It can substitute honey almost in every recipe, so use it to make a dressing, drizzle over pancakew or yogurt, use it in baking (it is great with carrot cake and with anything that has pumpkin in it), as a glaze for turkey, pork etc.
Traditionally petimezi was used as a spread on bread especially for children, as it is very high in antioxidants and minerals. You can also make cookies with it called moustokouloura, when grape must (moustos) isn’t available any more.
I recently made this beef stew using petimezi and red wine vinegar and was amazed by the depth of flavours. The vinegar you use is very important so find a good one, but do not use balsamic.The vinegar counteracts the sweetness of the petimezi and the resulting effect is sweet and sour, but not as strong as a Chinese version for example.
Note: you can make your own petimezi if you boil down the juice you get from lets say 2 kg of white grapes, until it is dark and viscous, but I have never done it myself.
INGREDIENTS for 6 people
for the marinade
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
for the stew
1.5 kg stewing beef cut into chunks
1/3 cup (80ml) petimezi
1/4 cup (60ml) red wine vinegar
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, finely sliced
2-3 berries all spice
the marinade
DIRECTIONS
Mix all marinade ingredients in a plastic container with a lid and add the beef chunks. Marinate for 24 hours, turning once or twice.
Drain beef from marinade and pat dry with kitchen paper. Keep the marinade and vegetables separately to use in the stew.
In a large pot heat 3-4 tbsp of olive oil and brown the beef pieces from all sides. Remove from pot and saute the onions until they start to colour. Add the marinade vegetables together with the sliced carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the petimezi, vinegar, allspice, and 1/3 of the marinade. Wait until the alcohol has slightly evaporated (about 1-2minutes), give it a good stir and turn down the heat. Cover the pot and let the meat simmer until it is meltingly tender, about 2-2.5 hours. Every now and then check whether it needs more liquids and add some of the marinade. I actually ended up using all of it.
By the end of the cooking time you mush have a nice thicki-ish sauce (petimezi is also a thickening agent). Season well with salt and pepper and serve with mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, pasta or rice. This dish can very successfully be frozen or eaten the next day.