Koulourakia are the best butter cookies in my book! They are the official Greek Easter cookie, but we do enjoy them all year long. To quote my friend Kathy : “Koulourakia have been prepared since at least the time of the Minoan civilization. The Minoans sometimes prepared the pastries like small snakes, because they worshiped … Continue reading Koulourakia- Greek Butter Cookies
Beautiful Ladokouloura are a traditional olive oil cookie, that is naturally vegan and perfect for the Greek Orthodox Lent. These are so delicious and so easy to make, you will want to make them often! The traditional aromatics are cinnamon, orange, cognac. Because I was out of cognac, and had a different Greek liqueur made … Continue reading Ladokouloura
Ekmek Kataifi is my hands down most favorite Greek dessert of all time! I had even requested a huge tray of this dessert for my sweet sixteen. Kataifi phyllo can be found in Greek, Mediterranean, or Middle Eastern markets. It resembles shredded wheat or even vermicelli, but is neither of those things. Kataifi phyllo is … Continue reading Ekmek Kataifi
George has always told me about the savory sweet Vasilopita that his mother Georgia used to make. All he could recall was that it has chicken and sugar in it. Well that’s not much for me to go by! And his mother is long gone now. So I decided that this year I wanted to … Continue reading Yiayia Erasmia’s Vasilopita
Have you ever heard of ladopita? This is a traditional dessert that stems from the Greek island of Lefkada. It means olive oil pie. A handful of simple ingredients, and sweetened with a combination of honey and sugar, and simply spiced with a cinnamon stick. This is one of those beautiful old world desserts, that … Continue reading Leta’s Ladopita -from Lefkada
Galaktoboureko is one of those gorgeous, decadent & delicious Greek desserts that are based in a semolina custard and are phyllo wrapped. It is drenched in a lemon honey simple syrup, which is spiced with a little cinnamon & clove. Our family friend, Eleni would make this for holidays and hers was absolutely superb! We … Continue reading Galaktoboureko
This one is for my vegan friends, and for those who fast for Lent leading up to Easter. This is one of my favorite cookies growing up in NYC, where Greek bake shops are everywhere! One of the best parts of living in Queens was how exposed to our Greek culture I was able to … Continue reading Moustokouloura-Greek Grape Molasses Cookies
There is a huge misconception that the falafel that you find in Middle Eastern cuisine should be lumped together into Greek cuisine. I am here to tell you that it isn’t. In some parts of the Aegean, you will find revithokeftedes, or chickpea fritters. However, they are simply not the same thing as falafel. We … Continue reading Revithokeftedes – Chickpea Fritters
Today has been bread making day in my kitchen.This is lagana. It is a traditional flatbread that we eat on “Kathara Deutera”, called Clean Monday. You might call it Ash Monday, as the Catholic equivalent to this is Ash Wednesday. We enter the Lenten period leading up to Easter joyously. This day (tomorrow) is a … Continue reading Lagana – Greek Flat Bread
This is a vlitopita! It’s my first time making it. What to do with so much vlita (amaranth plants) that I have? Use some in a pita! So this savory pie is one of the very many Greek pites that we see all over Greece. Everyone knows spanakopita & tiropita. Those are only two! We make hundreds of them! Both sweet & savory.
