Meatballs and tzatziki- Meze time!

In Greek cuisine, there is a special category of dishes, that we call ‘meze’ or ‘mezedes’ in the plural.

Mezedes  are an endless list of ‘little somethings’’ you want to eat with your beer, ouzo, or wine.

A Meze is not a main course but the great variety usually offered in a house or tavern, ends up being a full meal.

To make meatballs many people use half pork-half beef ground meat; others use lamb ground meat. We always use only beef at the tavern and everyone seems to like this version. It is also the kids’ favorite; I remember when I was a kid whenever I didn’t like lunch my grandmother would always make meatballs especially for me.

Meatballs are ideally matched with fried potatoes and tzatziki.

Green beans, a summer classic!

Laderá in Greek means braising vegetables with olive oil (ládi) to taste.

These dishes are mostly cooked in summer when there are many fresh vegetables, but also because of the heat, light dishes are most enjoyed.

Green beans is the most classic ‘’oil cooked’’ dishes.

All over Greece there are many local varieties of green beans that differ in size and shape. Of course, there are frozen green beans,all year long in the super market, but I believe that vegetables should be consumed fresh when they can be cultivated outdoors in the right season. 

Green beans are always cooked with onion, tomato and parsley, while the quality of olive oil defines the final taste. Extra virgin olive oil gives to vegetables a light and really superior taste.

The most suitable and popular side dish for vegetables is cheese, - feta or any other local cheese, such as graviera or kefalotyri.

Ode to tomato – Kayanas

“The street filled with tomatoes, midday, summer, light is halved like a tomato, its juice runs through the streets. (….)

The tomato offers its gift of fiery color and cool completeness.

Pablo Neruda   “Ode to tomato”





Every summer I look forward to harvest the first ripe tomatoes in order to make kayanas with the right taste.

That magnificent combination of tomatoes and eggs is my favorite main course for the hot summer days. It is also nice over toasted bread as an appetizer in a summer lunch, or as a rich sauce for pasta.

Kayanas can be seasoned with oregano, basil, mint or garlic but please only one of them; tomato has to be the King of flavor.

This food reminds me of my childhood, when my mother used to cook it with tomatoes from our garden. I could eat that every day for the whole season!

How many roses did you have for breakfast? - Rose jam

Rosa Damascena

In the old days when modern methods of preserving fruits all year long didn’t exist, there was still a need to serve your guests some always available dessert. This led people to invent fruits preserved in syrup. A spoonful of such a preserve and a cup of Greek coffee were and still are the common welcoming treat.

''...add the lemon juice and magically your jam turns to a beautiful red''