«Come immediately. I found a stone with a very nice green color… Alexis Zorbas wrote and invited his friend-boss to travel to Serbia to admire her.
Somehow I can exclaim: "Euron rooster very nice, gray, with lyre crimson and oversized, with plumestone plume and combed fashion (pins)". At dawn he called on chickens and citizens to admire and immortalize him. Two steps from the Katoi-Averoff Hotel in Metsovo.
Maria Panagakou maintains the stone mansion in Kotronas restaurant "Tastes at sea", works non-stop even in winter when Mani is deserted. Using local ingredients offers local recipes (drawn pies, convergent, olive oil, wild greens but also fish and seafood) but also other more sought after (risotto with cuttlefish ink, shrimp spaghetti, Mani pizza with convergent) and stands like Akritas its price laconic gastronomy (a more detailed description follows in a few days).
Halva is one of the traditional foods of the Greeks. The word is Arabic (halva) and means "sweet". It is found under the same name in India, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, but it was the Ottoman Turks who loved it most. Nowadays there are three widespread halvas: semolina, tahini halva - the so-called "tou bakali" - and Farsalon halva.
The semolina halva (or political halva) is made in the pot, from semolina roasted with olive oil and mixed with syrup (flavored with lemon peel and cinnamon), peeled almonds, skewers and cauliflower. Its recipe is simple: one dose of oil, two doses of semolina, three doses of sugar and four doses of water. The semolina spiced homemade halva was the favorite halva of the people of Asia Minor, which spread it all over Greece.
In Corinth, the political halva is enriched with the Corinthian raisin (black gold of the region).
Traditional dish of fried salted cod in red sauce with onions and Corinthian raisins. Continue reading
It does not mean that its standard products Messinia that framed the Greek Breakfast of Messinia, that is, the spleen, the convergent, the olives of Kalamon, the lilies, figs, can not play even more creative and uplifting roles, such as transforming into ouzo appetizers.
Passing from Areopolis to Messinian Mani, we arrived at Cardamom where we looked for Mrs. Lela, his old friend and cook Patrick Le Fermor Fifty years ago, she had built her own tavern on a rock. We learned with regret that she traveled to heaven last summer and there she would meet her old friend Patrick Lee and talk about the innocent years of their youth.
I was very impressed that in many taverns in Laconia the Laconian salad is now served. A salad based on local products. Boiled potatoes, onion, conch, orange, spell, parsley, capers drizzled with the laconic oil. I think it is a very good gastronomic development.
For many areas of Greece “Paspalas” is a way of preserving pork or other meats in fat. More specifically, they cooked the meat that was cut into small pieces with chopped leeks and pork fat in a saucepan over a low heat, and when the water evaporated and the meat and fat remained well cooked, they stored them in jars or jars. Pieces of sprouts were thrown into various foods to taste (omelets, legumes, vegetables, trachana).
Windy from the winds, wet from the waves, naked from the ornaments of nature and rich from the shocking stone creations of the people, Mani does not have much to brag about her cuisine. Because it is a kitchen that utilizes what a poor place has. Olives, oil, sage, oregano and sea salt. The domestic pig that is raised all year round, after being slaughtered shortly before Christmas in pig carcasses, in order to be preserved in time, is pickled, smoked to be dehydrated and seasoned.
In Kotronas of Mani, we tried at restaurant "Tastes at sea" of Mary Panagakou the first typical flavors of the region, such as the platter of the synglin with orange slices.
A beautiful colorful image that concentrates the Ikarian nature in a pan.
Celery, kaukalithres, fennel, zohioi, poppies, lapatha, myrons, wild leeks are the most characteristic. The vegetable pies of Ikaria they are baked in the oven, while in the pan the pies are made with the same ingredients. Depending on the tastes, the housewives add oregano, mint or other herbs, spring onion, spinach, a few traces of local cheese and sweet zucchini and of course dill, olive oil, salt and pepper.
From the field to the stomach!
Twenty tons of fava beans is not a small thing for an island that almost forgot that it was produced.
And of course the big bet is not from the field to the shelf, as many drum up as an achievement, but from the field to the stomach σω Through gastronomy, the agricultural product becomes a taste and incorporates the gastronomic culture of each place and here the absolute added value is achieved of.
For four years now, Filitsa Karamanli-Kovaiou - where on the island became Filio - cooks in the summer at I was rope recipes that you do not find easily in the Cyclades, even in gourmet restaurants! In tavern of Kyra-Pothiti (of her mother-in-law) the local fava -produced by her family- creates excellent dishes. The fava tart with xinomyzithra and tomatoes is a poem.
Cultivation from Antiquity -from the Homeric years- chickpea (ancient erevinthos) is a legume that is less demanding in watering, which suits the arid Cyclades. Most islands use it and make it famous revitada And them chickpea meatballs, except for Santorini which has the locals split peas.
The Cretan mangrove is a pasta, a very wide noodle pie, cooked half a dose of boiled, in lamb broth and the other half fried. Sprinkle with cream cheese. Excellent combination of crunchy with juicy pasta. I tried it on Kritamon restaurant in Archanes by Dimitris Mavrakis.
The sweets of Tinos, are made with simple materials and together with good reason sweeten the life of housewives and musafirs. The amygdalota, the tsimpita (mizithropitakia), the xerotigana, the loukoumia, the pastelia and the halvades for the holidays and the schools.
The stings of Tinos or how the mizithropitaki or the meletinia of the Cyclades in the hands of the Tinian housewives become works of art.
The artichokes of Tinos and especially of Komi are famous for their taste. Even tastier are the wild ones, which, although difficult to clean, anchor the thorns a lot. have the advantage of not having fluff inside and are eaten together with part of the foliage. Lemon and salt and become the best meze!
In Cross, in the tavern of Agiasos, the asparagus is not stingy in their omelette!
It is not an omelette even though it has many eggs, it is not a pie, it is not a souffle λέ it is our favorite sponge!
His sponge cafe-restaurant Hermes at Mytilene by hand Kyvelis impressed us why everything was done in the oven and why some of its ingredients were not fried and so it became very light.
Our project to get to know Greece through the eyes of gastronomy and to highlight the Greeks who create in this field was very ambitious. He wanted time, effort, knowledge, an open heart, love for the place, dedication and a lot of work.
Oh, yeah sponsors and supporters they appreciated our work, embraced our idea and embraced our effort.
We are very proud to travel with them.
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