

Sweet paprika, to taste 

4. Sauté the chopped onion, garlic and 

peppers in the olive oil. Add the tomatoes, 

bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste 

and let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes. 

5. Spread the giant beans in a pan, 

place the cod in between, pour in the 

sauce, enough broth to cover, half the 

fennel, the parsley, and sweet paprika. 



Distribute the contents of the pan 

evenly by tilting it gently. Bake in preheated 

oven at 425°C/220°F for 1 hour. 

Serve hot garnished with chopped fennel 

on top.

Black-Eyed Peas with White Beets, Sausage 

and Pumpkin Purée 

1. Boil the black-eyed peas in chicken 

broth and set aside. 

2. Sauté the white beets with garlic in 

olive oil until soft and set aside. 

3. Sear or grill the sausage and cut 

into round slices. 

4. Prepare the pumpkin purée: Mix the 

pumpkin with olive oil. Spread the 

mixture in a pan and bake in a pre- 


10 servings 

For the Black-eyed Peas 

1 pound (450 gr.) Black-eyed Peas boiled 

in chicken broth (reserve the broth) 

2 pounds (1 kilo) white beets, trimmed 

1 Greek village-style sausage 


1 garlic clove, minced 

heated oven at 250°F/120°C until the 

pumpkin cubes acquire a caramel 

color. 

5. Place the pumpkin in the 

Thermomixer at high speed and gradually 

add the butter and nutmeg. 

Pulse the mixture for 10 minutes until 

it has a velvety texture. 

6. To serve: Heat the black-eyed peas 



For the Pumpkin Purée 

4 pounds (2 kilos) red pumpkin, cleaned and cut into cubes 

½ pound (200 gr.) butter 

1 tsp. ground nutmeg 


To Serve 


30 ml red wine vinegar 

½ small bunch parsley, chopped 


and add the sausage, olive oil, vinegar, 

parsley, salt and pepper to taste and 

mix. In a deep serving plate place a 

ladleful of the peas and sausage. Place 

some white beets on top. Shape the 

pumpkin purée into quenelles and 

place on top of the beets.

Giant Beans with Mackerel 

1. Spread the boiled giant beans in a 

deep pan. 

2. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive 

oil until wilted. Add the tomatoes and 

simmer until the sauce is cooked. Mix 

the sauce with the remaining ingredients 

and spread over the giant beans. 


6 servings 

For the Giant Beans 

1 pound (450 gr.) giant beans, soaked overnight, drained, 

and boiled in vegetable broth 

3 pounds (1 ½ kilos) tomatoes, peeled, 

unseeded and finely chopped 

8 oz. (200 gr.) onion, finely chopped 

3 garlic cloves, minced 

2 fennel bulbs, finely chopped 



For the Mackerel 

6 mackerels (about ½ pound/250 gr.), 

cleaned, heads removed and deboned 

Extra virgin Greek olive oil, as needed 


To Serve 

Parsley, finely chopped, as needed 

Buttermilk, as needed 

3. Bake the beans in a preheated oven at 

325°F/160°C until they are very tender. 

4. Prepare the mackerel: Brush the 

mackerels with olive oil, season with 

salt, place them in the oven, raise the 

heat to 350°F/180°C, and bake for 25 

minutes. 



5. To serve: Place a ladleful of the 

giant beans in the center of each of six 

serving plates. Sprinkle chopped parsley 

on top. Place a mackerel over the 

beans. Drizzle with a little buttermilk.



Snapper Poached in Celery Broth 

with Black-eyed Peas 

1. Blanch the black-eyed peas, drain 

and discard the water. Boil the peas in 

fresh water and reserve the broth. Add 

the wine and fish broth from the head 

and bones of the snapper. Add the celery 

and the snapper fillets and let 

them simmer for 6-7 minutes. 

Chef Yiannis Baxevannis 

4 servings 

1 pound (450 gr.) black-eyed peas 

2 pounds (1 kilo) snapper 

200 ml dry white wine 

2 large batches of celery, trimmed 

2 egg yolks 

2 ripe tomatoes, diced or grated 


2. Remove the fish from the pot. Place 

the broth in a blender and pulse. 

Drain the broth and return the liquid 

back to the pot and cook until it is 

reduced to about one quarter of its 

volume. 

3. Place 2 egg yolks and olive oil in a 

blender and pulse on and off, gradually 

adding the broth with the celery. 

4. Serve the snapper fillets on top of 

the black-eyed peas, pouring the 

foaming broth on top. Then, add the 

diced or grated tomatoes on top, drizzle 

with olive oil, and serve. 



Yogurt Soup with Cucumber and Mint 


8 servings 

800 ml strained Greek yogurt 

500 ml sheep's milk yogurt 

1 large cucumber, peeled 

30 fresh mint leaves 




1. Place all the ingredients in the 

blender and pulse together for 2 minutes. 

2. Strain the mixture and let it stand 

in the refrigerator to cool. 

3. Serve the soup in cappuccino cups.

Salad with Fresh Herbs 


2 small bunches fresh coriander, with part of the stems 

2 small bunches chervil, leaves and part of stems 

1 small bunch parsley, chopped 

1 small bunch fresh mint, chopped 

3 scallions, chopped 

1 tomato, peeled, unseeded, fileted and chopped 


10 ml fresh lemon juice 


1. Combine all the ingredients in a 

large bowl. 

2. Serve in small individual bowls. 



Herb-Stuffed Sardines 

1. Clean, wash, drain, and blot the sardines 

dry with paper towels. Carefully 

remove the bone. 

2. Heat some olive oil in a pot and 

sauté the onion, garlic, scallions and 

raw garlic. Add one third of the tomatoes, 

one third of coriander and parsley, 

the capers, salt, pepper and sugar 

Chef Athanasios Skouras 

4 servings 

2 pounds (1 kilo) large fresh sardines 

1 cup extra virgin Greek olive oil 

1 medium onion, finely chopped 


2 scallions, finely chopped 

1 fresh garlic stalk (if available), finely chopped 

(only the white part) 

4-5 ripe tomatoes, peeled, finely chopped, 

and divided into thirds 

2 Tbsp. fresh coriander, finely chopped, divided in three 

2 Tbsp. parsley, finely chopped, divided in three 

½ cup capers, soaked out of salt 


Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

Sugar, to taste 

1 tsp. sweet vinegar 

1 Tbsp. bread crumbs 

to taste. Let the mixture simmer for 10 

minutes over low heat. 

3. Stuff the sardines with the mixture. 

Spread a third more of the tomato, 

chopped parsley, and coriander in a 

small pan or glass baking dish and 

then spread the stuffed sardines on 

top, one by one, in a row. 



4. Sprinkle the sardines with the rest 

of the tomato, chopped parsley, and 

coriander, drizzle with the remaining 

olive oil, season with salt and pepper 

to taste, sprinkle with vinegar and 

bread crumbs, and bake in the oven at 

350°F/180°C for about 25 minutes. 

Serve.

Salt Cod Over Herbed Vegetables 


8 servings 

3 pounds (1 ½ kilos) salt-cod fillet 

2/3 cup extra virgin Greek olive oil, as needed 

3 lemons, juiced 

2 Tbsp. capers, chopped 

1 scallion, finely chopped 

Anise seeds, to taste 

Fennel florets, as needed 

2 green peppers, diced 

2 red peppers, diced 

2 small zucchini, diced 

1 eggplant, diced 

Mint, to taste 

Fresh thyme, to taste 

1. Soak the cod in water for 24 hours, 

changing the water 3-4 times. Shred 

the cod into strips manually. 

2. Spread the cod strips in a pan and 

add olive oil whisked together with 

the juiced lemons, chopped capers, 

scallion, anise seeds, and some 

chopped fennel. Let the cod marinate 

for 15-20 minutes. 

3. Sauté all the diced vegetables in hot 

olive oil until crisp. Add some chopped 

fresh mint and some fresh thyme. 

Serve the cod in layers on top of the 

sautéed vegetables. 



Crisp Cuttlefish with Salty Semolina Cream and Basil 

1. Wash and clean cuttlefish very well. 

Keep the ink. Cut the cuttlefish into 

very thin julienne strips and sauté in 

hot olive oil until crisp. Pour in the 

wine. Add the chopped fennel and the 

ink and let the sauce cook and bind for 

4-5 minutes. If the sauce hasn't thickened, 

remove the cuttlefish from the 

pot and let it simmer until thick, 


8 servings 

3 pounds (1 ½ kilo) cuttlefish, with ink 



1 small batch of fennel, trimmed and finely chopped 

6 oz. (200 gr.) butter 

3 oz. (100 gr.) fine semolina 

800 ml- 1 liter (3/4 - 1 quart) milk, or more, as needed 

150 ml sheep's milk yogurt 


Fresh basil, as needed, finely chopped 

adding the cuttlefish back in the pot 

in the end. 

2. In a small pot, heat half the butter 

and sauté the fine semolina. Pour in 

the milk and let it simmer over low 

heat. Mix constantly until thick. Add 

the yogurt, salt and pepper to taste, 

remaining butter and some chopped 

basil. If needed, add some more milk, 



until the mixture acquires the consistency 

of a custard. The longer the custard 

simmers, the better, so long as 

you add a little milk incrementally as 

it simmers. 

3. Serve the cuttlefish accompanied 

with the custard cream.

Phyllo Pastries with Naxos Graviera 

and Ground Meat 


the onion for 4 minutes, until soft. 

Add the carrot and ground beef. Sauté 

for another 6-7 minutes, then add the 

small hortwort, currants, apricots, 

pistachios, salt, and pepper. Remove 

the stuffing from the heat and set 

aside to cool. Add the Graviera cheese. 

2. Divide the pastry into six stacks of 

two sheets each, brushing each layer 

with a little oil. Divide the filling into 

six equal amounts and place in the 

center of each double phyllo sheet. Cut 


6 servings 


5 ½ oz. (160 gr.) chopped red 

onion 

2 ½ oz. (80 gr.) grated carrot 

1 pound (500 gr.) minced beef 

5 oz. (150 gr.) coarsely grated 

Naxos Graviera cheese 

2 Tbsp. chervil, chopped 

2 Tbsp. Corinthian raisins 

3 dried apricots, chopped 

1 ½ oz. (40 gr.) Greek pistachios, 

roasted and coarsely 

chopped 

1 tsp. salt 

Φ tsp. pepper 

12 sheets commercial phyllo 

7,5 x 10 inches in diameter 

(19 x 26 cm) 

1 sheet puff pastry 

Olive oil, for brushing 

away the excess to get a circle that is 

about 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter. 

Bring together in the center like a 

pouch. Cut the flaky pastry into thin 

strips and use them to “tie” the pouches 

at the gathering point. Brush lightly 

with olive oil and bake on an oiled pan 

in a preheated oven at 375°F/190°C for 

about 15 minutes, until golden. 

3. Heat 100 ml olive oil in a pot and 

sauté the onion for 4 minutes until 

soft and withered and add the 

chopped carrot and potato. Sauté all 



For the Sauce 

3 oz. (100 gr.) chopped potato 

10 oz. (300 gr.) chopped red 

onion 

3 oz. (100 gr.) chopped carrot 


½ pound (250 gr.) chopped 

fresh mint 

½ Tbsp. pepper 

1 Tbsp. salt 

1200 ml beef broth 

the ingredients for a little bit longer, 

add the mint, pour in the beef broth 

and season with salt and pepper. Let 

the sauce simmer for 15 minutes. 

Remove, pulse in a blender, and strain 

through a fine-mesh sieve. Place the 

sauce back in the pot, simmer for 

another 20 minutes, and adjust the 

seasoning if needed. Pour the sauce in 

six individual plates, spreading to 

cover the entire surface like a pool. 

Drizzle with some olive oil and place 

the phyllo pouch on top.

Cretan Dakos with Ouzo Jelly 


For the Ouzo Jelly 

150 ml water 

150 ml Greek ouzo 

2 gr. agar-agar 

2 gelatin sheets, soaked in iced water 



For the Dakos 

6 Cretan barley rusks (dakos) (10 cm/4 inches in diameter) 

5 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped 

Water from the tomatoes 

5 oz. (150 gr.) Greek xynomyzithra cheese, crumbled 

Greek oregano, to taste 


1. Combine the water, ouzo, and agaragar 

and whisk in a saucepan. Bring 

the mixture to a boil and remove from 

heat. Cool to tepid, add the gelatin 

sheets, and whisk. 

2. Strain the mixture and place in a 

clean shallow container. Refrigerate 

until thick. When set, cut the jelly into 

small cubes. 

3. Soak the rusks with the tomato 

water. 

4. Mix the tomatoes with the ouzo 

jelly and divide the mixture equally on 

top of the rusks. Place a heaping 

tablespoon of xynomyzithra in the 

middle of the rusks. Drizzle with some 

olive oil, sprinkle with oregano to 

taste, and serve.

Island Spaghetti with Lemon Grass 

and Naxos Cheese Sauce 


5 servings 

1 pound (1/2 kilo) spaghetti 

8 roasted tomatoes (peeled, unseeded, cut into 4 slices, 

baked in the oven at 80°C for 4 hours, drizzled with 

some olive oil, sprinkled with salt, sliced garlic, 

and small thyme leaves), cut into julienne strips 

2 small sprigs of lemon grass, chopped 

5 oz. (150 gr.) Greek xynotyri from Naxos, 

or other hard, pungent Greek cheese, grated 

Fresh basil, chopped, as needed 


25 green olives, pitted and quartered 

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 



1. Boil the pasta in salted water to al 

dente. Drain and place in a large bowl 

together with the tomatoes, lemon 

grass, olive oil, and olives. 

2. Serve the pasta in individual plates 

and sprinkle with grated xynotyri and 

fresh basil.

Ikarian Marinated Octopus and Eggplant Salad 

1. Bring the octopus to a boil in a large 

pot of water seasoned with the vinegar, 

bay leaves and peppercorns. 

Reduce heat and simmer for about 45 

minutes, or until tender but al dente. 

Remove, cool, and cut into rounds. 

2. Whisk together all the marinade 

ingredients and pour into a bowl. 

Marinate the octopus for about 3 

Chef Miltos Karoumbas 

6-8 servings 

For the Octopus 

2 pounds (1 kilo) octopus, 

trimmed and rinsed 

100 ml vinegar 

2 bay leaves 

5-6 black peppercorns 

For the marinade 


50 ml apple vinegar 

3 Tbsp. Greek capers 


Dried Greek oregano, to taste 

For the Eggplant Salad 

2 pounds (1 kilo) large eggplants 

(about 4), roasted in 

the oven 

hours. Remove and serve over the eggplant 

salad. 

3. Wash the eggplants well, cut away 

the stems, pierce them with a fork in 

several places, and roast them whole 

in a preheated oven at 375°F/190°C. 

4. As soon as the eggplants are roasted, 

remove, cool, and peel, keeping 

only their flesh, unseeded. 

2 oz. (50 gr.) sun-dried tomatoes 

2 oz. (50 gr.) red pepper, finely 

chopped 

2 oz. (50 gr.) scallions, finely 

chopped 

2 oz. (50 gr.) red onion, finely 

chopped 


1-2 tsp. salt 

Ground white pepper 

3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice 


5. Chop the rest of the vegetables and 

mix them with the eggplants in a 

large bowl. Add the spices, olive oil, 

garlic and lemon juice and set aside. 

Serve the octopus with a dollop of the 

roasted eggplant salad. 



Syros Cheese Bread 

1. Place the ingredients for the first 

batter in the bowl of an electric mixer 

and whisk until smooth. 

2. Combine the ingredients for the second 

batter. Gradually mix the second 

batter with the first batter and continue 

beating until blended and soft. 

Remove the bowl from the mixer. 


6-8 servings 

For the First Batter 

1 pound (400 gr.) butter 

½ pound (225 gr.) cream cheese 

1 heaping tsp. fine salt 

1 scant tsp. dill, finely chopped 

2 oz. (60 gr.) finely chopped 

scallions 

½ tsp. ground red peppercorns 

For the Second Batter 

1 pound (500 gr.) eggs 

100 ml fresh milk 


Note: All ingredients should be at room temperature. 

3. Using a slotted metal spoon, gradually 

fold in the ingredients for the 

third batter (soft flour, baking powder, 

San-Mihalis cheese and olives) with a 

slow, circular motion. 

4. Butter a large rectangular pan and 

pour in the mixture. Level the surface 

with a spatula. Place the pan immedi- 



For the Third Batter 

2 pounds (1 kilo) pastry flour 

2 oz. (60 gr.) baking powder 

1 pound, 10 oz. (600 gr.) Syros 

San-Mihalis cheese, or other 

hard Greek cheese, grated 

½ pound (200 gr.) Greek green 

olives, quartered 

3 oz. (100 gr.) turkey slices, 

diced 

ately in a preheated oven at 

350°F/170°C for about 35-40 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and let the pie 

cool for 5-10 minutes inside the pan. 

Remove and serve.

Lamb Baked with Mint Sauce 

and Olive Oil Cheese 

1. Wash the lamb and cut into serving 

pieces. Blanch it for 15 minutes and 

drain. 

2. Heat a little olive oil in a large pot 

and sauté the onion and garlic. Add 

the lamb and brown. Pour in the wine. 


6 servings 

2 pounds (1 kilo) lamb leg, boned 

½ pound (200 gr.) Santorini-type cherry tomatoes 

1 pound (400 gr.) Mytilini lathotyri (olive oil cheese) 

180 ml white wine 

1 pound (½ kilo) small red potatoes, unpeeled, cut in half 

400 ml water 

1 small batch of fresh mint leaves 

2 tsp. salt 

1 tsp. black pepper 

1 pound (½ kilo) spinach leaves, blanched 



1 onion, finely chopped 

Add the potatoes, water, mint leaves, 

salt, and pepper and cook for about 45 

minutes. 

3. Place the blanched spinach in the 

bottom of an ovenproof baking dish. 

Add the cooked lamb with the potatoes. 

Cut the lathotyri and tomatoes into 

cubes and spread them evenly. Place the 

baking dish in the preheated oven at 

375°F/190°C and cook for 10 minutes 

until the cheese melts and the tomatoes 

are roasted. Remove and serve. 



Watermelon, Feta, and Olive Oil Salad 

Chef Stelios Parliaros 

4 servings 

1 1 /2 pound (750 gr.) peeled watermelon 


6 gelatin sheets (30 gr.) 

50 ml fresh strained lemon juice 

100 ml sweet Greek white wine 

Feta for garnish, cut into small cubes 

Extra virgin Greek olive oil, for drizzling 

Some leaves of fresh mint or spearmint, for garnish 



1. Peel and seed the watermelon and 

purée the pulp in a blender. 

2. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold 

water. 

3. Pour the watermelon pulp and 

sugar into a saucepan and bring to a 

boil. Simmer until the sugar dissolves. 

Remove from heat and add the soaked 

gelatin sheets. Add the lemon juice 

and wine, stir and empty the mixture 

into a shallow rectangular baking 

dish. 

4. Refrigerate until thick. When ready 

to serve, cut the watermelon confection 

and feta into small cubes. Serve 

the salad cold, drizzled with a tablespoon 

of olive oil. Sprinkle with mint 

or spearmint.

Rocket, Watermelon, and Asparagus Salad 

1. In a small skillet combine the water 

and sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves 

and a light syrup forms. 

Remove and cool. 

2. In a blender, pulse together all the 

ingredients for the sauce and syrup. 


4 servings 

For the Sauce 

4 Tbsp. water 

½ Tbsp. brown sugar 

1 cup watermelon, cut into cubes 

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar 


4 Tbsp. fresh orange juice 


Pepper, to taste 

3. Trim the tough bottoms off the 

asparagus. Remove the tender tips 

and set aside. Using a potato peeler 

grate the asparagus stalks into long 

thin strips like tagliatelle. Steam the 

tips of the asparagus for 2 minutes, 

remove, and cool. 



For the Salad 

7 oz. (200 gr.) green asparagus, washed and dried well 

1 pound (600 gr.) watermelon, cleaned and cut into small slices 

1 bunch rocket, washed and dried well 

5 oz. (150 gr.) fennel bulb, washed and cut into chips 

7 oz. (200 gr.) melihloro cheese from Limnos, or other 

semi-hard Greek sheep's milk cheese, cut into thin slices 

4. Place all the ingredients for the 

salad apart from the cheese in a bowl. 

5. Drizzle with the sauce, mix carefully, 

and serve sprinkled with the cheese 

slices on top.

Saganaki with Skewered, Grilled Nectarines 

1. In a small skillet combine the water 

and sugar and stir until dissolved and 

a light syrup forms. Let it cool. 

2. Place all the ingredients for the 

sauce and the syrup in a blender and 

pulse together. 

3. Trim the leaves off the rosemary 

sprigs, leaving just a few on top. Wash 

and wipe the sprigs. Thread a nectarine 

slice first on each of the sprigs, 

followed by the fennel bulb slices and 

olives. Each skewer should have 2 


4 servings 

For the Sauce 

4 Tbsp. water 

½ Tbsp. brown sugar 

½ cup nectarines, cut into cubes 


4 Tbsp. fresh orange juice 


Pepper, to taste 

4 large rosemary sprigs 

2 medium nectarines, washed and cut into 12 slices 

3 oz. (100 gr.) fennel bulb, cut into 8 slices 

8 large green olives, pitted 

2/3 cup Greek olive oil, for frying 

1 cup flour 

2 cups water 

360 gr. (12 oz.) arseniko cheese from Naxos or Greek 

kefalotyri, cut into 4 slices 

olives, 2 fennel bulb slices and 3 nectarine 

pieces. 

4. Pour the sauce into a shallow container 

and marinate the skewers. 

5. Preheat the grill. Heat the olive oil 

in a small skillet. Place the flour in a 

plate and pour 2 cups water in a bowl. 

Dip each slice of cheese in the water, 

dredge lightly with flour, shake off the 

excess, dip again in water and fry 

until golden on both sides. Drain on 

paper towels. 



6. Strain the skewers from the sauce 

and let the sauce aside. Grill the skewers 

for 2-3 minutes on each side. 

Divide the saganaki (fried cheese) and 

the skewers among 4 plates. Drizzle 

the skewers with the reserved sauce 

and serve immediately.

Melon Souvlaki with Feta Ice Cream 

1. Heat the milk with the cream to 

160°F/70°C. Add the feta and remove 

from heat. 

2. Whip the egg yolks with an electric 

mixer and gradually add the feta mixture. 

Place the mixture back on the 


6-8 Servings 

For the Feta Ice Cream 

1,000 ml milk 

300 ml heavy cream 

6 egg yolks 

1 ½ pound (700 gr.) Greek feta cut into cubes 

1 Greek melon, peeled and cut into cubes (1-inch/2 cm) 

Sugar, for sprinkling 

stove and heat until it reaches 

175°F/80°C. Strain the mixture and 

refrigerate until cool. 

3. Place in an ice-cream maker and 

process according to individual unit's 

directions. 



4. To serve: Thread 4 melon cubes on 

each skewer. Sprinkle the skewers 

with sugar and heat with a small 

kitchen blow torch to caramelize. 

Serve with quenelles of feta ice cream.

White Chocolate Mousse 

with Greek Mountain Tea 


4 to 6 servings 

800 ml heavy cream, 35% fat 

2 tsp. (10 gr.) Greek mountain tea 

6 oz. (250 gr.) white chocolate 



1. Bring 300 ml of cream and tea to a 

boil in a medium pot. Remove from 

heat and let stand for 20 minutes. 

2. Whip the remaining 500 ml of 

cream. 

3. Melt the white chocolate in a double 

boiler, remove from heat and slowly 

add the whipped cream, stirring all 

the while. Pass the tea-steeped cream 

through a sieve to remove the tea and 

fold into the mousse, stirring gently 

and carefully. 

4. Fill individual bowls and refrigerate. 

Garnish with tea leaves.

Watermelon Pie 



3 eggs 

6 oz. (180 gr.) butter, melted 

7 oz. (200 gr.) flour 

2 ½ pounds (1 kilo) watermelon, juiced and strained 

Sesame seeds 

Cinnamon, for garnish (optional) 

1. Combine the sugar, eggs and butter 

in a large bowl until just blended. Add 

the flour and stir vigorously. Add the 

watermelon juice and stir again. 

2. Empty the mixture in a rectangular 

glass baking pan and bake in a preheated 

oven at 350°F/170°C for 15 minutes. 

Sprinkle with sesame and continue 

baking for another 20 minutes. 

Bake a little longer, as needed, until 

set but soft. 

3. Remove from oven, cool on a rack, 

and serve, sprinkled with cinnamon. 



Baked Summer Fruit Compote 

with Mastiha Liqueur or Yogurt 


4 servings 

3 fresh figs, halved lengthwise 

2 peaches, cut into 6 pieces each 

10.5 oz. (300 gr.) combined red and green grapes 

3 Tbsp. butter, melted 

Sugar for sprinkling 

100-200 ml Mastiha liqueur 



1. Place all the fruits in one layer in a 

pan, drizzle with melted butter, and 

sprinkle with sugar. 

2. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F- 

400°F/180°C-200°C for 15 minutes. 

Remove and cool on a rack. Serve 

them in a bowl drizzled with the 

Mastiha liqueur. 

Note: If desired, serve the preserve 

accompanied with yogurt.

Grape Cream 


6 servings 

750 ml (net weight) fresh grape juice 

1 1/3 Tbsp. (20 gr.) sugar 

1.7 oz. (50 gr.) cornstarch 

Olive oil for oiling the pan 

6-10 grapes, cut in half 

1. Keep half of the fresh grape juice, 

pour the rest into a pot and heat over 

low flame until it comes to a boil. 

2. Combine the sugar and cornstarch 

and dissolve into the reserved grape 

juice. As soon as the juice comes to a 

boil, pour in the cornstarch mixture 

and simmer over low heat, stirring all 

the while, until thick and set. 

3. Brush a 1-quart baking pan or 6 

ramekins with oil and spread the 

halved grapes evenly on the bottom. 

Pour the mixture into the pan or 

ramekins and refrigerate until well 

chilled and set. Remove from the pan 

or ramekins and serve. 



Lavender-Scented White Cream with Apricots 

1. Pour the 500 ml of cream and grated 

lavender into a pot. Whip the sugar 

and yolks in a bowl and empty the 

mixture into the cream. Stir constantly 

over low heat until the temperature 

reaches 185°F/85°C. (Do not let it 

boil.) Remove from heat and immediately 

pour the mixture into a clean 

pot. 


For the Cream 

500 ml cream 

2 pounds (1 kilo) lavender, chopped/grated 

3.5 oz. (100 gr.) sugar 

6 egg yolks 

3 oz. (10 gr.) gelatin sheets 

4.5 oz. (130 gr.) heavy cream 

For the Apricots 

6-8 apricots 

1.7 oz. (50 gr.) butter, melted 

1.7 (50 gr.) sugar 

2. Soak the gelatin sheets into cold 

water and then add them to the mixture. 

Stir gradually until the mixture is 

cool. Whip the cream until it is as 

thick as strained yogurt and add it to 

the mixture. Stir well and spread the 

cream in equal amounts in individual 

ramekins or a baking pan. Serve with 

baked apricots. 



3. To prepare the apricots: Cut the 

apricots in half, remove the seeds, 

butter them and sprinkle with sugar. 

Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C and 

bake until caramelized.

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