Pastitsatha was the traditional Sunday meal of Corfu’s well-to-do. It was almost always made with free-range cock or with turkey, which Corfiotes hold in particularly high esteem. Thick tubular spaghetti is needed for this dish. According to island cooks, a proper pastitsatha requires no fewer than 9 spices: allspice, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, nutmeg, paprika, cayenne, salt, and black pepper. Makes 4 to […]

Ingredients: 1 kilo of ripped quince 1 kilo plus 2 cups of sugar Juice of 1 lemon 3-4 leaves of sweet-scented pelargonium (Arbaroriza) Juice if 1/2 a lemon Method: Wash and peel the quinces. Cut in half, remove the core with the pits and grade with the course side of the grader. Place in a […]

Ingredients: 1 1/2 kilo of fresh chestnuts 1 1/2 kilo sugar Little salt 4 cups of water 1 tbsp of lemon juice or even little more For every half kilo of chestnut we add half kilo sugar and 2/3 of glass water. Method: Clean the outer skin of the chestnuts. Place them in a pot […]

KEFALONITIKI KREATOPITA This recipe, from native Cephalonian Roussa Meleti, originally appeared in my first book, The Food and Wine of Greece. Makes 8 to 10 servings Ingredients: 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing 1/2 pound boneless lamb, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1/2 pound lean boneless pork, cut into 1/2-inch pieces […]

BAKALIAROPITA TIS ITHAKIS Makes 8 to 10 servings Codfish pies are found throughout the Ionian Islands. The Ithacan version includes both rice and cubed potatoes, testimony to the fact that this originated as poor man’s food, a dish that needed to be as filling as possible. Cod pie is a classic Lenten dish not only in Ithaca but in Cephalonia […]

KEFALONITIKI PITA ME KOLOKYTHA KAI KAROTA Makes 6 to 8 servings One finds recipes in the most unusual places, in this case from Spiros Bazigos, the accountant at the Coridalenio Library in Argostoli, Cephalonia’s capital. I had just spent a day looking for books on old island customs and food habits. He had come in to say good night to […]

Enough pastry for a 15-inch or 18-inch round pan Ingredients: 4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour, as needed 1 scant teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups warm water, or more if needed 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice, as needed Method: Combine 4 cups of the flour and […]

ITHAKIANO PILAFI ME ENA KEFALI SKORDO I took a couple of liberties with this old Ithacan dish. First, believe it or not, I reduced the amount of garlic from one head per serving to one head for 4 servings. The garlic is poached first, an old Greek method for ridding it of its bitter edge. I also replaced the […]

GARIDES PILAFI ME KARI A strange and very un-Greek recipe, since this unusual dish has existed in Ithaca for the last three decades. It is the product of two historical forces—the British domination of the island from the end of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth and the economic circumstances that forced husbands, brothers, and sons to take […]

GLYKOPATATES BOURTHETO Sweet potatoes probably came to Corfu with the Venetians, as did many other New World crops, sometime during the sixteenth century, where they remained poor man’s fodder for hundreds of years. It took the English to popularize them, by showing Corfiote aristocrats the virtues of serving them with syrup. Nevertheless, they have long been cooked on a grill or in […]