Some are good for the liver, or kidneys, or cleanse the blood or all three and of course all are good for your digestive system. What fascinates me, living in the country as I do, is that the locals pick them from their own fields after the heavy rains in October-November. They do not grow them - they are collected wild. They always proudly tell you they are wild, even in the tavernas. “They come from the woods, I picked them myself this morning”.

By Greg Birbil

My wife who is of Epirote descent, remembers picking horta with her grandmother from empty lots in Massachusetts - they picked dandelions. I grew up in Brooklyn, not many empty lots and no horta. At least we never picked any.

Let me return to the “horta hunters”. A common sight in the countryside of Greece is a parked car, just off the road - Mercedes, BMW, or some other upscale car. There is a group of well-dressed older people, walking through the fields bent over scouring the ground with a knife in hand and a plastic bag in the other. Unless you realize what they are up to, it is a strange sight. Nevertheless these “horta hunters”, usually city folk, are having a great day out searching for their delicious greens. Remember, these are not poor people adding to their meager foods, but well to do people making the effort to have the delicious, beneficial greens that they grew up with.

If you are driving around the country side and see these “hunters”, you might want to join them, but make sure the field you pick horta from has not been recently used by sheep and goats, it might affect the taste.

To read more, please visit gourmed.gr

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1 kilo of cleaned squid 1/2 cup of olive oil 1/2 cup of dry wine (white or red) 3/4 cup of rice (preferably long grain) 1/2 tablespoon of tomato paste 1/4 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon of pepper 2 1/4 cups of water 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced 1 medium onion, finely chopped toothpicks

 

Preparation:

Chop up the squid tentacles into small pieces.
Stir the tomato paste into the wine until smooth.
Preheat oven to 170C.

In a frying pan, sauté the onion, garlic, and 1/2 the chopped tentacles in the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the onion has softened and the mixture is steaming, stir in the wine and tomato paste mixture. Stir in parsley and cook until the mixture thickens slightly. Stir in 1/2 the water and bring to a boil. Stir in rice, turn off the heat, and wait for the rice to expand, about 15 minutes.

Using a spoon (or small measuring spoon for small squid), fill the squid tubes with the stuffing, to 2 cm from the top. Thread the top with one or more toothpicks to close and place in a baking pan. Add remaining stuffing, chopped tentacles, and remaining water.

Bake at 170C for one hour and 10 minutes.

Remove toothpicks before serving.

Yield: serves 6

By Nancy Gaifyllia

greekfood.about.com

The war of different coffee variations has begun. The traditional fans of frappe will not give up on the national cold coffee beverage for any other Italian-style coffee type, no matter what. The strong flavor and texture of frappe is unique and it symbolizes the summer, light spirit, good company and easy-going life. Dimitris Vakondios invented it by chance in 1957 during the International Thessaloniki Fair and ever since the frappe is typical of Greek contemporary culture. Add some milk and sugar to two or three tablespoons of Nescafe, stir very well in a shaker, pour some water and lots of ice cubes and there you go, your summer frappe is ready.

There are of course other alternatives to try. Cappuccino freddo is especially favored by Greeks. The Venetian monks version of cappuccino was established in the 17th century when they added milk and honey to Greek coffee. A milk foam called “afrogala” in Greek, lots of ice and some syrup depending on how sweet you like your coffee, create the biggest rival of frappe during the summer.

To read more, please visit greekreporter.com

By Stella Tsolakidou