shain

Pasta, inspired by caponata. Eggplants, over roasted cherry tomatoes, browned onion, pine nuts, almonds, some herbs, olive oil, orange zest. Baked ricotta.

While toasted sesame oil is a finishing oil, as said. The cheaper kind can still be used for cooking. Much like olive oil - the good stuff drizzled on the plate, the cheap goes to an omelet (or anything that cooks briefly). I used sesame oil for short cooking on some occasions (what I get here is pure and quite good, but cheap enough that I won't mind). Living in a hot climate, I keep everything which is oily and not quickly used in the fridge. That includes sesame oil, extra olive oil (we press once a year, so there is always a lot), tahini, chili oil, all kinds of nut spreads, etc.

Tahini is made from toasted seeds. I only ever saw non-toasted ones being sold in health-food stores, always poorly made. Most tahini is indeed toasted much lighter than sesame paste, some are prized for being light in color and flavor. But some tahini are known for being boldly toasted and get close, tough it's still a different roast profile - dark toasted tahini have more bitter roasted notes. The latter is (at least to my taste) is a very decent substitute where other flavors are involved, but those brands are few (like al-jamal). On another note, does anyone else find black sesame to have a poppy-like flavor?

Right! Mostly due to kosher requirements I have been served many dishes where coconut is used to substitute cream (or milk and butter). I can recall a good mushroom risotto (barely felt the coconut), a lasagna (coconut bechamel is weird), tomato soup (not bad), sweet potato soup and corn soup (both are quite common with coconut milk). And yes, Vichyssoise with coconut is nice, though I prefer the original.

Bay leaves are often underappreciated in the west, and often due to being applied to sparingly.

I'm usually not a fan of the stuff. But it has it place in cakes and cookies (mostly of European origin) where one can assume no fresh ginger was available at the time. It's soon the honey-cake time of year

I mostly followed this recipe, though given that it's using very rough volume measurement, I adjusted quite a bit. I added more sugar than I believe they intended, and still felt it is less sweet than Din Tai Fung. I also used dark brown sugar rather than white. Also, I'm out of lily flowers, but not sure if they would add much. And since I'm no fan of boiled peanuts, I added them once cooled. Din Tai Fung uses edamame, both are as good IMO. It was very tasty, but not as flavorful and juicy as I remember. I think they might deep fry theirs.

Potato nests (土豆窝窝) - dumplings made of potatoes and potato starch, sauce is based on doubanjiang, scallions, oyster sauce, garlic, ginger, rice wine. They are chewy but soft. Kao fu (烤麸). Cold wheat gluten and dried mushrooms (shiitake, wood yea), peanuts, braised with soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine. Savory-sweet. Still not as good as Din Tai Fungs. I don't think those two are traditionally served together, but it worked for us .

Yes, but only a thin layer, the interior is still soft. Being a crunchoholic, it's a nice effect. It works with many baked goods, because the as it cools between the first and second bake, the moisture leaves and softens the surface. Then the second get it crispier. Just like twice fried french fries. I can't remember if I first did it with bread or muffins.

Chocolate chip muffins, made with sour cream. Those are not at all too sweet, with a 65% Callebaut. Baked twice so that they are toasty and crisp.

Take away fatayer - pita like bread, laminated with olive oil, filled with fresh zaatar, spinach and often other fresh greens, grilled on a saj. It's crisp and chewy and tender, lightly salty and aromatic. Served with labneh cheese and toamtoes. Rice stuffed vice leaves. Very lightly spiced, nicely lemony. Served warm. Home made tabbouleh with parsley, scallions, bulgur, cucumbers, some tomatoes, olive oil, lemon, sumac, and a hint of cinnamon.

Visiting some sores on our way to lunch. Pictured are: A coffee and sweets store, selling all kinds of lukum, hard candies, cookies, baklava, halva, chocolates, many sweets with nuts, etc. A bakery. And a second hand book store.

What other (non gimmicky) unique flavors are popular?

A day of walking in the older parts Athens. It's a lovely and varied city, and with both covid and it being low season in affect, it was quiet and peaceful. Although we will later get to to the younger neighborhoods, which are much more lively. A lot of greenery, rustic city gardens, sunbathing cats, historical sites and tavernas. First few photos are the antics market. It's quite hue, and there are also many indoor shops selling higher quality antics and restored furniture.

Can you expand about cooking with peppercorns? I find that they can lend many different flavors depending on preparation from citrus to metallic to numbing. From my experience, a brief fry or toasting will get the citrusy floral oils going, and can then be added near the end of preparation (ground if dry or just the flavored oil). Cooking it in liquid extract metallic notes, and perhaps also more numbing components.

I love coconut milk, but I do mostly use it for Asian dishes, less often to South/Middle American dishes, but I'm still not sufficiently familiar with it. I should experiment more. I do use it in non-Asian sweet dishes on occasion. There are some awesome middle eastern coconut sweets. I did make coconut hummus once (instead of tahini). It was good as far as I remember.

A quick grab on the way to our pre-flight covid tests. Were getting to the final stretch 🥺 Very delicious quick grab at that - A very crispy-crunchy phyllo pie with nice mushroom filling. A galatopita - apparently hard to get right, but this one was perfect. The bottom phyllo was crisp and buttery, and an eggy not too sweet custard. Cappuccino freddo. Not sure if I explained this one before. Cold coffee is the caffeinated drink of choice in Greek. The famous frappe was the classic such drink, but this days people appreciate better coffee (over the instant stuff). So they opt for espresso freddo - cold espresso frothed with ice; or with cappuccino freddo - the same espresso topped with cold frothed milk. Most coffee shops will have a special bowl-less stand mixer (frother?) for this, but this place had a machine that poured thick frothed milk as if it was soft-serve. I need one

Pasta salad - eggs, tomatoes, peas, olives, mustard, mayo, vinegar, chili.

A bread of Cyprus/Greece/Turkish origin. Dough: Make 1-4 days ahead - 25g sugar - 4g instant dried yeast - 100g yogurt or buttermilk - 140g water - apx. 15g olive oil - 9g salt - 450g AP fluor - Mix all but the flour. - Mix in the flour. - Knead, rest and repeat until a smooth strong dough forms. - Cover and rest for a night and up to 4. Fillings: - 230g of a mixture of coarsely chopped salty cheeses - Feta, halloumi, kashkaval, sirene. You can also throw in mozzarella. - 1-2 scallions, chopped (optional) - A handful of chopped mint (optional) - A handful of chopped herbs: oregano, thyme, marjoram, etc. - Apx 8 garlic cloves, halved (optional) - A small handful of olives, coarsely chopped (optional. I used Tassos, but most types will work) - Filling 1: 100g roasted peppers, coarsely chopped (or instead, use double the next filling) - Filling 2: 1 large onion and one leek, chopped and sauteed soft (or instead, use another 100g roasted peppers) Also: - a 22cm spring form pan - 1/2 tsp of silan (or honey) mixed with 2 tsp water and a pinch of salt - 25g toasted sesame - 1-1.5 tsp nigella seeds (optional) Method: - Mix nigella and sesame. - Grease the pan well and sprinkle some sesame and nigella. --- - Flatten (with your hands) the dough on a lightly dusted surface. - Cover and let rest 15 minutes. --- - Roll the dough into a rectangle, dusting as needed. - Scatter the peppers on one half. Scatter the onion and leek on the other. - Scatter the cheeses and herbs evenly. - Cut into 7 stripes, so that each contains either peppers or onion-leek (it's fine if some get mixed). - Roll each stripe into a spiral. --- - Brush/dip a spiral in the silan (or honey) mixture. Scatter/dip in the sesame. - Place in the pan, and repeat. You should have one in the middle, surrounded by the rest. - Cover with remaining silan and sesame. --- - Bake in a preheated oven at 200dc, for ~40-50 minutes until browned. - Release from the pan. Let cool for ~20 minutes (or more). - To serve, bake again for ~10-15 minutes until hot and crisp (or more if needed, e.g. if it was cooled for longer).

A Cyprus-Greek-Turkish cheese bread. The dough slightly enriched with olive oil, and lightly sweetened. Covered with sesame, some nigella. Baked twice, so it's crisp from outside but fluffy inside. Cheeses are halloumi, feta and kashkaval. Some spirals are with roasted peppers, the others with leek, onion and scallions. Also some olives, oregano.

Mango, banana, tapioca pearls, coconut cream, re-hydrated longan, cashew, mint, lime.

Roasted sweet peppers with basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar. Tacos with shrimps in Buffalo sauce. A slaw of celery, cabbage and onion with blue cheese, buttermilk, scallions, pepper. Tortiallas were meh - I can never seem to find the one brand we enjoy. And making them is hard work. Wheat IPA.

Thanks. They were. We've only ordered them after the waiter promised that they will no be overcooked Rubbery snails are not fun. Reminded me of this dish I had in Taiwan, which was delicious if only the snails were not so tough.

Cretian dinner. Snails with olive oil, garlic, rosemary. Some vinegar. Fava. Creamy and light. Lemony stuffed vegetables with herbs. Roast beef with roasted peppers