HTAPOTHI CAPAMA TIS ITHAKIS Makes 4 servings The word capama comes from the Turkish for “to cover.” It is a name given to many different kinds of stew all around Greece. Sometimes it refers to beef or chicken dishes cooked with tomatoes and cinnamon, other times to simple ragouts. This capama includes celery. What is unusual about it is that […]

SKORDALIA APO HTAPOTHOZOUMO Makes 4 to 6 meze servings This garlic dip is served just as aliatha, ayiatha, and others are—as an accompaniment to boiled greens, fried vegetables or fish, plain on bread, or as a side with Ithacan Fried Octopus . Four 1-inch-thick slices stale rustic bread Pan juices from cooking 2 small or 1 large octopus. Igredients: 4 to […]

TIGANITO HTAPOTHAKI APO TIN ITHAKI Makes 8 to 10 meze servings Octopus is the Lenten fare par excellence in Ithaca. There is plenty of it, it is rich and filling despite its associations with the fast, and it is cooked in several unusual ways. The following recipes were given to me by Mihalis Maghoulas, an Ithacan native who tinkers in […]

HTAPODOSOUPA This soup traditionally calls for dried octopus, not the easiest thing to find either in America or in urban Greece, so I have reworked it a little for fresh octopus. Makes 6 to 8 servings Ingredients: 1 medium fresh or frozen octopus (about 3 pounds), cleaned if necessary 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup dry white […]

Greeks eat a lot of octopus, and a cold octopus salad is a common meze (appetizer) served with raki or ouzo, the local anise-flavored liqueurs. This is my take on the classic, which uses olive oil infused with fresh oregano as well as green olives steeped in bitter Seville orange juice. Prep Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes Total […]

Pasta with Lemon Roasted ShrimpOf all Seafood Pasta Recipes, Octopus and Pasta Bake is one of the most popular ovenbaked fish recipes in Greece. Octopus are easily available at fish markets in Greece and this is just one of many ways of serving octopus. The combination of slow ovenbaked octopus and pasta in a spicy […]

Some interesting Octopus Facts, from what the name really means to why they hang them! You may have been to Greece and seen tavernas or even homes with rows of string hung with octopus hanging out in the sun. Why do they hang their octopus in Greece? I can hear you ask. Well, there is […]

Learn the secrets Greek fishermen have known for centuries. For a sweet, tender, melt in your mouth taste, you must first treat or tenderise octopus before cooking it. If you eat a cooked octopus that hasn’t been tenderised it can be tough as boots. It is one of those delicacies that Greeks love, they fish […]

Ingredients: 1 octopus about 1 kilo 1 big onion blended 1/4 cup of spearmint 150gr of soft cheese grated (Choice) 1 egg Flour as long as it take Salt and pepper to taste Oil for frying Method: Defrost the octopus (if frozen) and wash well under plenty of running water. After washing, cut the octopus […]

Ingredients: 1 octopus about 1 kilo 1 bunch of dill finely chopped 1/2 a bunch of parsley finely chopped 1 clove of garlic minced or grated 1 leek finely chopped 2 onions grated 1 cup of breadcrumbs 1 1/2 cup of flour 3 eggs Salt and pepper to taste Oil for frying Method: Defrost the […]