Greek Culinary Delights

Katherine Haidar teaches Greek cooking classes at the City Market in downtown Indianapolis.

Let it be known that Greek food is more than just food that fills your stomach. It’s a passionate experience that satisfies your taste buds and your sense of heritage and community.

From your first taste of the creaminess of the béchamel sauce topping the pastitsio (Greek Lasagna) and the mousaka, to the sweetness and crunch of the nuts from flaky baklava you’re hooked. The stickiness of the Finikia (honey dipped cookies) coated in powdered sugar usually leaves a delightful trace on the face of even the daintiest of eaters. The kourambiedes (Greek wedding cookies) is sure to create a craving that can only be satisfied by going back for just one more. Greek festivals honor cultural traditions and generational recipes that have been passed from grandparent to grandchild.

Greek food appeals to many different cultures. For instance, the well- known Greek Gyro is a popular menu item served in restaurants all across the USA. The tantalizing aromas of the slow cooked rotisserie lamb/beef combination, definitely draws a crowd wherever it’s served. People have been known to wait in line for hours just to satisfy their craving for the taste of the tzatziki sauce (cucumber sauce) topped with sliced onions and tomatoes with thick slices of roasted gyro meat all folded into crispy grilled pita bread. The Greek food festivals fill up with people waiting in long lines for the simple taste of the wonderful seasonings of the char-grilled pieces of pork/ beef of the Greek souvlaki.

Delicacies such as the spanakopita (spinach pie) and tiropita (cheese pie) wrapped in the flakiest phyllo dough melt in your mouth bite after bite. Greek salad, which comes in so many different ways, is popularly known for its fresh vegetables, tangy feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and if you’re in Tarpon Springs, Florida, topped with creamy potato salad. Creamy Avgolemono chicken soup with orzo or rice is enriched with the tanginess of lemon juice and tender pieces of chicken. Greek cakes called “Pastas” come in so many varieties that you’re tempted to try them all. Your self control is thoroughly gone by the time you see the baklava cheesecake with its creamy cheesecake swirled with honey, nuts, and cinnamon and then topped with crispy phyllo dough with more honey, nuts and cinnamon.

Time honored traditional recipes are not always found in your regular restaurants or cafes. Char-grilled whole octopus or whole char-grilled fish with bones and all, grilled to perfection and covered with olive oil, lemon juice and spices with a side of olive oil and lemon covered dandelion greens. Basted lamb shank with orzo slowly roasting for hours in the oven or the creamy beef tripe soup is served on the holiest of Easter holidays in Greek homes everywhere. Your Easter sweet bread (Tsoureki) with the red eggs baked on top make the Easter holiday so much sweeter.

Special holiday menus are celebrated in the Greek heritage as kitchens come alive with Lenten recipes that are strictly vegetarian dishes with no meat, fish or anything diary such as thick bean soups, spinach rice casseroles or roasted vegetable with friend calamari (squid). Yes, Greek food is more than just food that fills your stomach … it’s a journey into Greece’s past. Opa!

Katherine Haidar
CookingGreek@live.com
317 657 8084
Greek Cooking Classes & Provider Of “We Make You Bake” Traditional Home Cooked Greek Meals

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