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greek secrete to long living |
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. THE GREEK CUISINE Mother earth in Greece provides good fertile soils to produce most of the vegetables and fruit grown all over the landscape in small holding owned by the families to continue the traditions of growing fine organic produce. Meat is also organic with free roaming herds of sheep and goats, over the hills accompanied by there carrying Shepard's on daily walks. Fish and seafood is caught daily giving us an abundance of choice for a very healthy diet. Most dishes are cooked in pure olive oil which is what the Greeks say gives them their healthy lifestyle and long life.
A traditional recipe from Greece is lamb kleftico lamb cooked in the oven with feta cheese, herbs, spices, and potatoes this is cooked very slowly bringing out all the different flavors. If you want a quick meal souvlaki is very popular this is meat cooked on a skewer over a wood fire giving it a true barbeque taste other traditional dishes are moussaka, pastitsio these dishes are made with meat fresh vegetables and pasta.
Local markets in Greece attract growers and fishermen to sell there produces daily at different locations. The traditions of the marketplace are well established throughout Greece with many large markets in the town centers. The markets sell everything that the heart desire to attract a wider audience, in some islands specialty foods can be found as local delicacies.
The traditional way of eating is to have a combination of dishes on the table this nearly always includes a Greek salad either meat chicken or fresh fish and potatoes fresh bread is a must no matter what your taste and preference the choices are there. The wine is locally and purchased by the kilo if you have your own grapes you might be tempted to make your own, if not it is very reasonably priced, other wines from Greece are readily available/ beer is now brewed locally this is a light continental beer.
Retsina is another favorite and last but not least the famous Raki which is an acquired taste and is supposed to cure all known ailments. Greek coffee is the same as Turkish the water is boiled up with the grounds in a traditional pot. Frappe this is coffee which is served cold with ice and very refreshing in the hot summer. Cakes tend to be very sweet as the sweetener used is pure honey which is also produced locally with different flavors depending where the hives are situated.
The Greeks are famous for some of the most mouthwatering desserts, with such a variety of fruits growing in the warm climate has truly inspired the chefs of Greece to come up with exciting recipe combinations. In Greece it is traditional to give friends and families cakes on there names day, also when visiting it is polite to take a present normally a plant or cake, so an amassing array of local cake shops have grownup in Greece. By far the most famous of all desserts known around the world in Greece is Greek yoghurt, fruits are added but the most traditional way is to eat Greek yogurt naturally with honey poured lavishly over. Fruit trees are in great abundance these include orange, lemon pomegranates and limes if you are thinking of purchasing land or an established property it will probably have established trees already just waiting for you to pick your own fruit. Many Greeks have a connection with the soil, in all of Greece vegetables are grown by the families so with encouragement living in Greece you are able to be part of the land by growing your own produce. In main restaurants in villages don't be surprised if many items on the menu have be grown by the owners. Probably the most famous chefs in the whole of Greece are the Grandmothers of the families as they have been keeping the cooking recipes alive over the centuries passing the secretes onto the next generation to follow. Pick a Greek recipes below and try a dish at home. Greek Country Soup Serveing 5-6 A wholesome Greek country village soup that, served with homemade bread. Ingredients: 3 medium potatoes, sliced. 2 fresh leeks,
sliced. 3 medium courgettes,
sliced. beef stock or a bouillon
cur to cubes. 8oz. bacon, roughly cut. 3 ripe tomatoes, sliced. 3 medium carrots, scraped
sliced. one and a half teacups of
pure olive oil. 3 onions, finely chopped. salt and pepper. fresh lemon juice. Cooking Instructions: Sowauté the onions in the olive oil until they become lightly fried. Add the sliced vegetables, bacon and beef stock or bouillon season to taste. Slowly bring to the boil and cook on a medium similar heat slowly for about an hour. Serve the soup with lemon juice. Stuffed Vines Leaves Serveing 4-5 A traditional national dish from the villages of Greece. Ingredients: 50-60 fresh green vine leaves. 1 cup of spring onions, finely chopped. 3 medium courgettes, sliced. 1 1/2 cups of sliced onions. 1 cup of Greek olive oil. 1 cup of plan rice. Juice of 2 lemons. quarter cup of fresh mint, finely chopped. 3 onions, finely chopped. salt and pepper. 1/2 a cup of dill, finely chopped. Cooking Instructions: Blanch the vine leaves, drain water off and allow to cool, Mix all the ingredients except the lemons wrapping into the vine leaves, rolling long flat shapes. Place some of the vine leaves on the bottom of the pan, then place the rolls in outward radiating circles, evenly spaced and close to one another, gently place a plate that's not too heavy on top of the vine leaves so that they don't break open during cooking. Place the freshly squeezed lemon juice water to cover boil gently until water had been absorbed and rice cooked. Cool then arrange on a plate, garnish with lemon slices. Cretan Small Cheese Pies Serveing 3-4 Shepard's feast soft chesses in a light pastry snacks sold in village shops. Ingredients: 3 teacups flour. salt. 1 egg. 1lb. (450g) unsalted cheese, or cottage cheese. 2 tablespoons mint. water. 1 glass of olive oil for frying. 5 tablespoons sugar. Cooking Instructions: Put the flour in a bowl and blend in some salt and water to form a thick dough. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured board and cut into round shapes with a pastry cutter or drinking glass. Place the cheese, egg and finely chopped mint into a bowl and mix. Place a teaspoon of the mixture into the middle of each round shaped pastry. Fold half of the pastry over the filling, press open ends of a fork along the folded end of the pie. Heat the olive oil over a medium heat and fry the pies until they are a golden colour. Place the pies on a serving plate, sprinkle with sugar. Peasant Omelettes Serves 4 Omelettes feta cheese red peppers, black olives, onions. Ingredients: 12 eggs three and a half ounces (100g) black olives 2 onions, cut into slices. 7 oz (200g) feta cheese, cut into chunks 1 lb 2oz (500g) virgin olive oil. sat and pepper. 2 red peppers, sliced. Cooking Instructions: Heat 3-4 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and sauté the onions for 5 minutes, remove the olive pits and cut the olives in half add the olives, red peppers and feta cheese to the onions and cook gently for a further 5 minutes. Beat eggs in a bowl then add 2 tablespoons of the onion, olive, cheese mixture 2 tablespoons of oil in another frying pan and pour in the omelette mixture. Fry the omelette on both sides then repeat the process until all omelette are done. Country Style Lamb Severs 6 Fillo pastry lamb vegetables. Ingredients: 3 lbs. 6 oz. (one and a half kilos) leg of lamb, boned. 1 lb. 2 oz. (500g) round potatoes. 1 lb. 2 oz. (500g) carrots, coarsely cut. 4-5 spring onions, sliced. 11 oz. (300g) peas. 11 oz. (300g) cottage cheese, unsalted. salt and pepper. 1 lb. 2 oz. (500g) fillo pastry. 1 teacup butter, melted. one and a half teacups of olive oil. 2 tablespoons of dill, finely chopped. Cooking Instructions: Heat the oil in a large pot sauté the onions, add the boned lamb cooking for a further 10 minutes.browning the lamb. Add water to cover the meat to boil for 1hour. Place the vegetables into pan allowing ingredients to boil for a further 20 minutes, remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool. Cut the fillo pastry into strips of about 20 cms. in width. Place at one end of the strip of lamb, mix the rest of the pot ingredients with pieces of cheese, brush on melted butter to the end of the pastry sheets and fold forming parcels. Place fillo parcels on a buttered oven dish and bake in a medium-oven for 35-40 minutes sever. Moussaka Serves 4 Minced lamb and aubergine served with a light red wine. Ingredients: one and a half pounds (675g) minced lamb. 1 x 14oz. (400g) can of tomatoes. 1 onion, chopped. 2 aubergines. 1 clove garlic, crushed. 6 oz. (175g) ricotta cheese.1 tsp. dried rosemary. 4 fl. oz. (125ml) cooking oil. 2 medium eggs, beaten. salt and pepper. 4 fl. oz. (125ml) single cream. Cooking Instructions: Slice the courgettes, sprinkle in salt leaving for 30 minutes before rinsing under cold tap drying on absorbent kitchen paper. Pour half the oil into a saucepan, add garlic ,onions frying on a low heat for 5 minutes, remove drain stirring in the lamb. Cook until all brown, add all Constance for a can of tomatoes, stiringr in the rosemary season to taste salt and pepper, bring to the boil simmer gently for about 20 minutes. Pour remaining oil into frying pan place aubergines browning on both sides. Place ricotta cheese, beaten eggs, cream into a mixing bowl stirring. Porer the lamb mixture into a casserole dish, spread evenly arranging sliced courgettes on top. Covering with cheese topping bake in a pre-heated oven at 375F, Gas Mark 5, 190C for 35-45 minutes or until the top brown. Brandy Sugar Biscuits Christmas sweets with their of cinnamon, brandy and roasted almonds. Ingredients: 3 cups of flour. 4 tbsps of brandy. 1 whole egg and the yolk of and egg. 1 tbsp ground cinnamon. 1 cup of coarsely ground roast almonds. 2 cups of olive oil. !/2 cup of caster sugar. 2-3 cups of icing sugar. Cooking Instructions: Pre-heat the oven to 350F, Gas Mark 4, 180 C. placet the sugar and olive oil into a mixing bowl beating all together. Add eggs, almonds, cinnamon, and brandy, slowly blend in the flour until the mixture turns into a dough that must not not stick in the hands. Divide the dough into pieces mouldeding into a similar size shape walnuts put onto a llightly greased baking tray. Cook pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, when cooked allow to cool before sifting icing sugar over covering completely.
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