You could say that it looks like any kind of cream pie that you tried. But it isn't. There is also a big debate—Athens thinks bougatsa is just an ordinary pie filled with cheese or cream. But Thessaloniki knows the secret. The pastry is made differently and tastier than the ordinary cheese pies.
Here is the recipe for you to try.
• Serves: 10 slices
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
• 6 cups milk
• grated rind of 1 lemon (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cups fine semolina
• Confectioner’s sugar
• 3 eggs
• cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pastry sheets
Instructions
Beat the eggs in a bowl with the sugar until creamy. Mix in the semolina. Slowly add the milk while beating continuously. Pour the mixture into a medium sized pot and add the lemon rind (if you are using it) and the vanilla. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Be careful that the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. When it has thickened, remove the pot from the heat, set aside and cover with a lid so 'skin' doesn't form over it.
Take 4 pastry sheets and lay them out on a counter on top of each other. Cut the pastry into 4 quarters - cross wise so you have 16 equal rectangles (1). Brush each fillo rectangle with butter and put to one side.
Take one whole pastry sheet and lay it out. Brush it over with butter. Place 2 of the cut rectangles in the center of the bottom half of the sheet to form a base.(2) Spoon 2 or 3 tablespoons of the cream filling into the center of the base. Fold the pastry on the long sides of the base and the shorter end into the center, enclosing the cream filling, then carefully fold the rest of the pastry over and over into a neat package shape.(3, 4 & 5) Use butter, brushed on the pastry sides and ends as a' glue' to hold the fillo down. You can fold them as small or large as you like. Repeat this procedure to make more Bougatses until the cream and fillo are used up.
Arrange the finished Bougatses on a buttered cookie sheet, and brush them with more butter. Bake at 350°F for about 35 minutes or until the pastry is flaky and golden. When done, remove them from the oven and sprinkle them with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
XpatAthens
Tuesday, 26 October 2021 07:00
Patsas: Greece's Hangover Soup
Yesterday, the 25th of October, 2021 was International Patsas (Tripe) Day, celebrating Greece’s famous hangover soup!
Greek Tripe Soup
Patsas is traditionally made from tripe, legs of pig or cow and many also add pig intestines to the recipe. Some people prefer to use beef or lamb, depending on their personal taste.
In Greece, especially in Athens and Thessaloniki, this strong-smelling soup is highly consumed after a big night at the Bouzoukia, as apparently it relaxes the stomach, making it Greece’s favorite hangover food.
It is very common to find people heading to a Patsazidiko, which is a tavern normally found close to the meat markets in the city centre, to eat a bowl of patsas before heading home after a huge night.
Patsatzidika often serves up multiple varieties of this dish. Patsas in the taverns are usually made either with tripe or with feet and the two are occasionally combined and accompanied by other organ cuts, such as the large intestine or pancreas. Greek chefs cut, pre-boil, then simmer the organs for hours to get a soft texture. Then they add salt, pepper, lemon, and sometimes red pepper and onion.
Patsas is sometimes topped with kokkino (fat from the broth mixed with red pepper), skordostoubi (chopped garlic in vinegar), or red pepper shavings.
Tripe soup is also popular in Turkey, Spain, Portugal, and other parts of Europe!
To read this article in full, please visit: greekcitytimes.com
Greek Tripe Soup
Patsas is traditionally made from tripe, legs of pig or cow and many also add pig intestines to the recipe. Some people prefer to use beef or lamb, depending on their personal taste.
In Greece, especially in Athens and Thessaloniki, this strong-smelling soup is highly consumed after a big night at the Bouzoukia, as apparently it relaxes the stomach, making it Greece’s favorite hangover food.
It is very common to find people heading to a Patsazidiko, which is a tavern normally found close to the meat markets in the city centre, to eat a bowl of patsas before heading home after a huge night.
Patsatzidika often serves up multiple varieties of this dish. Patsas in the taverns are usually made either with tripe or with feet and the two are occasionally combined and accompanied by other organ cuts, such as the large intestine or pancreas. Greek chefs cut, pre-boil, then simmer the organs for hours to get a soft texture. Then they add salt, pepper, lemon, and sometimes red pepper and onion.
Patsas is sometimes topped with kokkino (fat from the broth mixed with red pepper), skordostoubi (chopped garlic in vinegar), or red pepper shavings.
Tripe soup is also popular in Turkey, Spain, Portugal, and other parts of Europe!
To read this article in full, please visit: greekcitytimes.com
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Greek Food & Diet
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Thursday, 13 January 2022 14:20
A New Year, Full Of New Beginnings
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Newsletters
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Wednesday, 18 February 2015 13:19
Discovering The Natural Wealth Of The Gorge Of Samaria
As they walk through the gorge, visitors are often stunned by the dense vegetation around them: towering pine trees and ancient cypress trees with massive horizontal branches stand proud on the slopes. At higher altitudes there are forests of maple, and where moisture is more plentiful, there are sycamore, oleander and willow trees.
In the National Park area there are more than 450 species of plant, 70 of which are species and sub-species native to Crete, such as Cretan dittany (Amaracus dictamnus – a type of mint), Ebenus cretica - a species of perennial flowering plant of the Fabaceae family, zelkova (Zelkova abelicea) and the Cretan Pine (Pinus brutia cretica).
Some of the plants, such as Bupleurum kakiskalae, a species of flowering plant of the Apiaceae family, Myosotis refracta refracta (a type of forget-me-not) and the orchid Cephalanthera cucculata are found only in the gorge. An idea of the natural wealth of the gorge is given by the fact that no one is yet sure precisely how many species actually exist within it.
There is also, of course, an impressive array of fauna in the gorge, which is home to a host of species and sub-species which are exclusive or almost exclusive to Crete (32 species of mammal, 3 species of amphibian, 11 species of reptile and around 200 species of bird).
To read more, please see visitgreece.gr
Published in
Travel Greece
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Friday, 20 February 2015 15:15
Mmmmm….. Bougatsa
Maybe some of you occasionally have bougatsa for breakfast. Have you ever wondered what bougatsa is? History claims that ancients Greeks used to make pies with every kind of filling called "placountas". Years went by and bougatsa stayed popular in Constantinoupolis and Smyrna. Bougatsa in Turkish means pie filled with cream and topped with sugar powder and cinnamon powder. After the destruction of Smyrna and the exchange of the Greek-Turkish colonies, bougatsa became extremely popular in north Greece and especially Thessaloniki.
We love eating bougatsa early in the morning or really late at night after bouzoukia or clubbing. And I hope you love it too!
squidoo.com
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Greek Food & Diet
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Friday, 06 March 2015 12:25
The Six Reforms To Be Submitted At Monday’s Eurogroup
The Minister of Finances Yanis Varoufakis announced that he will submit six reform proposals at the Eurogroup on Monday, which will address the humanitarian crisis, taxation and public administration, among others.
According to high-ranking government sources, the six reforms which Mr. Varoufakis intends to submit in Brussels are:
1-2 Humanitarian crisis – Administrative Reform: The government sources claim that this will be an effort to combat the “poverty triptych” of food, housing and energy sufficiency, which will be combined with the necessary administrative reform.
3. Addressing outstanding debts towards the state and insurance funds: The goal is to get millions of debtors to begin paying taxes and to create a “tax awareness”. The debts will not be slashed and the bill will aim to reward consistent taxpayers.
To read more, please visit tovima.gr/en
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Local News
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Monday, 04 May 2015 18:11
Traditional Greek Pasta - Pastitsio
Regardless of where pasta originated from, the Greeks have embraced it with open arms and typically incorporated it into their cuisine to make it their own. As well as the many known dishes such as Spagetti Bolognese and Carbonara, which is just as popular in Greece as abroad, there are many other pasta dishes which have been given that Greek touch to them to make them uniquely Greek, such as Pastitsio. Pastitsio is an all time favourite in Greece, especially with children.
This pasta recipe is a great meal to make for a casual dinner with friends, you can make the meal ahead of time, and then, when ready, put it in the oven to bake before serving. Ideal when you don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
Ingredients
500g pastitsio or macaroni pasta
500g mince
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon parsley
2 tablespoons butter
pepper, salt
2 large fresh tomatoes, grated (or 3/4 tin of tomatoes, chopped)
1 or 2 egg whites
2 teacups grated cheese
Bechamel Sauce
1 litre milk, warmed
4 tablespoons heaped plain flour
fresh nutmeg - grated, 3 quick grates (or 3 pinches dried nutmeg)
125g butter
2 egg yolks
salt, pepper
Preparation
Fry onion in butter until soft.
Add mince, fry until brown, breaking up any lumps of mince so it is all small.
Add the grated carrot and parsley and mix in.
Add the tomatoes, which have been grated or put in a blender.
Add salt and pepper. Add some water - about 100-150ml.
Cover and leave to simmer for half an hour.
When ready, cool slightly and stir in the egg whites.
Boil the pasta until al dente. Drain.
Meanwhile you can make the bechamel sauce
To make the bechamel sauce:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan.
Add the flour and mix in well for a while until it goes a bit yellow but doesn't burn.
Add a little milk, mix it in well and slowly add all the rest of the milk.
(At the start use a wooden spoon to mix the flour with the butter, then change to a whisk when adding the milk.)
Whisk thoroughly to make sure there are no lumps.
As you add the milk, have it on a low heat then once all the milk has been added and there are no lumps, you can increase the heat slightly to heat the milk and stirring regularly, the sauce will thicken.
When you add the milk, this is the time that it is possible for the sauce to get lumps in it, especially if you haven't made this sauce before.
To rectify, take the saucepan off the heat, and use an electric hand mixer on the sauce (in the saucepan), until you have a smooth sauce and all the lumps are gone. Return to the heat and warm until it thickens.
Add a little salt and pepper and the nutmeg, be careful not to add too much nutmeg - it really only needs a little amount to give the sauce a wonderful flavour. About 3 quick grates of a fresh nutmeg or 3 small pinches of dried nutmeg.
Nutmeg is only used in bechamel sauce when made to go with pastitsio. If you are using this recipe to go with another meal, you can omit the nutmeg.
When the sauce thickens, leave to cool a while, then add 2 egg yolks, and stir in to the sauce.
In a large deep baking tray, place half the pasta in the tray.
Sprinkle 1 cup cheese over the pasta.
Spread all the mincemeat over the pasta evenly.
Finish with the rest of the pasta, flatten out over the mincemeat.
Sprinkle over the pasta the other cup of cheese.
Pour bechamel sauce all over the top of the pasta and ensure it covers all the pasta.
Dot little pieces of butter over the top of the sauce to give it colour.
At this stage you can leave the pastitsio to bake later or bake straight away.
Bake in a moderate oven for approximately 30-45 minutes, depending on whether the food is already hot or not.
The sauce should have a lovely golden colour.
As with all baked macaroni recipes, even if the food is hot, baking it will help set the layers of food.Source: Ultimate-Guide-To-Greek-Food
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Greek Food & Diet
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Thursday, 03 December 2015 07:00
No More Plastic Bags: Alonnisos Gets Pioneering
From December 1st 2015, Alonnisos is abolishing the use of plastic bags. The ambitious project is backed by the entire island, which in the last few years has made major leaps forward on issues concerning environmental protection. If it succeeds, the Greek island will become the country's first area to implement such a pivotal change in daily consumption habits.
Protected by the European Union's Natura program and located in the heart of the National Marine Park of the Nothern Sporades, Alonnisos hopes to earn the title of the country's 'greenest' island.
"People here have had environmental concerns for a number of years, regardless of laws and prohibitions," said Alonnisos Mayor Petros Vafinis. "There is an eco conscience, which the older generation might have referred to in another way, but essentially, it exists."
Vafiinis sounded enthusiastic with regard to the island's recent environmental achievements. "When we started the recycling program in 2012, I did not expect people, especially older citizens, to participate in the effort. Grandmothers are now first in line at the recycling bins. I am very pleased with the progress made."
And now the island has declared war on plastic bags.
To read more, please visit: ekathimerini
by Giorgos Lialios
Published in
Local Environment
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Tuesday, 15 November 2016 07:00
Ancient Greeks And Their Weather Knowledge
Ancient Greeks, as well as other civilizations of that time, often attributed weather changes and natural phenomena to the gods. For example, lightning was a way for Zeus to show his anger, just as Thor in ancient Nordic mythology.
Ancient Greeks also believed in Poseidon, god of sea and earthquakes, Helios, god of sun, Selene, goddess of moon, Hephaestus, god of volcanoes, Chione, goddess of snow, Zeus, king of all gods and god of sky, thunder, lightning and rain. All occurrences of favorable or poor weather were thought to be a direct result of godly intervention.
The word “climate” stems from the Greek word “klima” meaning inclination and referring to the climate conditions created by the Sun’s angle. Moreover, ancient Greeks invented the term “meteorology,” the study of atmospheric disturbances. Aristotle is considered the founder of meteorology. He tried to explain the weather through the interaction of the four elements: earth, fire, air, and water. Aristotle’s student Theophrastus produced the first book on weather signs, listing observations used to forecast weather, many of which are still used to this day.
To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter
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Greek Language & Culture
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Monday, 26 December 2016 07:00
Astir Palace In Vouliagmeni Redevelopment Plans For 2018
Greece’s landmark coastal Astir Palace resort, located in the southern Athens suburb of Vouliagmeni, is expected to re-open in early 2018, following a redevelopment plan that includes the renovation of both Arion and Nafsika hotels, the development of 13 residences, the creation of a new park and a significant upgrade of the marina.
According to the owners, the plan will carefully consider Astir Palace’s cultural heritage and endeavor to protect and enrich the property’s natural environment whilst safeguarding Astir Palace’s legacy. Furthermore, the plan is expected to reinforce Athens and Greece as international destinations for high-end tourism.
The total project value, including the redevelopment, is expected to be over 600 million euros and the project is expected to be completed in 18 months.
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Local News
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Tuesday, 30 May 2017 07:00
Greek Architecture Firm Designs World’s First U-Shaped Skyscraper For NYC
Oiio Studio, founded by Ioannis Oikonomou, is a Greek architecture firm based in both New York and Athens. It has sparked global interest with their state-of-the-art design of the Big Bend, the world’s first U-shaped skyscraper.
If and when it will be built, it will span over 4,000 feet long which is almost twice as long as Burj Khalifa, standing at 2,722 feet tall.The Big Bend could be the world’s longest continual building and would forever change the architectural landscape of New York.
Oiio Studio also noted the challenges with the proposed project, one of the biggest being the curvature of the building and how an elevator would function to allow people transportation to the top floors.
To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter
Photo Credit: Oiio Studio
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Greece In The News
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