Rooster wine with Chilopites is a winter dish and is very delicious! This dish represents one of the classic meals in Greek cuisine, featuring a slowly braised rooster in a hearty and aromatic tomato and wine sauce served over chilopites. It’s essentially a Greek version of coq au vin, with its secret being the ample use of aromatic spices like nutmeg, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice berries.
Delicious! I’ve heard that historically, this dish was considered quite special, prepared occasionally for Sunday lunch or to mark a celebration. The meat from roosters is tougher than that of chickens and requires more cooking time, and since there weren’t as many roosters as hens available, it became an occasional delicacy! (more…)
Greek cooking is rooted in seasonality, simplicity, continuity, regionality, and healthfulness. The country’s exceptional raw ingredients, grown in a perfect Mediterranean climate, have led to a deep respect for pure flavors, especially in traditional Greek cuisine, which remains closely tied to the seasons.
Greek cuisine has ancient origins. Greek olive oil, olives processed and flavored in much the same way over centuries, Greek honey, wild foods (especially game birds and hares, now replaced by rabbits), herbs, shoots, buds, a multitude of wild greens, ancient legumes such as fava beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils, fish and seafood, snails, nuts, sesame seeds, whole grains, and a few simple goat’s and sheep’s milk cheeses are the timeless components of Greek meals. Overall, Greek cuisine maintains its core values while being adaptable enough to evolve with the times without losing its timeless essence. (more…)
Greek cooking offers a vibrant and diverse array of foods and beverages that are the culmination of literally thousands of years of living, cooking, and eating. While each Greek meal is fresh and inviting, it is also a trip back through Greece’s history.
Ingredients
The names of foods, cooking methods, and basic ingredients have changed little over time. Bread, olives (and olive oil), and wine constituted the triptych of the Greek diet for many centuries, just as they do today.
Greek cooking offers an incredibly rich and diverse array of foods and beverages that are the culmination of literally thousands of years of living, cooking, and eating. While each Greek meal is fresh and inviting, it is also a trip back through Greece’s history.
Greek Cooking Ingredients
The names of foods, cooking methods, and basic ingredients have changed little over time. Bread, olives (and olive oil), and wine constituted the triptych of the Greek diet for many centuries, just as they do today.
Greece is a nation of small farmers who produce an incredible array of mainly organically produced cheeses, oils, fruits, nuts, grains, legumes, and vegetables, supplemented by an array of greens and herbs that grow in the wild. These are the foods that form the base of the traditional Greek regimen, to which they add both variety and nutrition. Greece’s climate is perfect growing for olive and lemon trees, producing two of the most important elements of Greek cooking. Spices, garlic, and other herbs such as oregano, basil, mint, and thyme are widely used, as are vegetables such as eggplant and zucchini, and legumes of all types. (more…)
Crete, a beautiful island placed in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, couldn’t be less than an important center and crossroad of commercial and cultural exchanges throughout the centuries. The Cretan diet is the result of the long history of the island. It’s a real philosophy and lifestyle, aimed at harmonizing body and spirit with nature.
The study of the Minoan civilization shows a culture with pure and healthy nutritional habits. Interestingly enough, Cretan cuisine wasn’t influenced by anyone. For more than 2 millennia, Cretans have rejected the presence of conquerors by sparingly calibrating relational dynamics and avoiding foreign influences on their diet, literally keeping them away from their culture and their kitchens. (more…)
