Lenten fare to make you forget you’re fasting
In the Greek calendar, 170 days of the year used to be fasting days, but now we «enjoy» an almost globalized diet. The traditional Greek diet is nutritionally sound. Red meat is associated with religious festivals and social celebrations. Poultry and fish are eaten frequently, while greens, vegetables, pulses, cereals, and whole grain bread are eaten daily. Dorita’s cuttlefish with nama and orange juice My friend Dorita Voskaridou from Limassol, Cyprus makes this delicious dish with nama, the sweet Cypriot wine now known as Commandaria, which is also used for communion in church. Alternatively, you can use mavrodaphne, sweet Samian or Santorini wine. Ingredients 1 1/2 kilo cuttlefish 1 1/2 cups olive oil 3 medium-sized onions, finely chopped juice of 1 large orange rind of half an orange (without the pith) 1 1/2 cups nama 2-3 tablespoons tomato paste salt and pepper Clean the cuttlefish, remove the ink, rinse well and chop into pieces. Leave to drain for a while in a strainer. Heat a little olive oil in a shallow saucepan and add the strained cuttlefish and onions. Fry a little, stirring constantly, then pour in the orange juice and wine. Add the tomato paste and lower the heat. Add a good sprinkling of pepper and the orange rind. Cover and heat slowly without adding any water. Add salt to taste. Don’t reduce the sauce, which will be reddish-brown. Serve the dish on its own or with white rice or pasta. Ladopsomo (oil bread) Layer this wonderful bread like a baclava mixture. If you don’t have time, fold the oil, spices and walnuts directly into the dough. It will be just as delicious, though not as attractive. Ingredients 1 kilo mixed flour (rye, wheat, wholemeal, hard and soft, barley and white cornflour) 1 packet dry yeast 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons honey 150 ml good olive oil 3 tablespoons sesame seeds 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon 1 rounded tablespoon cloves 1 teaspoon nutmeg 250 grams chopped walnuts To sprinkle on top: 3 teaspoons sugar 4-5 tablespoons rosewater Put the flour, yeast, salt and honey into a bowl or a blender. In another bowl, mix the walnuts, sesame seeds and spices and then leave to one side. Pour as much tepid water as required into the bowl containing the flour so as to create a good, elastic dough. Cover and leave for 20 minutes. Separate the dough into 5-6 pieces, leaving one larger than the others. Oil a No. 28 or 30 baking tray, and fold out one of the pieces of dough. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the walnut mixture. Repeat with the remaining dough layers. Press with your hands so that the dough covers the whole surface of the tray. Mark the dough with the flat side of a knife so as to create an outward radiating pattern, taking care not to tear the dough. Cover and leave to rise until it has doubled in size. Make some holes over the surface and bake at 175ÆC in a preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes. Ten minutes before removing from the oven, soak a cloth in the sugar and rosewater and use this to spread the mixture over the bread. Repeat this 3-4 times. When the bread has cooled, slice it like a cake. Stuffed mushrooms Ingredients 10 large round mushrooms 1 bunch dill, finely chopped 8 spring onions finely chopped 2 tablespoons Carolina rice mushroom stems, finely chopped 6 tablespoons olive oil salt and pepper 5-6 tablespoons pine kernels Remove the stems of the mushrooms and finely chop them. Mix in with the dill, rice, salt and pepper and oil. Stuff the mushrooms with the mixture, spread out on a baking tray and cook in the oven at 180ÆC. When the mushrooms are almost ready, sprinkle the pine kernels over them. Cook for another 10 minutes. Plakountes sesamites (sesame seed cakes) These sweets have their origins in Byzantine times. Pastelia (honey and nut cakes) are similar to plakountes sesamites, but are made using a different technique. I prefer the tasty dark sesame seeds from Evros. Ingredients 300 grams quality sesame seeds 150 grams hazelnuts 150 grams warm honey 1 teaspoon cinnamon and cloves (or any spice of your choice) Sift the sesame seeds well. Grate the hazelnuts and heat the honey. Put the sesame seeds, hazelnuts and spices into a small bowl and slowly pour in the honey, mixing it in with your fingers until you can form the mixture into any shape you like. Serve the sesame seed cakes on aromatic lemon or sour orange leaves. You can store them in a sealed tin, where they will stay fresh for a long time.
