[athenaeus]

Dear Wagamama and friends.

I found your question very intriguing, so I asked a couple of friends first what they would comprise in a typical Greek menu.
It seems that my friends got rich otherwise, I cannot explain why they cannot live without sushi...because they proposed to comprise sushi!
O Tempora! O Mores!
I have to tell you Wagamama that I like very much simple tastes, so maybe I will dissapoint you with my suggestions but this is what I am going to prepare for you when you visit Greece

First courseMezedes
1.Cretan Dakos
2.kalamata Table olives
3.Tzatziki.

Cretan Dakos is my favorite Greek dish! It comprises of a dried piece of bread (paksimadi), smashed fresh tomato on the paksimadi with feta cheese or some other goat cheese , with olive oil and oregano on the top!
kalamata olives is easy but you have to serve them in a bowl with a lot of olive oil in order to dip our bread.

Tzatziki is the famous tzatziki ,made of yogurt, cucumber (fresh not casserole!) and a lot of garlic.

In Greece a group of people, a Parea, eats mezedes from the same dish. That shows trust, friendship, solidarity.

Main course

This was very difficult to choose! After several meetings and telephone conferencies I decided to propose you

Roasted baby lamp with potatoes in the oven.

The lamp must be roasted in low temperature , for quite a long time in order to be so soft that you can cut it the way they do in Morocco! They cut it using the dish as a knife!

You have to use olive oil, a lot of garlic and a lot of lemon juice, some oregano and some pepper!

For desert I would suggest

Yugurt with Greek thyme-honey! Roasted lamp is heavy enought and I wouldnt suggest to eat those sweet and heavy deserts as backlava.

I am sure that I have dissapointed you but this is my proposal. Thanks you for the CDs. This is very kind of you!
I will send you one of Yo Yo Ma (the famous cello soloist) performing Piazzola's Liber Tango. It's the best version I have heard so far!

 

[cape chef]

Athenaeus,

What a lovely menu.

Can you also use barley or whole wheat rusk instead of the bread
For the Cretan Dakos?

Thanks
cc

[ October 03, 2001: Message edited by: cape chef ]

 

[athenaeus]

Cape Chef

The original recipe of the shepherds of Crete who created this magnificent dish, asks for barley rusk!

Thanks for asking because I didn't make my self clear to my previous message.

 

[shroomgirl]

Lamp??? I thought I was familar with Greek food, never read anything on this....

 

[papa]

Dear Shroomgirl!

I think that there is a typo here! I believe it should read as "lamb"!

 

[wagamama]

Hi Athenaeus!!
First of all,thanks a lot for you recipes,they sounds lovely,but you forgot the mediterranean sun and sea.!!
Sory about my ignorance: the Mezedes,it's a dish or the appetizers??.Very nice way of sharing the table.Sure i'll try this way of serving,and i wanna try the "kokoretsi".
You told in others topics,that you had been in Argentina?Have you been in BS.AS.??.In wich restaurants do you have dinner??
Sory i make a lot of questions.
But this is a great place to comunicate us.
Hope one day,i can fly with my son and wife!

So dear Athenaeus,thank you again.There is a grat history of our civilization in your country!We K.I.T.
"You are what you eat"
Hasta la vista

 

[athenaeus]

Wagamama!

I have been trying for some years now to find a way to lock the mediterranean sea and sun in my casserole but no luck until now!
You can only lock it in your heart and "serve" it threw your smile and gestures. This is what I think but I am not a professional chef, don't forget that!

Mezedes are for appetizer. Kokoretsi is a mezes also. Mezedes are very popular in my country since the 3th century BC.
They were so popular that in order to prepare the best of them, ancient Atheneans invented the profession of the chef!

But I started my lectures again about antiquity, sorry!

Don't ask about BS.AS, maybe I will tell you about my staying there after we have consumed a lot of kokoretsi and enough wine!
But I love Argentina!

As for lamps, yes! None really cooks them in Greece. They prefer lambs instead!