Celebrating Greek Name Days is an important event for the Greeks.
Name days or “onomastiki eorti” as it is called in Greece is a tradition celebrated on a particular day of the year associated with the one’s given name of a Saint.
Greek Traditions
Kritharaki me Fakes (pronounced fakhés) is a pasta dish made with orzo and brown lentils. This is a different way of making the Cypriot dish called fakhés moudzentra, which is a staple lentil dish, cooked with brown lentils and rice and then caramelized onions, which are called “tiganissi”, are mixed in.
I’ve already spoken about syglino or pasto which is cured pork meat which is smoked. However, after the meat is cured and smoked it has to be cooked and preserved in olive oil. This is an old method which they used when there were no refrigerators but it is still used as it adds flavour to the cured meat.
Mpamies (okra with sun-dried tomatoes) is a light and healthy low carb dish which is full of nutrients and other healthy properties.
Kolokassi (taro) is not popular in Greece but we love it in Cyprus. Today I am posting a recipe you have never saw on the internet and I am sure you all want to see something new for a change, as it is one of my original concoctions. I made it with avgolemono sauce.
Roxakia are Greek vegan, bicoloured, yeasted dough cookies, which after being baked are drenched in syrup. The original recipe is not vegan as it requires eggs and milk in the dough. I have made my own Lenten version with no milk and no eggs and they were even better than the original ones.
Savoro, which means sour, is a sauce which my mother used to make whenever we had fried fish such as red red mullets (μπαρμπούνι), mullets (κουτσομούρα) or other fish like bogue (γόπα) etc. The combination of vinegar and rosemary is a method they used to preserve food back when there were no refrigerators.
One of my favourite salads I love pairing with fish, is my mom’s beet salad with roasted beetroots, boiled potatoes and eggs, tomato and cucumber served with a simple vinaigrette.
Pastitsia, are the Cypriot Almond coookies, also called amygdalota. They are made with almonds and meringue, similar to macaron but they are crunchy outside, soft inside and chewy.
Kolokythopita (pronounced koh-loh-kee-THOH-pee-tah) in Greek Κολοκυθόπιτα is a compound word from “kolokythi” (squash) and pita (pie). This Greek savory pie is made with butternut squash and fresh myzithra, a cheese from Chania, Crete.