Taramosalata

Have you heard about the omega-3 acids? Of course you have. These unsaturated acids are included in many facial products and are sold separately as food supplements. Human body can not generate them and this is the reason why we reach for the foods which are known for containing them.

Doctors claim, our bodies need them for growth and development and they protect us against stroke and heart disease. Omega-3 acids affect mood in positive way by beating depression and lowering the symptoms  of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 

Omega-3 acids can be found in varying concentrations in the fish roe of the different varieties of fish. And since ancient times, long before anybody has thought about omega-3 acids and their health beneficial properties, people have enjoyed the salted fish roe of different types of fishes, because it is very, very tasty. 

The roes of Beluga, Ossetra, Sevruga, Salmon, called caviars are delicacies, which have no place on the common people everyday's table. But the fish roe of many other fish varieties is eaten in many countries of the world, salted, fried or processed in another way. 

Greeks and Bulgarians love to eat taramosalata. This is a spread, prepared from salted cod  fish roe. You can find taramosalata in the menu of nearly every Greek reastaurant. In Bulgaria you can find taramosalata in the big food chains, but my mummy has always prepared home-made taramosalata, because it is far better.

This creamy smooth paste, result of emulsification of roe with olive oil, lemon juice and onion, requires a lot of bread. One slice as an ingredient of the recipe to make mixture less greasy and to provide puffiness to it. But also far more slices to be covered with this delicious spread. This is my mother's recipe for preparing taramas:

Crispy fried zucchini (κολοκυθάκια τηγανητά)

I love the taste of fried zucchini. And what makes them so lovable? Their crispiness. Fried zucchini should be hot and crispy. If you have an opportunity to travel to Greece, you definitely should try the fried zucchini served in most of the restaurants and they will never disappoint you. κολοκυθάκια τηγανητά have crispy crusts tender insides.

If you want to prepare this delicious appetizer at home it will be good to follow three  important steps:

Mussels saganaki (μύδια σαγανάκι)

Everytime I want to feel the taste of the sea, I buy blue mussels. I love to scrub and clean their dark blue shells, to check for broken ones, to put the good ones into the pot. I like the smell of my kitchen in the short 10-20 minutes of preparation and long hours after that. And I always enjoy sipping their juices from the shells and feel their salty broth as a juicy message from the sea. I know, female mussels are orange, male mussels are light yellow. Their colors match perfectly the red of tomato sauce and the white of Feta cheese. But this is not the main reason I prepare often mussels saganaki. The taste of this dish is unforgettable. Along with garides saganaki, this is a very popular dish in the fish restaurants of Northern Greece. And also in my home. As with many other dishes, I increase the spicyness by adding lots of hot peppers and chili flakes, but you can adjust it according to your taste. 

Tiro salata (Spicy feta cheese spread)

The Greek word 'τύρι' means cheese. Tiro salata is a mixture of Feta and Myzithra (similar to ricotta) cheeses, olive oil and hot peppers. Sounds good and tastes good. This traditional spicy appetizer is served in nearly every restaurant in Northern Greece where we spend our summer holidays. It is a good meze for ouzo, beer or retsina and it is quick and easy to make at home. The hot banana peppers could be roasted or fresh. If you use roasted peppers, which are easier to incorporate into the cheese mixture, you should roast them on the grill until charred on the outside, then place in a plastic or bag and allow them to sweat until cool enough to handle. After that the skins could be easily removed and you'll be left with  succulent roasted hot peppers. I use fresh peppers. The tiro salata does not look so homogenous, but it is fresh and tasty and I can feel better the spicyness.

Tsatsiki - yogurt and cucumbers appetizer from the Balkans

Tsatsiki or tzatziki is the worldwide popular name of a Greek dip, consisiting of yogurt, grated cucumber, some minced garlic and a little olive oil. In Bulgaria there is a salad with same ingredients, but cucumbers are diced small in Bulgarian version and the texture is little denser than the Greek one. Bulgarian name is little funny - this salad is called Snejanka, which is the name of Snow White in Bulgarian, probably because of its white color. On the other hand, people can easily feel its garlicly flavour, so if Snow White had it on her table, no dwarfs would be around her, much less a prince. Anyway, if you don't have kissing in your schedule, you can enjoy this dish, beacuse it is tasty, healthy and easy to prepare.

Stuffed vine leaves (Sarma or Dolmades gialantzi)

Stuffed grape leaves are popular dish across the Balkans. Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece - every one of these countries has own variety concerning the stuffing mixture. The two main categories concern the stuffing, which could be meat mixture or rice mixture. The meat varieties are eaten warm and the vegetarian ones - at room temperature. In Bulgaria this dish is called sarma or sarmi, which has Turkish origins - sarmak means 'to wrap' in Turkish. 

In Greece dolmades are part of the Meze platter, in Bulgaria Sarmi is a main dish. The stuffing includes different ingredients - rice, minced meat, pine nuts, raisins, mint and some others. The following recipe is a vegetarian version which includes lemon juice and mint. It could be served cold or warm and is good either ways.  In late spring and summer you can find fresh vine leaves, which should be first boiled for 5 minutes into a salted water.  Choose grape leaves that have very thin veins, which will make the taste less stringy. In February on the Balkans you can only use preserved vine leaves. So did I. This dish reminds me of summer, it is light and tasty. My only regret was I did not prepare twice as much.

Greek halvas

There is a very sweet tradition observed in many restaurants in Greece.
They serve complimentary desserts to the clients along with the bill. And if you are lucky, this dessert is not fruit, but something really sweet and tasty. And if you are very, very lucky, this is a Greek halvas.
It is a really sweet dessert, prepared from semolina and sugar syrup. So I will not try to convince you that  it is low in calories. Because it is not. But once in a while it is a permitted sin, I hope. The amount of the key ingredients is easy to remember - 1, 2, 3, 4.