Georgian Cheese Bread – Khachapuri

Today I want to share with you the experience of preparing Georgian Cheese Bread, which is delicious, simple, and accompanies every winter meal in a nice way. The preparation and the baking that I present here has been done by my good Georgian friend Lali.

First we must put the clay round dishes in the fire to heat up. They come in pairs, one fits on top of the other, and as they are very hot, what is inside cooks itself without the need for additional heat. Their surface is rough. This pair of clay dishes came by special delivery from Georgia.The dough can be prepared in many different ways. I prefer plain flour, some yeast, a bit of butter or olive oil (note that in Georgia does not produce olive oil, so they use butter), salt and water.

The cheese they use in Georgia is called sulguni. It is a pickled cow’s milk cheese that requires to be cut in slices and left in water for a few hours to softer up and reduce its salt content. In Greece you can use feta, but any hard white cheese with a kick will do.

The technique of preparing the cheese bread is based on enlarging circles. You start with a rather thick (1 cm) and 5cm in diameter piece of dough, you put on top some of the pieces of cheese, and then you make a pouch of it.

You then press on the pouch carefully so that it becomes a 10 cm thin flat disk, that will be baked. As you can see, the cheese is this way enclosed in the casing of bread. There are variations with the cheese on top. I prefer the encased one.  There are also variations with eggs in the cheese. Again, I prefer this extremely simple one, because it is very basic and lets the flavors of the cheese come out.

We place the round flat disk in the bottom dish and cover it gently with the top dish.

The bread is ready in less than one minute.

The smell of the bread is it comes out of the excruciatingly hot clay dishes, is out of this world. Sprinkle some olive oil on top, cut and serve immediately!

If you do not have a fireplace, or do not want the hassle, you can bake in the oven. However, the taste is completely different. There is no comparison whatsoever to the clay baked cheese bread!

Images of Donostia, San Sebastian

As promised to a creative and very naughty creature from the North of Greece, I publish today some pictures from the wonderful city of Donostia, or San Sebastian. In the Basque Country it is common to have two names, one in the Basque language and another in Spanish.

I can spend hours looking at this inviting bay, the Bay of Concha. This is the view from the Hotel Monte Igueldo, where I usually stay.

The small island in mouth of the bay is the Santa Clara Island, while the hill on the opposite side is Monte Urgull.

This is another shot from Monte Igueldo, and the golden sand stretch that you see on the right is the Ondaretta Beach, awonderful place to swim and relax during the summer months. As I write this, the outside temperature is below zero, so I do not think I will swim tomorrow.

Shot taken from the northern edge of Ondaretta Beach, at the beginning of the Passage to the Comb of the Wind. The Atlantic can very quickly build up a storm over the beautiful city.

And a storm it was around 5 pm today. After taking this photo and walking back about 100 meters, I realized that due to the spray of sea water my rain coat was soaking wet.

Things were not much better in the morning today. This is what I could see from my balcony.

During an interval of the multiple snow, hale and rain falls of the day, I took a shot of the Jesus Statue on Mount Urgull.

Santa Maria is the most imposing Church in the Old town (18th century, baroque style).

Storm or no storm, the Basque fishermen do not back off. This large trawler had just arrived, and was unloading around noon. the city restaurants and bar are full of the freshest seafood.

Uncomfortable bedfellows.

Kokotxas (cheeks) de bacalao! Only 24 EUROs per kilo.

The shop were I buy the bacalao.

The fish market (Pescaderia), now under enovation.

The station of the cable car that takes you to the top of Mount Igueldo.

Fragment of the sculpture “Liberte” by Eduardo Chillida.

Restaurante Rekondo – San Sebastian, Basque Country

This is a restaurant in “my” neighborhood in San Sebastian. It is on the steep narrow road that takes you to Monte Igueldo, where rests with the most spectacular view of the Concha Bay the Monte Igueldo Hotel (my house in San Sebastian).

It offers classical Basque cuisine and has a fantastic wine list, more than 100,000 labels are on offer at prices you think you are dreaming with your eyes open.

The clientele is at this time of the year (February) locals who want to enjoy good local food and excellent wine. In addition to the restaurant, there is a separate area for drinking wine.

Thi sis not a fancy restaurant, but the locals in San Sebastian are a demanding lot. So here we have a delicious amuse, fried vegetables and a cheese croquette.

The first dish is artichokes with fresh duck liver. The hollow area of the cylinder has been filled with a light bearnaise sauce. The liver is just divine, it melts in the mouth, full of discrete sweet flavors and juices. The texture is smooth and it surrenders to the slightest movement of the tongue. The artichokes full of gentle acidity, dressed in the light bitterness of its flesh. The sauce acts as a universal agent of redemption, smooths out the contrasting tastes and united we all go to heaven!

The following dish is an act in extreme discretion, as it is the cheeks (kokotxas in Basque) of hake (merluza in Spanish) lightly cooked in olive oil and parsley. The discretion is required when cooking the sensitive velvety flesh as it may disintegrate and break into pieces. thankfully this did not happen in my plate, the cheeks were perfect, the taste of the sea rushing into the mouth cavity, just as the rough waves down the cliff crush against the rocks. The gelatinous pieces had released their gelatin in the sauce, which was balanced and delicious.

The best way to end this meal was a plateau of cheese from the land.  I will never learn the names, but I believe that the Basque country produces some of the best cheeses in the world.

Beef Kidneys with porcini mushrooms, and red cabbage and cauliflower puree

This is the result of falling half asleep on the morning flight to Athens and then rushing to the hypermarket to get some basics for the weekend. When I stumbled upon the beef kidneys I knew what I was going to cook. It is one of my favorite materials, both in flavor and in texture, but it is hard to find.

The first step is to marinate the kidneys. I use vinegar, sweet wine, chili pepper flakes, coriander seeds, oregano, coarse sea salt and black pepper. I cover with bay leaves and leave it to rest for one hour or so.

A nice cauliflower and some red cabbage lead me to the second step. I slice the cabbage and simmer it in a bit of olive oil in a deep pan. I add the cauliflower cut in small bunches.

I add fresh coriander and parsley, some coarse sea salt and black pepper, cover and let cook without any water, until it becomes very soft. Remember, all this is going to make the puree that will provide the soft and comforting company ot the wild, demanding kidneys and sudjuk. Not an easy task at all!

When the cabbage is soft, put everything in the mixer and prepare a nice thick mix. I add two eggs and a bit of flower to thicken it up, then serve in the shallow container, and bake for 15 minutes in high heat, to let the excess liquid evaporate and condense the flavor.

I take out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, the kidneys have been sliced and are simmering in the pan with the porcini and some of their marinade.

The last step is to slice and gently fry the sudjuk.

I got this Armenian sudjuk which turned out to be very good.

Be careful not to slice it very thin, as it will go dry very easily.

I serve on a large dish with a green salad on the side.

If you open a bottle of chianti wine you will be very happy with this dish!  Although any red with a good body will do the job! But take my word, do not eat this dish without a full-bodied red wine!

Bone appetite!

Eduardo Chillida: The Comb of the Winds (El Peine de los viendos)- San Sebastian

“What belongs to just one person belongs to almost no one”

Eduardo Chillida’s large-scale urban sculptures, the culmination of his artistic process, plays an essential role. In harmony with their surroundings, the sculptures take different meanings in each landscape. A clear example of this is his Peine del Viento (Wind Combs) in San Sebastián, a group of three structures that tell an exciting story related to rocks, sea and the horizon beyond. To Eduardo Chillida a work of art belongs to all of us the minute we stand before it. It makes us look at ourselves and our relationship with the environment. It passes on to us its doubts and questions in the face of the unknown. Chillida’s public sculptures are also gathering grounds, spaces for dialogue and coexistence.

“At one end of the Bay in San Sebastian at the foot of Mount Igeldo was where Eduardo Chillida placed his favourite piece of work, the Wind Comb, in 1977, with three spectacular pieces of steel anchored to the rocks and surrounded by the sea. Thirty years later, Donostia-San Sebastián is celebrating the anniversary of this magical space, which is a unique example of harmony between art and landscape”.

Source: Museo Chillida Leku

In an interview with Luis Pena, 1986, the sculptor commented:

“The work demonstrates a way of intervention in the city which has much to do with the romantic Germans, specially with Novalis. These philosophers understood nature not a something to be exploited but to be understood and interpreted.

The Comb of the Wind is then a metaphor of this attitude as regards the city…. as a symbol of the meeting of nature with the city. Of a city that ends in the absolute, which is the ocean. “

“Boundaries are actually the main factor in space, just as the present, another boundary, is the main factor in time.”

“Whatever I know how to do, I’ve already done. Therefore I must always do what I do not know how to do.”

“Nobody can teach what is inside a person; it has to be discovered for oneself and a way must be found to express it.”

Eduardo Chillida

Photo by Sonia Villegas

Enya has composed music to the “Comb of the Winds” title in her Amarantine Single.

Aleppo, Syria: A foodlover’s paradise?

Aleppo's Souk by Bryan Denton for The New York Times

It is not  often that new chapters open in whatever we do, think, love, dream and desire. I have the feeling that such a chapter has opened for me when I recently heard a story on the city of Aleppo in Northern Syria in the National Public Radio of the US,  by Deborah Amos.  This is what kick started a process of preliminary research on Aleppo and its secret charms. In what follows, I have assembled some of the results.

Maps courtesy of the New York Times, January 2010

Aleppo is a city very near the border of Syria with Turkey, and according to the historians it is on what used to be the silk road. As Gail Simmons writes in her article on the Silk Road, the city’s name “in Arabic its name is Halab, derived from the word for milk as the Prophet Abraham is said to have milked his cow on the Citadel here – it has long been Syria’s prime commercial centre, a major axis on the northerly route of the Silk Road in Syria. Aleppo remained an important metropolis even when, by the 16th century, the opening of new maritime routes between Europe and the Far East saw the eventual decline of the overland Silk Road.”

LIONEL BEEHNER’s article in the New York Times a week ago (24 January 2010) gives an excellent description of the city and its treasures.

Okra with prunes and apricots (from Poopa Dweck's book "The Aromas of Aleppo")

In his article for REUTERS, Khaled Yacoub Oweis presents among others, a young chef who returned to Aleppo after spending some years in France.

A gateway in the old walls of Aleppo - Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

Lara Dunston & Terence Carter in their article published in the Jazeera Airlines magazine, present one of the city’s most successful restauranteurs, Dala Touma.  

Bulgur wheat shells filled with ground meat - from Poopa Dweck's book

The Financial Times have published back in November 2009 an article by Mary Taylor Simeti on Syria’s food. I noted the brain fritters in Smeroud and the visit to the kitchens of the Pistache d’Alep, which make and sell one of the best baklava in the world!

 

Al-Hareer Restaurant serves kibbeh (minced lamb) - Bryan Denton for the New York Times

 

Practical Stuff

If after all that you are ready to go to Aleppo, do not forget to read Gail Simmons’ very informative and useful article! Gail has a blog which I found extremely interesting and well written!

Epilogue

Deborah Amos concludes her story by saying: “When it comes to opening the economy — and the country — it turns out that food is a better draw than ancient history.” Is she right? I do not know, but I will certainly try to find out how good the food is in Aleppo. Especially now that I have established its proximity to Gaziantep, the SE Turkey capital of baklava.

Meat balls with lentils and potato patty

Today I wanted to eat lentils in a different way, and I decided to marry them with meat balls and a shredded potato patty. This is the story.

I got two nice pieces of beef from the chest. The bones I used to make the broth for the lentils, and the meat for the meat balls.

Grinding the meat yourself is a great pleasure and makes a big difference in the end result, So I assembled my little meat grinder and got to work.

The quality of this ground meat is beyond description! The meat is full of flavor and tender!

In the meantime, the lentils were boiling mildly, in the stock of the bones.

Th lentils are not visible yet, but you get the picture. A note of importance here, the lentils will not be served as a soup, but as stew, which means that the liquid in the lentils will be at a minimum.

In parallel, shred the potatoes and drain them well. Mix with dill, parsley, coriander, egg and a bit of flour, to absord the remaining liquid. Season moderately with salt and pepper, cover and refrigerate for one hour.

The mix for the meatballs is quite simple. Add chopped garlic and hot peppers, mint, bread crumbs, a bit of olive oil, egg, salt and pepper to the meet, mix well cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Shape the balls, cover them with flour, and let it stick for about five minutes before frying them .

The potato patties are easy to fry, use medium heat and be patient, they need about 5 minutes, and require to be turned many times.

Serve the lentils in a deep dish, place a potato patty in the middle, and two meatballs on top.

This is a dish of varied flavors and textures. The lentils are soft, melt in the mouth, the meatballs are medium soft to crunchy, and the patty is on the very crunchy end of the spectrum. The meatballs steal the show in the texture, but the lentils and the patty are strong competitors in the flavor zone.

Enjoy it!

Scorpaena Scrofa (Scorpion Fish) with Risotto

Today’s dish is made with one of the ugliest looking fishes, the Scorpaena Scrofa, the Orange – Red Scorpion Fish. As there is a good side to everything, even ugliness, this fish has very firm white flesh that provides taste and texture. I usually prepare this fish boiled and then prepare a soup. This time I decided to use all the vegetables and the broth to make a risotto and serve the fish on top of it, with a sauce.

The key to success in boiling the fish is the mix of vegetables in the pot.

I usually boil them first, remove them, and then boil the fish in the liquid.

Carots, onions, celery, potatoes, peppers, and one tomato for extra acidity, with black peppercorns and coarse sea salt.

Once the veggies are done, I remove them from the pot and place the fish. I cut it in two parts, as they require different cooking times. The tail end is ready in 15 minutes, the other requires 25 minutes. Once they are done, remove them and give the broth a good boil to reduce.

I slice the veggies in small pieces and place them in the risotto, to give more color and flavor. It works, but of course I leave the potatoes out.

When serving, let the risotto cool down in the hexagonal container before placing the fish on top and removing it.

Once the fish is placed on top, remove the container, and serve the sauce on top of the dish. The sauce is made with the broth, that has been reduced to a very thick liquid, adding a touch a flour, lemon juice and chili pepper flakes.

The sauce is to a large extent what powers the dish to a supreme combination of hot, sour and fully flavored combination of textures.

Open a full-bodied chardonnay and enjoy it!

Airports

This is a collection of photos taken at airports.

It does not really matter where and when.

Juxtaposition

The play of light with darkness

There will be rain

It is too early in the morning to start swearing

I am gonna suck you in

Somewhere

Cannot see a bloody thing

Awaiting the new layer of paint

Just landed

It’s getting busy

Unloading

Yianna is somewhere down there!

Remnants of another time

Reliable flying machine

Its a long wait

Boarding

Parking aea

Have a nice day now!

Ode to Olympiacos – Ωδη στον Θρυλο

Δεν ζωντανευουν οι νεκροι

Δεν ζωντανέυουν οι νεκροί
όσο κι αν κλαίς δεν ωφελεί
την τόση αγάπη που είχα για σένα
εσύ την έθαψες μην το ξεχνάς

εσύ την πρόδοσες εσύ την σκότωσες
εσύ είσαι ο δράστης κι ο φονιάς

Δεν ζωντανέυουν οι νεκροί
όσο κι αν κλαίς δεν ωφελεί

Δεν σε λυπάμαι κι αν πονάς
φύγε λοιπόν τι με κοιτάς

είσαι για μένα τώρα μια ξένη
κι αν ξαναγύρισες είναι αργά

εσύ πληγώθηκες εσύ ζημιώθηκες
και σενα δέρνει η συμφορά

Δεν ζωντανέυουν οι νεκροί
όσο κι αν κλαίς δεν ωφελεί

Και ο υπερμεγιστος Στελλαρας τραγουδα αυτη τη μνημειωδη συνθεση του Μπαμπη Μπακαλη σε στιχους του Γκουτη σε ζωντανη ηχογραφηση του 1958.

Ωδη στο Θρυλο

(στιχοι Παναθηναιος, ψαχνω ακομη για μουσικοσυνθετη – ατιμη κενωνια!)

Σημειωση του στιχουργου: Προκειται περι ασματος ηρωικου και πενθιμου, σε μορφη διαλογου,

αναμεσα στους διασημους πλεον περαστικους και τον αιμοτοβαμενο και καταξεσκισμενο Θρυλο.

Η δραματουργικη ελευθερια και εκφραση επιβαλει την χρηση γλωσσας αμεσης, και για το λογο αυτο το ασμα ειναι ακαταλληλο για τα γαυρακια, και τα μικρα παιδακια.

ΠΕΡΑΣΤΙΚΟΣ 1: Γεια σου Θρυλε αλανιαρη

γιατι εισαι λυπημενος;

ΘΡΥΛΟΣ: Εχασα τα σωβρακα μου

κι ειμαι ταλαιπωρημενος

ΠΕΡΑΣΤΙΚΟΣ 2:Που τα’ χασες βρε Θρυλε φοβερε

τα εσωρουχα και κλαις ωρε;

ΘΡΥΛΟΣ:Στο Φαληρο στο Φαληρο

χωρις να χασω ταληρο!

Εβρεθηκε ο αητος

και με ραμφησε ορθος!

Εκει μπροστα μου σταθηκε

με θωρησε, με γ..μησε

Το ραμφος του μπηκε βαθεια

μεσ’ του Φαληρου τη γωνια

ΠΕΡΑΣΤΙΚΟΣ 1: Κλαψε κλαψε Θρυλε,

εγω μαντηλια θα σου φερω,

τα κοκκινα επηγαν στη Σεληνη,

κανενα πρασινακι θα προσφερω

ΠΕΡΑΣΤΙΚΟΣ 2: Τα δακρυα του Θρυλου ειναι καυτα

μου εκαψαν τα μαντηλια

σταλαγματια σταλαγματια

στερεψαν τα καντηλια.

Παει εφυγε το τρενο!

Μουσικη: Μανος Χατζηδακις, Στιχοι: Νικος Γκατσος

Σβήνει τ’ αστέρι του βοριά
στην ανηφοριά
και κάποιο αστέρι φωτεινό
κυλάει στον ουρανό
Κοιμούνται ακόμα τα παιδιά
κάτω απ΄τη ροδιά
Και μ΄ένα δάκρυ μου θολό
τα μάτια τους φιλώ

Πάει έφυγε το τρένο, έφυγες κι εσύ
σταλαγματιά χρυσή
πάει χάθηκε το τρένο, χάθηκες κι εσύ
σε γαλανό νησί

Πήρες απ’ το καλοκαίρι στο μικρό σου χέρι
το λαμπερό τ’αστέρι και πήγες σ’άλλη γη
μ’ όνειρα κι εγώ πηγαίνω να σε περιμένω
νερό σταματημένο σε δροσερή πηγή

Πάει έφυγε το τρένο έφυγες κι εσύ
σταλαγματιά χρυσή

Σβήνει τ’ αστέρι του βοριά
στην ανηφοριά
και κάποιο αστέρι φωτεινό
κυλάει στον ουρανό
Κοιμούνται ακόμα τα παιδιά
κάτω απ΄τη ροδιά
Και μ΄ένα δάκρυ μου θολό
τα μάτια τους φιλώ

Πάει έφυγε το τρένο, έφυγες κι εσύ
σταλαγματιά χρυσή
πάει χάθηκε το τρένο, χάθηκες κι εσύ
σε γαλανό νησί

Πήρες απ’ το καλοκαίρι στο μικρό σου χέρι
το λαμπερό τ’αστέρι και πήγες σ’άλλη γη
μ’ όνειρα κι εγώ πηγαίνω να σε περιμένω
νερό σταματημένο σε δροσερή πηγή

Πάει έφυγε το τρένο έφυγες κι εσύ
σταλαγματιά χρυσή

Η Ζωη Φυτουση ερχεται να μας θυμισει αυτην την δραματικη κατασταση ανθρωπων και γαυρων.

Και κλεινω αυτην την αφιερωση με το βαλς των χαμενων ονειρων του υπερμεγιστου Μανου Χατζηδακι