Sauces
Spain - a red Catalan roasted-vegetable sauce.
The most popular and most ancient of the Greek cheeses, the traditional cheese of Greece. It is traditionally made from goat’s or sheep’s milk and is stored in barrels of brine. Mostly comes from mountainous areas. It is used in salads, baked in pies, crumbled on omelets, or even stuffed into fish. The most popular way to eat it is to lay a thick slab on a plate, pour on some olive oil, and add a pinch of oregano on top.
What is feta?
Famed Mediterranean pastry whose origin is debatable. Made from many layers of butter-brushed, nut- and sugar-sprinkled layers of phyllo pastry.
What is Baklava?
From Spain, a red wine mixed with fruit juices.
What is sangria?
A traditional rice dish originating from Valencia Spain, an authentic dish contains chicken, rabbit, sometimes duck, and the land snails called vaquetes, for which a rosemary sprig can be substituted. The only permissible vegetables are flat green beans, artichokes, and butter beans. The star of this dish is rice. Other authentic ingredients include a sofrito of tomatoes, garlic, saffron, and pimiento.
What is paella?
From Turkey and Greece - A tangy dip of plain yogurt, minced cucumber, garlic, salt, and pepper.
What is tzaziki?
This traditional Greek cheese is very hard in texture. It is made with a combination of sheep’s and goat’s milk. Salty and sharp tasting, it is similar to regato and Parmesan and is used for grating over spaghetti. It is primarily used for frying. It is ripened for at least three months and so acquires a sharp aroma and a rich, salty, tangy taste.
What is Kefalotiri?
From Turkey, this sweet is made from cornstarch or gelatin, sugar, honey, and fruit juice or jelly, and is often tinted pink or green. Chopped almonds, pistachio nuts, pine nuts, or hazelnuts are frequently added. Once the candy becomes firm, it is cut into small squares and coated with confectioners’ sugar.
What is Turkish Delight?
Turkish coffee introduced to Greece, brewed in a long-handled pot called a briki. In Greece it is called Greek coffee, but it is still made in thirty-three variations, as is Turkish coffee.
What is kafes?
This dish is made by stacking very thin slices of meat on a vertical skewer and grilling the resulting cone on a rotisserie for hours, until all the slices meld together. To serve it, the maker slices off thin pieces and wraps them in pita bread with tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki.
What is a gyro?
Garlic flavored mayonnaise, typical of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands in Spain.
What is aioli?
From Spain, an aged cheese, with a firm interior, compact and closed. The color is ivory to pale yellow. The taste is very characteristic, well developed but not too strong, buttery and slightly piquant, with a sheep’s milk aftertaste. Semi-cured to cured cheese is made exclusively with raw or pasteurized sheep’s milk and has a crumbly texture. The shape is cylindrical, with a flat top and bottom surfaces engraved with the typical “flower” left by the wooden presses. The sides show a zigzag pattern produced by the mat-weed (esparto) of the molds.
What is manchego?
From Spain, a baked custard dessert, usually served with caramel sauce.
What is flan?
A Greek anise-flavored alcoholic beverage that turns opaque when mixed with water.
What is ouzo?
Browned eggplant slices layered with tomatoes, cheese, onions, and ground meat finished with a bechamel sauce. Typically Greek, there is a faint taste of cinnamon
What is Moussaka?
A roux of fat and flour whisked with a liquid, usually milk or cream— described by Athenaeus in A.D. 200 and widely used in Greek cuisine. Named after a member of the court of King Louis XIV.
What is Bechamel Sauce?
From Spain - one of the great blue cheeses of the world, produced from raw milk, mainly cow’s milk. The rind is sticky and yellow, with an intense smell. The interior is compact but very open, with lots of holes and blue veins. The taste is strong, although not as strong as the smell, slightly piquant, acid, and creamy.
What is cabrales?
Sweetened very fine shreds of a wheat flour pastry rolled up with chopped nuts.
What is Kataifia?
A fortified wine from a small region of Spain, made from the Muscat, Palomino, and Pedro Ximenez grapes.
What is sherry?
A dish of plain or marinated meat either stewed or grilled. Although the ingredient of choice for Turks is lamb, some are made with beef, chicken, or fish, usually grilled with vegetables on a skewer.
What is a kebab?
From Turkey/Greece, a smooth, thick sauce made with oil, lemon juice, soft white bread, and garlic. There are many variations depending on the region and the family; many versions include potato.
What is Skordalia or Skorthalia?
From Greece/Turkey, any firm cheese cut in squares, dusted with flour, and quickly fried in hot oil and served as an appetizer.
What is Saganaki or Tiraki?
Traditionally eaten at Christmas, this famous Spanish candy is made by roasting almonds and slow-cooking them with honey and egg white. Valencia is the home of it.
What is turron?
From Turkey, an alcoholic drink distilled from raisins and then redistilled with aniseed.
What is raki?
In Spanish the word means “in dough” and describes pies with savory fillings enclosed in bread dough, short pastry, or puff pastry.
What is empanada?