Greek Shishito Peppers

Found these peppers at Laiki market.



The manavis (vegetable seller) said these were neither hot nor sweet, so I decided to try what it is about.

Actually many of them are quite hot; not as hot as, say, Thai green chilies, but they should be definitely classified as chilies rather than peppers.

Not that I am complaining. On the contrary, we liked them quite a lot. They reminded me of Japanese shishito peppers in good old days. Tens of years ago (in my childhood), shishito peppers could be hot or sweet and they were sold mixed. They were like Russian Roulet; we never knew what were biting into.

Alas, now because of 'improvement', all the shishito peppers are sweet and thrill of living is now gone.

I wish I could find these Greek shishito peppers oftener, but they are rare in the market and probably they will get out of season anyway.

Could not help thinking what the Greek people - who usually do not eat anything very hot - who bought these peppers did with them. ha ha ha

Aubergine Out of Season?

When the aubergine is in season in Greece?

A several days ago, I bought some aubergines from laiki market. I asked the seller if it was the right kind of aubergine to make melitzanosalata and she said "yes".



When I cut them, however, I noticed that the seeds were far to large, and it turned out that they tasted quite bitter. I like bitter veggies, but in this case, the bitterness overpowered the characteristic sweetness of aubergine and it wasn't right.

Now that I remember, the aubergines I bought before these were also very seedy and the melitsanosalata I ate a few weeks ago contained also hard seeds.

Are the aubergines in Greece already out of season?

This surprises me because in my home country, Japan, autumn aubergines are thought to be good.

Lessens learnt, and I will be more cautious when I buy aubergines next time.

Ambelofasoula-Αμπελοφάσουλα

One of the things I are in Lesvos and liked very much was Ambelofasoula.



The colour of the above photo is misleading, as it was taken in the night with a strange lighting, but it is actually olive green (by the way, I ate this in a restaurant in Agios Isidoros near Plomari in Lesvos. It is just below Mirsini Hotel. Regardless of its location, it is very local, good and value-for-money restaurant as all the neighbourhood restaurants should be; recommended!).

Ambelofasoula is beans, but of the kind that we eat shells, like runner beans, green beans, string beans or French beans (I think some of these are actually different names for the same thing).

In Greek, ambelo- something is something related to vine. In this case, the name should be an association with the vine ivy.

I found it in Laiki market the other day and decided to try.



It is a summer vegetable and I don't see it in other seasons. Now it costs about 1-3 euros a kilo.

It is about 20 to 30 cm long.



I boiled it, as I ate in Agios Isidoros, but comparing to the one I ate there, it was less succulent, tougher and had more fibre. Although it was good, I still miss the one I ate in Lesvos.

Afterwards, I cooked it in a Chinese way; fry it first, then stir-fry with minced pork, chili, soy sauce and Chinese/East Asian spices. It was one of Hubby's favourite Chinese dishes when we used to live in Birmingham UK. Now that I think, these ambelofasoula look like East Asian Snake Beans; maybe they are the same thing.

It turned out to be quite good. As I don't find French beans here, I can substitute it with ambelofasoula. Good to know.




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After some time, I went to Carrefour Marinopoulos. Here are some prices, just for my memory.

Nescafe 200gr + 100gr Greek coffee 5.24euros
Calgon (big package) 24.30euros
Lurpak Spread 500gr 4.85euros

White Aubergine

Saw white aubergines at a Laiki market and bought a few.

I have seen them several times over years, but this is the first time I bought them.



It was written that these were "Santrini Aubergines". I don't know if it is the name of this variety or just they came from Santrini; I should have asked.

As you see, the inside is no different from ordinary aubergines.

I cooked gemista with these and they did not taste much different from ordinary ones, but I had an impression that these were less bitter. The colour of skin changed from white to brown which wasn't a particularly appetizing colour.

Does anyone know which is the best way to cook white aubergines?

Briam

Recently I haven eaten Briam at two restaurants (tavernes) in Athens and both of them served briam very similar to ratatouille. Cooked in tomato sauce and very wet.

I am not saying that they were not briam, but I was rather disappointed at them, as what I know as briam is much drier.

So I tried mine.



It is very easy to make. Slice aubergine, zucchini, potato and tomato. Add olive oil, salt and oregano. Place slices in layers in a over proof dish or oven tin, and bake 30 min in oven. I added also anthotyro, but you can use feta or can do without cheese at all.

It is not to be eaten hot, but in room temperature. It is a perfect summer dish, you know.

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From laiki market, I bought vlita. This one included some red leaves.



But, not that tasted different. Just interesting.

New Garlic

As well as new onions, Greeks have new garlics.

Onions and garlics are usually left to dry for some time to be more preservable. These fresh ones are not or are dried only little. They have less intense flavour than the dried ones, but sweeter and more flagrant. They live less long on the shelf, so I need to consume quickly.

In the area I live, I get 3 or 4 garlics for 1 euro. Sometimes they have leaves as well (or, the leaves can be sold separately as green).



It was the first time I buy the fresh garlic and I was pretty excited to open it up.



Here you are, the cloves!

As it is still fresh, it does not have the 'skin' that we remove before cooking. When I removed the outer layer and roots that still bear some mud, all the rest is edible.

I cooked it in Thai-style stir-fry and find it delicate and delicious. Today I will make tzatziki so that I can taste it raw. Cannot wait.

Tyrokafteri with Greek Chili

I bought fresh chili from Laiki Market. These are the hot chilies most readily available in my Piraeus neighbourhood.

They are more expensive than sweet peppers and this time it cost 4 euros per a kilo (in the photo are 300 g. for 1.20 euro). In Greek, chili and pepper are the same word "piperia - piperies) and are differentiated by the addition of "glykes" (sweet) and "kafteres" (hot).

I bought these to make tyrokafteri. As we liked the tyrokafteri with fresh green peppers we ate at the Taverna Nikitas in Psyrri, I wanted to recreate it. It is extremely easy to make.

1) Chop chili very finely

2) Mash feta to the consistency of your liking

3) Mix chili and mashed feta adding Greek yogurt if you like

4) Eat it with bread or as a garnish of meat, pasta, vegetable dish (it actually works as an alternative of tzatziki)

Dried powder chili works as well, but if you use this type of fresh chili, the resulting dip taste more fresh, salad-ey. You can use food processor, of course; in this case the consistency will be more smooth.

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Not being satisfied with the feta I bought from Sklavinitis, I tried one from a cheese shop near Piraeus Market.

This is a varrelisia feta (feta matured in barrel), price was like 8.30 euros per kilo. This one has a more matured and more sour flavour with a peppery stings on my tongue.

Nice cheese, but Hubby preferred the factory made more bland version. It is a shame.

Greek White Asparagus

I did not know Greece produces white asparagus.

Yes, the label is written in German, but what it says is "Greek Asparagus". I found this in LIDL supermarket. It was 2.29 euros for half a kilo and I thought it was cheap.

I removed the outer skin of the lower part, boiled and ate with usual oil, salt and olive oil. They were slightly bitter and really flavourful.

Greeks are not big aspragus eaters. At Laiki market, I see them, but not very common (at least for now). Maybe wild asparagus is commoner. I wish I can find them more often.