Greece, Fresh and Simple
The down side to only spending a week cooking from a country is that you often can only scratch the surface of that cuisine. That was certainly the case this week with Greece.
Greece is located in Southeastern Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and Turkey. Nearly everyone has heard of Ancient Greece, Athens, the fierce soldiers of Sparta, and Greece as the cradle of modern civilization. Greece has seen history first hand and, much like other nations that braved the waters to explore, their culture has been influenced greatly by their interactions with surrounding nations.
Greek food is characterized by fresh, local ingredients and simple dishes. On the one hand more similar to what we know of Italian food, and on the other influenced by Middle Eastern cuisines, especially that of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Greek food is a great amalgamation of these influences.
None of the dishes I made were difficult, but many of them took hours as the ingredients cooked together and made something greater than the sum of its parts. I have to admit, I like pretty food and honestly I didn’t find the dishes I made to be particularly photogenic, but everything was delicious. Common ingredients are olive oil, olives and capers, wine, grains, poultry, seafood, and herbs like oregano, dill, and mint. They are especially known for the use for fresh cheeses, particularly feta, and yogurt.
I could easily spend weeks working my way through the diverse regions and climates of Greece, but I narrowed it down to just a few dishes I felt gave me an overview of the cuisine.
I started with a dish called “Spicy Chicken”. The spice in this case refers to the use of spices such as allspice, not to any level of heat. This cooked in wine and tomato paste, and was served over orzo. This wasn’t a pretty dish by any means, but it was one of the favorites of the week.
One of my favorites was Moussaka and Potato Salad. The Moussaka is a casserole with a layer of eggplant, topped with a layer of meat sauce, and finally topped with a layer of béchamel. The individual layers are cooked, then combined and baked in the oven to let it all come together. I served it with a potato salad that was dressed with fresh dill, lemon juice, and yogurt. Sadly, the dressing for my potato salad broke, but thankfully it didn’t affect the taste. While I do like dill, I felt like it was a bit much. Maybe I just used too much. On the other hand, the moussaka was so rich and savory that the fresh dill and yogurt served as a foil against it all being too rich to finish. This was an interesting dinner in that the moussaka was too loose, so neither dish looked particularly amazing, but the flavors were on point.
The final, weekend dinner consisted of an ultra brightly flavored Psilokomeni salad, octopus pasta, and walnut baklava for dessert.
While everything was pretty tasty this week, honestly I think this salad was my favorite. It is incredibly simple, but the dressing of olive oil and red wine vinegar mixed with the brightness of fresh dill was the ultimate palate opener. This salad alone has me wanting to grow some dill in my summer garden.
While this wasn’t my favorite dish of the week, the octopus pasta was pretty good. It was only my second time making octopus at home and I felt like I nailed the texture. The pasta was creamy and filling. I was told this one isn’t going in the rotation and on that I can agree.
Finally, we ended the week with walnut baklava. It was my first time working with filo dough, which I found surprisingly forgiving. Like everything else I made this week, the individual components are easy to put together, with a result that makes you reaffirm your appreciation for simplicity.
my people!