The Pub - Discuss Anything

[KEVINAA 108]

 

[Vesper 29,133]

[Vesper 29,133]

The only seven Greek recipes you’ll ever need

From kleftiko and the perfect Greek salad to spanakotyropita — here’s how to rustle up authentic Hellenic dishes at home

https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/simple-greek-recipes-odysea-fk6ggn5tx

Horiatiki (Greek salad) and spanakotyropita. “Never tell a Greek to buy a 200g bag of feta. They will laugh at you. It’s too small,” says Odysea’s Panos Manuelides

 

When Panos Manuelides decided he was going to sell Greek sea bass to Londoners in the Nineties, he didn’t ask for advice from anyone.

Instead, armed with a box of fish that had been caught off the Greek island of Chios less than 24 hours before, put on ice and flown overnight to Heathrow, he looked up the address for Tesco’s HQ, drove there and knocked on the door.

“Fish doesn’t keep, so I had to be quick,” he says. “They asked if I had an appointment, which I didn’t, but I think they felt sorry for me and let me in.” Less than a year later, Manuelides had brokered a deal that got his fresh fish on the supermarket’s counter.

Today, Manuelides’s specialist food company, Odysea, which he founded 34 years ago, imports award-winning foods from Greece. Odysea was the first to bring high-polyphenol extra virgin olive oil to market this year and is the only supplier in the country to sell raw honey. “Our products must be special. They need to have a PDO (protected designation of origin) or have a story,” Manuelides says.

He doesn’t have the background you would expect for a food specialist. He has a degree in mathematical science and a master’s in information technologies from LSE. But he wasn’t a typical student when he arrived, aged 18, in the mid-Eighties from Athens, where he was born. “I knew how to cook. In a Greek family, life evolves in the kitchen. I did my homework there, and when someone knocked at the door we invited them into the kitchen,” he tells me. “A friend once asked me to buy mayonnaise. I said, ‘Don’t be so silly — we make it ourselves.’ ”

You cannot talk about Greek food and Odysea without also mentioning cheese. In 1998 Greece was the biggest consumer of cheese in the world, with the average person eating more than 27kg each year. “There is a joke at home that you will never tell a Greek to buy a 200g bag of feta. They will laugh at you. It’s too small.”

But feta is not the only cheese Greeks eat. Odysea sells manouri, mizithra, galotyri and mastelo to name a few. Does Manuelides have a favourite? “No, I am Greek. I love them all.” Hannah Evans

ROMAS FOORD FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE

1. Gigante yahni (oven-baked giant beans)

Serves 8 as a side dish

It’s one of the unofficial dishes of Greece.

Ingredients

• 250g dried giant beans – we use Agrino Fasolia Gigantes Elefantes, but you can also use 2 x 400g jars of pre-cooked beans in brine
• 240ml extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 large onion, chopped quite small
• 1 x 400g tin of peeled tomatoes, liquidised
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 1 tbsp chopped celery
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Small bunch of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. If using dried beans, soak them in water overnight, then drain and place in a pot of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain, wash off all the froth, then place again in a saucepan and cover with cold water by about 15cm. Bring to the boil, add salt and simmer for about 60 minutes or until cooked al dente. Drain and keep the cooking liquid aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 165C fan/gas 4½. In another saucepan place the extra virgin olive oil, garlic, onion, tomatoes, carrot, celery, oregano and sugar, stir and cook until all the water has evaporated and the mixture starts to sizzle in the oil.
3. Add the cooked beans, parsley, salt and pepper to taste and 230ml of the reserved liquid (or hot water). Mix well, empty into a deep ovenproof dish and top with lots of freshly ground black pepper.
4. Bake for 45-60 minutes until all the water has been absorbed. Enjoy the beans at room temperature.

ROMAS FOORD FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE

2. Kleftiko

Serves 4

This is a slow-cooked lamb dish and the slower you cook it, the better. My twist is preserved lemon rather than fresh lemon.

Ingredients

• 4 medium-sized potatoes, peeled (optional)
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 4 lamb shanks
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 preserved lemon skin only, quartered (optional)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp dried oregano

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 130C fan/gas 2.
2. Cut 4 pieces of parchment large enough to hold 1 shank and one potato (if using).
3. Cut the potatoes in 4 segments vertically, place in a bowl with the extra virgin olive oil and mustard and toss the potatoes to cover them with the mixture.
4. In each parchment add 1 lamb shank, 4 potato segments, 1 garlic clove, 1 bay leaf and a quarter of the lemon skin, then sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano.Fold the parchment carefully around the lamb and potatoes and secure with string to make a parcel.
5. Spray the parcels with water, place in a heavy oven dish and cover securely with foil by folding the foil around all the edges of the oven dish; or use an ovenproof casserole with a lid.
6. Cook in the oven for 4-5 hours.

ROMAS FOORD FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE

3. Tzatsiki

Serves 5-6 as a dip

My top tip: make sure you squeeze all the water out of the cucumber.

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber, skin on, grated
• 500g authentic Greek yoghurt
• 50ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar (optional)

Method

1. Strain the cucumber in a sieve for a while, then squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible.
2. Put everything in a bowl and mix until the oil blends with the yoghurt.

ROMAS FOORD FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE

4. Skordalia (Greek garlic dip)

Serves 8

It will keep in a sealed glass jar for one week in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 140g blanched almonds
• 70g bread (you can use up any stale bread you may have)
• 6 garlic cloves (more or less according to taste), with any green centres removed
• 60ml white vinegar
• 2 tsp salt
• 210g mashed potato
• 280g Greek strained yoghurt
• 240ml extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Soak the almonds in water for 1 hour, then drain. Soak the bread in water for about 30 minutes until it’s completely saturated, then squeeze the water out.
2. In a food processor, blend together the garlic, almonds, vinegar and salt until smooth. Add the potato, bread and yoghurt then blend again.
3. With the motor running slowly, pour in the olive oil to blend with the mixture. The skordalia should be thick enough to hold its shape, with a consistency similar to that of hummus. Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar if necessary.
4. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Serve with warm pitta bread or a selection of meze. In Greece, we eat it with fried battered fish and beetroot.

ROMAS FOORD FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE

5. Spanakotyropita

Serves 8

You can use other cheeses in this recipe, but cheese in Greece is feta.

Ingredients

• 1kg fresh spinach
• Salt and pepper
• 1 medium-sized onion, chopped
• 120ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing the baking dish and pastry, as needed
• 80g chopped spring onions
• 1 leek, thinly sliced
• 12g chopped dill
• 2 eggs
• 200g-300g feta cheese, crumbled
• 10-12 sheets filo pastry

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 165C fan/gas 4½.
2. Wash the spinach, chop coarsely and place in a bowl, then sprinkle with salt. Leave for 10 minutes, then squeeze the spinach to remove excess water, put in a colander and set aside.
3. Gently fry the chopped onion in the olive oil for 10 minutes or until a light golden colour, add the spring onions and leek and cook until they wilt. Add the spinach and stir everything together until it’s a light colour. Stir in the dill and salt and pepper to taste, then cook until the mixture starts sizzling. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool. All the water from the spinach should be absorbed.
4. In another bowl, beat the eggs and add the crumbled feta. Add the egg and feta mixture to the cooled spinach mixture and mix well.
5. Brush a 25cm x 30cm baking dish with extra virgin olive oil, then line with a sheet of filo. Repeat the process using a total of 6 sheets, brushing each sheet with extra virgin olive oil before adding the next and leaving any sections of overhanging filo as they are for now. Spread the spinach mixture evenly over the filo, then fold the overhanging parts of filo back over the spinach filling, brushing with extra virgin olive oil as you go.
6. Lay the remaining sheets of filo on top, brushing each sheet with extra virgin olive oil. Trim off the edges as necessary and tuck in the pastry all around the dish. Brush the top with extra virgin olive oil and use a sharp knife to lightly score the filo in squares, making sure you do not cut too deep to expose the filling.
7. Bake for approximately 45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 30 minutes before cutting into portions for serving.

ROMAS FOORD FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE

6. Horiatiki (Greek salad)

Serves 4

In Greece we don’t cut the feta into cubes: we place a whole slab on top of the salad (you use your fork to break off what you want). It should only be dressed with the best virgin olive oil and dried oregano.

Ingredients

• 80ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard (optional)
• ½ tsp Odysea Pine & Fir Tree Raw Honey
• Pinch of salt
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 or 2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped — use more or less according to size and preference
• 1 large cucumber, skin on, sliced
• Handful of large capucine capers
• Handful of Kalamata olives
• 1 x 200g block of good-quality feta
• Oregano, to taste

Method

1. To make the dressing, put the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, honey and salt in a jar, seal and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds until emulsified.
2. Put the onion, tomatoes and cucumber in a bowl, add the capers and olives and mix well. Drizzle over the dressing and mix again; any unused dressing can be kept in the fridge. Place the block of feta on top and scatter with oregano.

ROMAS FOORD FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE

7. Baked feta parcels with raw honey

Serves 2-4 as a side dish

If you don’t have sesame seeds, use other seeds, oregano or spicy pul biber instead.

Ingredients

• 2 sheets filo pastry
• Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
• 1 x 200g block of good quality feta, cut in two
• Raw Greek honey
• Sesame seeds (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C fan/gas 4.
2. Lay a sheet of filo on a flat surface and brush the top side with olive oil. Place one block of feta towards the bottom of the shorter side of the filo, then lift the bottom part of the filo over the feta. Keep rolling up the feta in the filo, tucking in the ends of the filo as you go to form a parcel and brushing with olive oil before each fold. Repeat with the second sheet of feta and the second block of feta.
3. Place on a baking tray, seam-side down, and bake for 20 minutes or until the filo is a golden colour.
4. Gently toast the sesame seeds if using, taking care as they catch quickly. When the parcels are cooked, drizzle them immediately with honey and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

[Vesper 29,133]

The best whiskies for Burns Night

From a bargain supermarket single malt to boutique blends, Jane MacQuitty picks her top bottles

https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/best-whiskies-burns-night-9phlztf0k

A warming smoke, fire and peat dram to celebrate Robbie Burns’s birthday next Saturday is just what this cold, dreary month needs. What amazes me is the flood of new blends, casks, ages, strengths and wood regimes that wash up here every year. Scotland has about 150 distilleries but its whisky blenders are hellbent on creating not just the signature styles that made them famous but hundreds of different expressions. Getting to grips with Scotland’s five leading whisky regions — smoky, peaty Islay, soft Lowland, fruity Speyside, the silky fudge of Campbeltown and heathery Highland — is not enough. There’s an explosion of complex new flavours to digest, from citrus and floral, through butterscotch and spicy Dundee cake, right up to the medicinal, tarry whack of an aged Islay.

Unlike gin and vodka, which can be distilled in a day, good whisky takes at least ten years to show its true class. Still, even at the Aldi and Lidl single malt level, where the oldest whisky won’t be much more than the statutory minimum of three years, there are some decent drams here for less than £20 — see star buys. Spend twice that, if you can, on the tasty Kilchoman 46 per cent Islay blend at Marks & Spencer. It’s from a family-run field-to-bottle distillery that does the lot, including growing and malting its own barley. Or plump for Johnnie Walker’s brilliant Green Label 15-Year-Old blended malt (43 per cent, Waitrose, £49). It’s an elegant, ginger biscuit snap mix of four different distilleries’ malts, with the woodsmoke and fruit of Skye’s Talisker at its heart. Talisker’s own 10 Year Old is a sparky, sea spray and richly fruited 45.8 per cent wonder, well worth splashing out £51 for at Sainsbury’s.

Each whisky cask is unique, regardless of the same water, air, still and malt used in its creation, and batches do vary despite distillers’ determination to maintain consistency in big brands. If that’s not difficult enough, I am in awe of the skill required by boutique whisky makers such as Compass Box and Woven to create their showstopping blends. Check out Compass Box’s amazing 46 per cent Nectarosity, thewhiskyexchange.com, £52.25, with its glorious, silky, cinnamon-spiced stone fruit and tingly, salt lick finish care of sherry, bourbon and American oak butts. Woven goes a step further, combining whisky aged in Scottish, Irish and even English casks, plus American bourbon barrels, to create an aptly named but very unusual 46.1 per cent Superblend, thewhiskyexchange.com, £48.50, bursting with toffee, smoke, spice and all things nice.

From left: Ben Bracken Islay Single Malt; Kilchoman Single Malt; Ledaig Aged 10 Years Single Malt; Glen Marnoch Single Malt

Whisky stars

Ben Bracken Islay Single Malt Whisky
40 per cent, 70cl, Lidl, £17.99
A wonderful smoky, peaty, seaweed-and-tobacco-leaf star, it’s the best bargain supermarket single malt.

Kilchoman Islay Single Malt
46 per cent, 70cl, Marks & Spencer, £40
A strong, stylish, peaty Islay single malt with an appealing toffee, golden raisin and citrus peel finish.

Ledaig Aged 10 Years Mull Single Malt
46.3 per cent, 70cl, thewhiskyexchange.com, £39.95
A gorgeous, fruity, sea breeze-tangy peat smoke and black pepper malt from Mull’s Tobermory, founded in 1798.

Glen Marnoch Speyside Single Malt
40 per cent, 70cl, Aldi, £17.99
A satisfying digestive biscuit and rich fruitcake of a single malt with a pleasingly fiery, citrus finish.

From left: Bordeaux Supérieur; Macerao Moscatel Naranjo; Antonin Rodet Chardonnay; Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage

Supermarket wines of the week

2022 Bordeaux Supérieur, France
14 per cent, Lidl, £5.99
A bordeaux glut steal of an easy-swigging, fruit-first claret with lashings of juicy, plump, plummy merlot fruit.

2022 Macerao Moscatel Naranjo, Chile
13.5 per cent, Waitrose, £7.99, down from £8.99
Cheer up a dull day with a musky, spiced quince of a moscatel grape orange wine — it’s a handy big food bottle.

2023 Antonin Rodet Chardonnay, France
13 per cent, Morrisons, £9
A rich, nutty, creamy, oaked Midi chardonnay, from the burgundy house of Boisset, that punches well above its weight.

2022 Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage, South Africa
14 per cent, Booths, £13, down from £15
A peerless, dark, dusky pinotage with complex, velvety tannins and fat bramble fruit from a stellar Stellenbosch estate.