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Greek semolina halva with orange and honey
A few days ago, the Great British Bake Off crowned its 2020 winner. But don’t worry if you are yet to watch the final episode, I’m not going to spoil it for you. I am only going to say that it inspired me to take a break from my savoury bakes and make something sweet this week. Staying true to my roots, I opted for a traditional Greek dessert: halva. The word ‘halva’ (‘halvas’ in Greek) is used to describe two different types of desserts: a semolina-based one and a tahini-based one, which is called ‘Makedonikos halvas’ (Macedonian halva). I made the former. Traditionally, the recipe calls for 4 main ingredients:…
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Traditional Greek stuffed vegetables
Although I am neither a vegetarian nor a vegan, stuffed vegetables is my favorite Greek dish. ‘Yemista’, as it is called in Greek, is one of those dishes that I’d rather have at home than at a tavern. When I was a child, it was always my grandmother who’d make this delicious dish; if I didn’t happen to be in her house, she would always find a way to send a few portions to mine. Now that I am an adult, I’ve simply taken over that role myself. For me, ‘yemista’ have always been tomatoes and bell peppers stuffed with rice and baked in the oven. As a child, I…
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Baked tomato fritters from Santorini
I recently started tweaking traditional Greek recipes, foods that I enjoyed as a child and I still enjoy every time I visit my home country. To showcase the Greek cuisine and Mediterranean diet, this week I’m baking tomato fritters (known as ‘domatokeftedes’ in Greek). This dish is very popular in Santorini, where it is served as an appetiser. Traditionally, tomato fritters are deep-fried and not baked. But, since I am an advocate for healthy eating, I swapped the frying pan for the oven. Despite being eaten and prepared as vegetables, tomatoes are actually fruits. They are rich in various antioxidants and the major dietary source of lycopene, which has been…
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Baked zucchini (courgette) fritters
Two days ago, England went to a second national lockdown, and so have many other countries around the world. During the spring lockdown earlier this year, I must have baked more cakes and biscuits that any other time of my life; each week I came up with a new recipe, inspired by my travels, but tweaked to make it healthier than it would have been otherwise. This time around, I have decided to tweak traditional Greek recipes, foods that I enjoyed as a child and I still enjoy every time I visit my home country. To continue a tradition I actually started a few weeks ago, this week I’m baking…