Greek coffee

 

Made by boiling finely ground coffee beans, and is served thick and strong, and often sweetened. It is always unfiltered, with the coffee sediment at the bottom of the cup.

 

Retsina

A white wine that has some pine resin added, originally as a preservative, but nowadays for the flavor. It should not be aged.

Christmas Sweets (Melomakarona)

Ingredients
2 cups olive oil 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup orange juice 1/4 cup brandy 7-8 cups sifted flour 2 teaspoons baking powder	1 teaspoon soda For the syrup : 2 cups honey 2 cups sugar 2 cups water

Beat together the first 4 ingredients. Sift flour, baking powder and soda 3 times. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the oil mixture and stir gently. Pinch of small portions of dough the size of an egg and form into little patties. Roll them to make oblong rolls. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes. Boil honey, sugar and water for 5 minutes. Pour syrup over melomakarona. Allow 15 minutes to soak. Take them out of the syrup and place on a large plate. Sprinkle with shopped walnuts and cinnamon. Makes 40 servings.

Almond Pears (Amygdalota) - From the island of Hydra

Ingredients
1 lb blanched almonds 1 cup sugar 5 tablespoons fine semolina	1 lb icing sugar 1 ½ cups orange flower water butter cloves

Mix the almonds with 2 tablespoons sugar and grind them fine. Or use commercially ground almonds. Add remaining sugar, semolina, and 6 tablespoons orange flower water. Stir this mixture to soft dough. If too stiff, add 1 to 2 tablespoons orange flower water. Break off small pieces the size of a walnut and shape these into "pears". At the end of each, insert 1 clove for the "stalk". Arrange on a buttered and floured baking sheet and bake in an oven for 20 minutes. When the almond pears are cool, dip them quickly into orange flower water and then coat with icing sugar. After a few minutes coat them again in icing sugar.

Milk Pie (Ghalaktoboureko)

Ingredients
6-8 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 ½ cups fine semolina, cream of wheat or rice flour 7 cups milk grated lemon peel 3 tablespoons butter	1 ½ lb filo pastry sheets 3/4 cup melted butter For the syrup : 2 cups sugar 1 cup water 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Beat the eggs with the sugar until thick. Add semolina, milk and flavouring. Cook over a low heat until mixture thickens stirring continuously. Remove from heat. Add 3 tablespoons butter. Butter a baking pan 9 X 12 X 2 inches and spread 2/3 of pastry sheets, brushing each sheet with melted butter. The edges of the pastry sheets should exceed the top of the pan. Spread milk mixture over the pastry sheets and turn in the edges of the sheets over the cream. Cover with remaining pastry sheets, brushing each with melted butter. Pour any remaining butter over top. Cut through the first 3 sheets in 3-inch squares and sprinkle with water. Bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes.

Syrup preparation : Boil sugar, water and lemon juice for 5 minutes. Pour lukewarm syrup over the ghalactoboureko. Allow cooling before serving.

Baklavas

Ingredients
1 lb filo pastry 1 ½ cups melted butter 1 lb walnuts or almonds, finely chopped ½ cup dry breadcrumbs 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon cloves	For the syrup : 4 cups sugar 2 cups water juice of 1 lemon

Place 1 pastry sheet in well-buttered 9 X 13 inch baking pan and brush with butter. Place second pastry sheet on top of the first and butter again. Repeat until 6 layers of buttered pastry sheets have been built up. Mix walnuts or almonds, breadcrumbs, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Sprinkle top pastry sheet with a thick layer of walnut mixture and place two buttered pastry sheets over this. Repeat in same manner until all ingredients have been used, ending with 6 pastry sheets. Brush top with remaining butter and trim edges with sharp knife. Cut diagonal lines over the length of the pan to make diamond-shaped pieces. Sprinkle with water. Bake in a moderate oven for about 1 hour until golden.

Garlic Sauce (Scordalia)

Ingredients
6-8 cloves garlic 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups mashed potatoes	½ cup olive oil 1/4 cup vinegar

Clean and crush garlic with salt in a mortar. Add the mashed potatoes. Pound well until a smooth paste is obtained. Add olive oil and vinegar alternately in very small quantities, stirring the sauce with the pestle. Or, mash potatoes in an electric mixer, add garlic paste and olive oil with the vinegar very slowly until completely absorbed. Continue to beat until the sauce is stiff enough to hold its shape. Serve with boiled or fried fish. Makes 6 servings.

Blender garlic sauce : In an electric blender, put 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 or 3 tablespoons vinegar, 1 cup soft breadcrumbs, ½ cup of water and 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Blend until garlic sauce is smooth. If the garlic sauce is thin, add 1 to 2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs.