Simple food, simple pleasures
Sometimes the greatest meal can be the simplest – seasoned by the atmosphere and the memory it creates. For this reason, we could not resist re-telling this lovely story from one of our Olympic Holidays’ friends which sums up the joy of eating out in Greece and its islands.
“A few years ago a friend and myself wandered all of a couple of streets away from the main drag in search of an evening meal. We found a largish taverna where the menu soon became self-evident; one wall housed lines of chickens stuffed and coated with lemon, herbs and oil on a spit roast. We added a Greek salad and bread and dinner was served."
“But a side dish that followed came from an unexpected source. A group of men came into the taverna – they were fishermen who were singing their hearts out as they entered with a tin bath filled with fish."
“The fish was deep fried and handed out to everyone, including us, just casual visitors. They had clearly had an exception fishing day and wanted to share their good fortune.”
Just thinking about Greek food makes our mouths water so with your holidays booked you can look forward to trying all of your favourite dishes – but why not try some home menus?
Here’s a recipe from Zante, created by chef Lakis Bouas, who says this is one of his favourites – Spanakotiropita.
Lakis said: “This dish has all the flavours of Greece, it’s easy to make and will keep for days in the fridge and can be warmed through at about 160C for five minutes."
Ingredients
800g spinach chopped
1 large red onion finely chopped
4 spring onions finely chopped
1 cup of chopped fresh dill
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 handful chopped fresh mint
2 eggs, beaten
150g crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons of olive oil plus more to brush filo pastry
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 packet filo pastry
Method
Place olive oil in a large saucepan, add all the onions and fry gently for five minutes until softened. Add spinach and cook until all juices have evaporated. Take the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool for five minutes. Add feta cheese, chopped herbs and beaten eggs and mix well with a wooden spoon. Season to taste, with salt and pepper.
Layer half of your filo pastry sheets in the bottom of a lightly oiled baking dish, brushing every single one of them with olive oil as you go. Spread the spinach mixture on top and layer the rest of the filo pastry over the top, again brushing each sheet with olive oil.
Brush the top sheet with some more olive oil and sprinkle with a handful of water. With a sharp knife slit the top pastry sheets into squares. Bake for 50 minutes, or until the filo becomes nice and golden.
- This recipe is from The Olive Tree Kitchen recipe book, submitted by a friend of Olympic Holidays and grecophile Jeff Fuidge who, with Zakynthos-based chef Lakis Bouas, compiled traditional and family recipes for customers of the Bouas taverna in Tsilivi.
It can be bought for £9.99 + p&p from jeffrfuidge@outlook.com - If you have a favourite recipe to share or a great Greek foodie story please write to us at Marketing@olympicholidays.com