Would you care for a Greek meal with that garlic, madam?

I'm interrupting our on-going Indian fest for a quick diversion into Greek gastronomy.

You might remember a while back I mentioned looking forward to learning more about Greek cuisine from Tessa Kiros' Falling Cloudberries. I haven't forgotten, and with the weather warming up, it seemed like the time might be right to pick up that thread again.

These two dishes of Tessa's to me are perfect partners; both luscious and fresh tasting, with a nice lemon tang, but you might want to try each separately first, as they both use a very liberal hand with the garlic (raw and cooked) and might be a little overpowering together for some. They certainly were for the Young Man, which is a shame because I adored both of these and want to make them together again. Perhaps we'll have to wait till he goes away for his summer holidays...

I used trout in the fish dish (and far less than 1 kg) and it was superb. I may have had it in the oven for slightly less time than specified in the recipe; just keep an eye on it toward the end of the cooking time and you should be set. Although both this and the potatoes contain some celery, it is very subtle, and the celery-averse YM had no complaints in that department.

The potatoes are another one of those why-didn't-I-think-of that recipes that you sometimes come across. In essence, you make a veggie stock to cook the potatoes in. Don't throw this away after the potatoes are cooked; it will give you almost enough to make risotto (or whatever) with at a later date. Two dishes from the one stock. Who could complain about that!

My innovation was to dice the carrot and onion finely from the stock and add it to the mash (actually the onion didn't need to be diced, but you know). Mainly it was to add some color for the photo, but I think I like the little change in texture that these brought. To make the garlic paste, I crushed the garlic directly into a handy-dandy little mortar and pestle I use for saffron, and smooshed it around a bit with the pestle. I did pretty much the same with the potatoes. A big wooden pestle (which is easier to get at than my seldom-used potato masher) made short work of pureeing the spuds.

My other suggestion would be to taste each time you add the garlic and lemon, and stop when it tastes about right to you. This is raw garlic, after all.

Greek oven-baked fish with tomato & parsley

1 kg firm white fish fillets
400 g tin tomatoes with juice, chopped, or very ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
15 g/ 1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
juice of 2 lemons
2 celery stalks, chopped with some leaves
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
crusty bread, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Put the fish in an oven dish where they will fit in a single layer. Mix together the tomatoes, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, celery, sugar and olive oil and taste for seasoning. Pour over the fish to cover all the pieces, shaking the dish from side to side. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.

Remove aluminium foil, increase the heat to 200 degrees Celsius and bake for another 40-50 minutes, or until the liquid is thickened and the top of the fish is golden in a couple of places. Serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Skordalia: Greek garlicky and lemony mashed potatoes

1 large carrot, cut in half
1 small celery stalk
a few parsley stalks
1 small onion
a few black peppercorns
500 g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
5 garlic cloves
185 ml/ 3/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon

Place the carrot, celery, parsley and onion in a fairly large saucepan of water, add some salt and a few peppercorns and bring to the boil. Boil for about 15 minutes before adding the potatoes and then boil for another 25 minutes or so, until the potatoes are very soft.

Meanwhile, crush the garlic completely with about 1 tsp of salt to make a puree. Put the garlic in a small bowl and ad a couple of tbsp of the oil.

Take out one third of the potatoes with a slotted spoon and mash in a large wide bowl with a potato masher, or put through a food mill. Add the garlic, then mash another third of the potatoes with more of the olive oil and a little of the lemon juice. Carry on until you have used all the potatoes, lemon juice and olive oil and have a smooth puree. Taste for salt. The skordalia should have a fairly soft consistency and can be eaten with fried or grilled fish, meatballs or just bread.

Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Avgolemono: Greek chicken soup with lemon and egg

My formative years were spent in Melbourne, Australia, which is said to be the biggest "Greek" city outside of Greece itself (though this may be an urban legend...). Certainly, the Greeks have made Melbourne their own and when I was growing up, Greek restaurants, culture and especially humour were very much in evidence, the latter particularly on TV. You would think that this steady diet of all things Greek would somehow rub off on me in the kitchen, wouldn't you?

Sadly, it did not. But I am happy to correct this oversight now. After all, Greece is still very much within the saffron and lemons realm, and better still, I received a delightful cookbook for Christmas that is sure to make the journey very pleasant indeed.

It is called Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes and it was love at first sight when we first met in a suburban bookshop in Melbourne just before Christmas 2006. But I didn't buy it then. No, not even though it was on sale (showing a great deal of restraint, I have to say (g))! Something about suitcase weight limits and the mounting pile of foodie necessities that were coming back to Japan with me. The dried fruit, nuts, spices, tamarind paste... That sort of thing. We must all suffer for our art, I suppose.

When the next gift-receiving (g) opportunity rolled round, Cloudberries was right up there on my list, but some other lucky soul had nabbed the copy and I was left in unrequited cookbook love purgatory. Luckily, Saffron-Mama and Papa took pity and got me the book (and another long-term lust, Nigel's Appetite) for Christmas 2007. And it was really worth the wait.

The book is described as a "culinary memoir" and in it our gracious hostess, Tessa Kiros, guides us through the kitchens of her upbringing (her mother is Finnish, father Greek-Cypriot, there is some Russian in there as well; oh, and she spend some of her childhood in South Africa, and now lives in Italy).

Just like Tessa, the book's an eclectic but accessible mix, and her evocative, and yes, charming writing will have you running to the kitchen (and if that doesn't, the luscious photos certainly will (g)).

Anyway, I thought I would christen my copy with avgolemono. The reason being that Saffron-Papa and Mama have a Greek-Cypriot friend whose chicken with lemon and egg I have heard rave reviews about on more than one occasion. Tessa's is a Greek version, but I would be more than happy to hear from any Greek-Cypriots who may wish to comment on it.

(It should be noted that Falling Cloudberries has chapters on both Greece and Cyprus, and the cuisines do appear to be distinct enough to warrant this. Perhaps Cypriot cuisine is a happy mid-point between the tables of Greece and Turkey? The culinary clues Tessa leaves us certainly seem to suggest this...)

There is no photo today as the extended cooking time makes the chicken literally fall off the bone when you attempt to remove it from the pot. But it is all for the good. The addition of lemon and egg to the resultant flavourful broth makes it both soothingly velvety and slightly sharp at the same time. It is totally beguiling.

At Tessa's suggestion, I added a bouquet garni and a few bay leaves to the broth. You will end up with a lot of soup, so this is perfect if you are having a crowd over. If not, it jells up nicely once it cools, making it souper (g) easy to store for later reheating without inadvertently creating a puddle at the bottom of the fridge.

Avgolemono

Serves 4

1 chicken (about 1.3 kg)
1 white onion
1 celery stalk with leaves, cut into large chunks
1 large carrot, cut into half
A few parsley stalks
A few black peppercorns
100 g (1/2 cup) long-grain rice, rinsed
2 eggs
Juice of 2 lemons

Rinse the chicken well and put it in a large stockpot with the onion, celery, carrot, parsley stalks, peppercorns and a good sprinkling of salt [Saffron: at least 2 tsp]. Cover with about 3.5 litres (14 cups) of cold water and bring to the boil.Skim the surface with a slotted spoon, lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 1 1/2 hours, skimming occasionally. Lift the chicken out onto a plate with a slotted spoon [Saffron: I needed a pair of tongs, and even then the meat just melted from the bone]. Strain the broth through a sieve, pressing down lightly on the vegetables with your wooden spoon to extract the flavour. You should have about 1.5 litres (6 cups) of broth. Return this to the saucepan, add the rice and cook over medium heat for another 15 minutes or so, until the rice is cooked.

Whisk the eggs until they are fluffy. Add the lemon juice. Add a ladleful of hot broth to the egg, whisking to stop it scrambling. Whisk in a little more broth, then add the whole lot to the pan. Return the saucepan to the lowest possible heat for a few minutes to warm the egg through. Add some salt and pepper and serve immediately. If you like, shred on of the chicken breasts and scatter over the soup. Serve the rest of the chicken as a second course.

Enjoy!