Our Favourite Greek-Australian Dishes

Our Favourite Greek-Australian Dishes

I have two small apple trees, planted two years ago, in my Australian garden. I have to net them because the birds and the possums would soon eat the fruit if I didn't.

Right now its autumn in Australia and in our part of this continent we have apples ripening on the trees and the last of the strawberries being collected. If I was staying longer (not returning to Greece in a month’s time) I would be bottling applesauce and freezing berries, but as it is I’m busy emptying our refrigerator and freezer so that we can leave them cleaned out while we are away.

This situation has got me thinking about autumn here and there, and the different kinds of harvests and recipes we use in each place. I realize that in both places we use recipes from the ‘other’ place, we do things our neighbours don’t do. But also that sometimes we use a recipe from that other country in one place more often because of the quality of the raw ingredients we find there.

Australian Favourites

Australia and New Zealand have a wealth of delicious food from their productive farming areas and local seas. Both countries have large herds of dairy cows and milk, butter and cream is very available and certainly much cheaper than on Lemnos. Meat is also very tender, particularly lamb, a meat that is not available on the island. There is also an abundance of fish available in the seas around these large island continents and so we tend to cook a variety of fish.

Fruit and vegetables are readily available all year round. Not always a good thing as they are often imported from overseas. However much is grown locally, and as it is such a large country with varied climates we find that when strawberries have finished in Tasmania Queensland in the north has probably still got them.

Dishes we cook in Australia (not Greece)

I love Rhubarb, Takis doesn't!

Because we live in a cooler part of Australia apples and soft berry fruit are very good. Right now is the beginning of the apple harvest, and local raspberries and strawberries are still available. Rhubarb is something I love here too, though having been brought up in Egypt and Greece Takis finds the taste rather strange.

Dutch Apple Cake (apples better)

A rich buttery pastry filled with lots of apples

I got a recipe for this Dutch Apple cake from my Dutch sister-in-law but I lost it. I asked for it again and again lost it. This is one of the  problems of cooking here and there. And I really had to find it, as my grand daughters love it!

Rhubarb and Apple Compote (rhubarb available)

The apple added to cooked rhubarb takes some of the sharpness away.

Two Famous Australian Recipes

Anzac Biscuits (sent to forces in WW1)

4oz butter

I tablespoon golden syrup

1 teaspoon bi-carb of soda

2 tablespoons boiling water

1 cup of rolled oats

1 cup plain flour

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup sugar

Melt butter and syrup in a saucepan, add bi-carb mixed with boiling water.

Combine dry ingredients and pour melted mix into centre.

Place teaspoonfuls on a greased tray and bake in a slow oven for 20 mins

Cool for a few minutes before removing to wire cooling tray.

Pavlova (created in NZ for the arrival of Pavlova the ballerina)

3 egg whites

1 scant cup castor sugar

½ teaspoon of cornflour

½ teaspoon vinegar

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

Whisk egg whites until stiff. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time. Add cornflour with last amount of sugar. Fold in vinegar and vanilla. Turn onto greased paper on a baking tray. Turn mix onto paper, spread to a ‘cake’ shaped mound. (7 inches across) Place in a cool or very slow oven for 1 ½  - 2 hours, until crisp and dry.

Serve with ½ pint of cream piled on top and soft fruit arranged over cream.

Greek Dishes cooked mostly in Australia

Celery and Pork (Aus celery better)

The pork is great in Greece but the celery stems are not as juicy.

Yiouvetsi  (Lamb with pasta - Aus Lamb better)

This is one of the Greek dishes we tend to have in Australia rather than in Greece just because the ingredients are more available and better here. Nothing like Australian Lamb anywhere in the world!

Greek Favourites

Greek cooking is very much about intense flavors, vegetables and meat enhanced by the local herbs, which grow on the hillsides in the strong Greek sunlight. Greece has a harsh terrain and plenty of sunshine over their long dry summer. The recipes used centre on vegetables and other fresh ingredients available seasonally. We find olives, tomatoes, peppers forming the backbone of Greek cooking today and what stands out is their sweet intense flavor.

Dishes we cook in Greece (not Australia)

Stuffed Zucchini flowers (my zucchini flowers in Australia are not as prolific)

The stuffing for these is lighter than that used for the other stuffed vegetables. I make it from cream cheese herbs and eggs. Then I like to dip the whole flower in a batter before frying it.

Sardines and Calamari (always available in tavernas)

This is the food Takis likes more than me. I'm not really a fish-person, it tastes like medicine to me. I'll only eat bland tasting fish in a sauce!

Two Famous Greek Dishes

picking grape leaves

Dolmades  (grape leaves readily available in spring and shooting new leaves all year)

Making Dolmades is mostly a spring ritual for me and its good to have a visitor along to help. It takes all morning to make a large number but I make enough to freeze some to use when the visitors arrive.

Pick fresh vine leaves

Briefly blanch in a pan of boiling water.

Make a filling.

1. With meat

1onion chopped and fried

Long grain rice

Minced meat

Mint, salt and pepper.

2. Without meat

1 onion chopped and fried

Long grain rice

Pine nuts, garlic, tomatoes,

Mint, salt and pepper

Place a spoonful of mix on the leaves, at stalk end and fold sides over and roll tightly. Place leave close together at the bottom of a large saucepan. Pour over preferred mix of white wine, stock, lemon juice water to cover the leaves.

Cover by placing a plate over the leave (to keep them down and tight).

Cook for 1 hour moderate at first then slowly.

Serve hot or cold with fresh lemon slices or a lemon sauce.

Yemistas (can be just tomatoes but peppers and large zucchini can also be added)

In autumn, when I have buckets of tomatoes and quite a few peppers and the zucchini have got away from me to become marrows, I make this dish.

Large ripe tomatoes, zucchini and peppers.

Filling as for dolmades, you can also add parsley and almonds if you wish.

Take off the tops of the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds and save the tops.

Cut the peppers and zucchini in half and take out seeds.

Fill bottom half with a similar filling to that used for dolmades and replace the top of cut vegetable to make a lid.

Place in a baking dish and pour around the vegetables a cup of water.

Bake for ¾ hour until vegetables are soft and rice is cooked.