The week before X-mas

Absent from blogging for more than two months, away from cooking for so long.
I have left aside two of my favorite leisure activities because of ...

different kinds of trouble. 

Generally.

No ganas de Navidad.  

One week before Christmas we only hear bad news. And bad news, is actuallly news.

People lose their jobs, get fired, close down forever their small, family buisiness, can't afford to pay the rent, leave their appartments to move back at their parents house, are on strike for more than three months, don't have any money to buy food, are not being able to feed their own children. 

Not at X-mas mood at all.
Can't help but wonder, is there any hope?

I hear about restaurants that offer their food in common meals and messes. 

I feel lucky and grateful that I can help.

I want to sing my favorite Christmas song, just like when I was a child, praying for the kids to enjoy their new toys. 

Only now, I will pray for people's food and survival with dignity.

fall is bringing summer memories

Eating out in a chic restaurant might be ordinary or special event.Visiting one when on vacation, is common.

Me eating in one, when visiting Crete, is rare.

Mostly because there I enjoy rural, simple food more than stylish, new cuisine.

Isla is a bar restaurant in Gouves, Irakleion. 

We attended a sushi night, but just asian wasn't enough.

 So we added an italian saffron risotto,
a mediterranean fresh green salad,
a greek dip of feta cheese and juicy tomatoes, oregano and olive oil.
We were in Crete, afterall.
 Sharing dinner was better than food itself.

My Oly, a promising -producer- to- be.
(who I have to thank for taking those pictures, like a professional food photographer)

My Antonella, a young businesswoman,
full of joy.  And passion (about him). 

Vasilis, her guy. A pilates master.
Athletic ,adventurous and calm.

And me. Eating. With all my senses.
Feeling grateful about taste and friends in my life.

Hope next summer it will be all of us around the same table.

When friends come to visit...

at your own house. 

the one you made chosing one by one its colors, furniture, every detail,

so it would be "homy" enough to raise your newborn 

and keep forever alive the love of its family. 

To live happily in it ever after. 

Hapinness is all around.

Alexia is now a proud mom and we were so willing to see her cuddling her child. 

Such a caring mother. 

And now twice as beautiful. 

Ice cream macarons from Sucre,
a new pastry store in Irakleion. 

Oly's photos. Merci.

Blessing. Cretan food and People.

When it comes to summer vacation, 

Creta
is my number one on the list. 

 

Since 2005, when I visited the island for the very first time

 not even one year has passed without me

swimming in its deep, wild seas

wandering around its picturesque little villages with the extraordinary names

meeting the locals and hear the most weird stories about people and life

making new friends while choosing the sweetest watermellon

connecting with animals and nature while walking along its gorges

dancing in the naughty and playful sounds of lira

drinking crystal clear alcohol in tiny small shots till blindness

eating the real taste of every ingridient

filling my lungs with air without acidity

living pure life. 

I trully hope someday to call this everyday life. 

For Antonella and Creta I love, for its blessings. 

p.s. Photos taken by Olympia and Antonella, one night full of flavors and laughters. 

Bonnet et vin

Girls nights out usually include fancy dresses, sparkling wine and of course spicy comments about people and life in general- or just about boys. 

A decent dinner
in a mix & much, barock restaurant
in Chania inspired us for more.

We drunk my favorite Floara, from Katogi Averof,

bread and cretan olive oil to begin with,

chated about our winter plans,
commented like professionals about food, 

and we decided that  Vicky's shrimp and curry ravioli was overcurried and overcooked, so heavy taste. 

On the other hand, my wild mushroom risotto, although delayed,
was really smooth, creamy and oozy. 

 We left the restaurant full, with a slight dizziness and an untold will to smack the night.


And so we did.

ps. The pictures are taken by my best friends Antonella  and Olympia on our summer vacations in my favorite greek destination. Crete, forever. Thank you so much girls. 

ps2. Skoufos & Oinos, Kalergon 24, Chania, +30 2821050878

Let them EaT CaKe

Our coveted September issue is out now.

Eleven unique recipes for mouthwatering chocolate cakes. 

In Paris, where pastry is all around

Never been to Paris, but always Paris "finds me" in one or another way- round 2.
Lover both of food photografy ( yet not capable of making extravagant shots), and professional pastry (c.c eating sweets of any kind),
I couldn't pass by a marvellous idea like this. 

"Patisserie" reminders around  the City of  Light ( or maybe City of candy). I am glad I saw Fantasy Pallete in between the images.Susan Hochbaum is a rather creative designer, who's book is about to be published.
Great, sweet idea. We will be waiting.

ps. The rasberry macaron photo is taken from unefoisparmoi blog.

Summer Love

Every summer I do realise how much love a man can give to nature.
I get curried away staring at the sea,
listening to cicadas's resistant songs,
loosing the horizon's line from my sight,
feeling the hot sand into my toes
tasting pure summer flavors.

This is what I call a summer love.
Deep green, crunchy and breezy cucumber.

The picture is taken from my new friend Effie P. a brilliant photografer, in our trip to Parga.

Catari...non te scurda

What I crave for, during summer is pizza nights, not in front of the dull TV, but in a flowery, calm garden of a quite restaurant in the islands.
Catari (apart from the napolitan nickname for Caterina) is what I was looking for.
A brand new italian trattoria in Mykonos, where I could eat multiple times if only closer.  

This handsome man is Nikos, one of the two owners, who was more than kind and friendly. Open hearted.

Hippie chic ambiente, traditional vietri mosaic, musica anni '80 

with

Lollobrigida, Cardinale, Loren
the female mediterranean trinity, giving its blessing and beauty all over. 

Frisella con speck, gorgonzola e carciofini.
Salty, creamy, crunchy. Yum.

p.s. This is where I discovered my favorite pizza topping:
Mozzarella, carpaccio di manzo e crema di tartufo.

You can read my article in gastronomos.gr

Catari: Agia Anna, Yialos Mykonos, +30 22890.78571

Belvedere ^^ Bello da vedere, ma anche da vivire

If Mykonos is the place to be during summertime, Belvedere Hotel is the place to stay in. And not only because Nobu Matsuhisa is situated next to its pool. 

 In fact, there are so many star hotels in the island, that only few do differ.
 I was invited and I spent three days in a rather "working" weekend. 

 

My "sweet" welcome to the room, homemade brownies, soft cookies and fresh strawberries dipped into chocolate. 

In between pleasure and job,  I did found some time to get tanned, to enjoy walking in the pure white streets and buy traditional products like luza and kopanisti  (great greek meze, even greater when accompanied with ouzo). And of course, Liontis handmade sandals. 

Felt like tourist!

Apart from the excitement I felt when tasting food in four restaurants, I trully relaxed, thanks to the glorious service at Belvedere. 

I promised to visit them soon. 

Those cute men made my day.

Arnaud Bignon au chocolat.

It was the first time I burrowed in a Michelin star awarded kitchen. A Wednesday morning I drove up to Spondi and participated to one of the cuisine lessons that take place weekly. Chocolate was the theme, so the motive was strong enough. 

Impressed by the utensils, the accurate moves of the chef, Arnaud Bignon and his marvellous technique that made everything look so easy. Simple food steps.

A three course menu based on the magical, brunette substance- dark chocolate. 

The chef  used it mainly as a spice, to give a pint of sweet flavor in a green apple- roka salad and then to underline the soft texture of a boeuf, filling a won ton dough ravioli. Shiitake mushrooms in a light broth were swimming all around it. Delightful. 

Dessert was a masterpiece, consisting of  six different mixtures and compounds. So complex taste. Chocolate sablé pâte, meringues in straw shape, chocolate ganache, crispy rice, lemon confit, matcha chiffon.  

After the masterclass, the menu was served in a luxurious table were the students enjoyed the blessing of eating and drinking. Every lesson costs 70 euros and it includes 3 hour tutoring, the recipes and a full meal. The classes are mainly in french or english. For further information you can call 210-75.64.021. 

Here you can read the article in greek.

"Sunny" Gourmet 2011

New Greek Cuisine, promising chefs, simple ingridients. 

In simple words, what we want to eat in greek restaurants. 

A tribute interview with the chefs that participate at Sani Gourmet Festival is published on the next Γαστρονόμος that is out Sunday coming. 

Down in the kitchen.

Last week I entered the kitchen of a prestigious restaurant. 

Tutoring was the reason.

An honoured chef, some chic francophone ladies craving for learning and a three course menu, based on chocolate.

True pleasure.  

Guess where I was...

So many utensils, so little time to clean them

Coming up posts referring to the glorious menu and extra photos

A magical substance

 

Trying to make a complete guide to brown sugar, today I visited supermarkets and food shops to collect the different types and brands . 

When I finish my research,  I will be able to reveal the secrets and understand its multiple uses. For now, I will just whisper Mary Poppins' sweet lyrics

"A fullspoon of sugar, makes the medicine go down, the medicine go down".

Our Sping issue.

"Glykes Istories" vol 10.

We love Spring and this is how we show it.
Fresh, light, colorful pages with more than 60 recipes.
 I already love it.
What about you?

Delicate little thing.

Sunday is a really dull day, unless it includes cooking or a war scene taking place next door or daily news about nuclear explosition. Today lived up to my expectations, unfortunately. Little can we do when these happen, although the small tiny things sometimes make the difference.

Greek saffron does make a difference. In Kozani, a bunch of farmers are collecting with bare hands one-by-one those purple flowers growing in endless hectars. Each one gives less than ten scarlet stamens, what we call saffron (krokos, in greek). 

Four of these slim and meager threads are capable of converting one litre of water to dark yellow broth and dye rice grains golden. 

Risotto ai funghi e saffron for dinner.

Berlin is for (asian) lovers.

Continued from the previous berlining  post

Our first night in Berlin we decided to eat at a famous- although hidden- place, named Pan Asia, at Rosenthaler Str. 38. For the girls who do not easily try other countries' cuisine was a challenge. For me, an asian dinner and some fresh sushi, was just heaven.  

Shrimp dumplings, chicken satay with peanut sauce and cucumber salad,  maki sushi, fried rice and hot curry noodles and (although they still do not know that they have eaten) me-kong duck, delicious and soft. 

 ps. Minimal style, young customers, good quality of food- an absolute value for money. I will return for sure. A litlle slow motion service, but gentle and polite. If you are a late-at-night-eater, reservations won't be needed.

Berliners.

Few months ago I visited Germany for the very first time.  It was a long weekend to Berlin with my beloved erasmus roomates, two beautiful sicilian ladies, Federica and Serena. Little did we knew about the city, I tried to "spot the hot" while on the flight concentraning to my Time Out guide.

We had major problems because of the really bad weather Europe was facing, flights were three hours delayed, temperature at - 5 C and a really rude girl at the reception of our hostel. However, we had the time of our lives, laughed a lot, danced at the street, made snow angels, drunk hyper cocteils, sang live at Sony Center with a great audience, took milliards of photos, walked till dawn,  and of course ate some awesome food, which I still find hard to believe.

This post is for my friends, sere y fede, las amigas italianas de Espana and pretzels that we mostly enjoyed.

Next, some posts about Berlin's eat about. 

To be continued...

Eat your design.

"Listen to food. Have you ever chatted with a carrot? or even a tomato? Just do it once. They have so much to say. If you pay attention, the ingredients will finally tell you what you should do."
Jose Andres, chef.

Spain is my great love, a country I respect, my Mecca. So, when combined to food and drink, makes  the Holy Trinity. Last week I was invited at the opening of an interesting exhibition. A bunch of fresh Spanish designers inspired from contemporary Gastronomy, have created everyday's utensils and fine art de la table. The curator Martin Azua and co-curator Sergi Vich, whom I met and I am happy about it, have placed all these objects on a long dinner table, like the ones that held family events.

The name of the exhibition is Foodjects and it is being held in the "Athens School of Fine Arts" in collaboration with the Spanish Embassy and it will last till the 18th of February. These are some pieces which I would like to have in my kitchen, as a single girl. Como una soltera.