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Thanksgiving Pastitsio
“I’m not really sure what we use, you’ll have to ask mom when she gets back. You’re going to make pastitsio? It’s a lot of work.” my dad replied. “Well, how do you start it then?” I followed up. “How much butter and flour?” “I don’t know. Ask mom.” This? This is the answer to what kind of milk I should use for the béchamel my parents make for their pastitsio and moussaka I get from my dad? My dad is the béchamel man of the house. He has literally been making it for at least 30 years, if not longer.
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Kolokithopita Triangles
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New York Pita Culture
Greece has a “pita culture” and the round or oval flatbread that most non-Greeks instantly think of when hearing “pita” is just a small part of it. Greek pita can refer to one of two dough products. One is the flatbread used for scooping up an assortment of appetizing dips and for wrapping many Mediterranean sandwiches like gyros, souvlaki and falafel. Perhaps more importantly to Greeks, pita also refers to a phyllo-based pie. Pites, the savory or sweet phyllo pies that most Greeks think of when they hear pita, or mean when referencing them, come in many varieties. My intention in starting the pita challenge was not only to nail…
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Day Tripping For Greek Treats and Provisions: Astoria, New York
I was staring at the selection of pites, cookies and pastries at the baked goods counter in Mediterranean Foods when it finally sunk in that a “quick” visit to Astoria was a foolish thought. Why come all this way and not allow Astoria to absorb us in to its unparalleled selection of Greek goods? “If we leave by 10, we can get there in time for some coffee and pites, hit a bakery to pick up some pastries, then grab groceries at Titan. We should be back by 5.” And I really believed this when saying it to my sister Evelyn over the phone several hours earlier.
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New York Pita Culture
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Working With Phyllo
Want to impress someone with your cooking skills before they even taste your food? Or make them think you worked away for hours to make something special for them? Make them something with phyllo. Ok, you might still be cooking in the kitchen for hours, but it won’t all be time spent on phyllo. Phyllo dough is a basic flour and water dough. The dough is rolled out into incredibly thin sheets for use in making both sweet and savory Mediterranean dishes, where the phyllo dough is often used as a wrapping. Phyllo is an intimidating ingredient for many people when they first start working with it. Due to its…
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Tiropita
Tiropita, two ways, two times, practice makes perfect. Recipe testing is important when writing, developing, and sharing them. That’s how the first pita challenge ended up as a two-attempt trial. It wasn’t the result of a classic misunderstanding between my mother and me. No. Of course not. Tiropita is one of my mother’s staple go-to recipes for gatherings large or small, occasion’s special or regular, impromptu visits from friends, family or a hungry kid or grandkid. She’ll make a single large pie for gatherings, and almost always has some individually wrapped triangles in the freezer for last minute or smaller gatherings. As delicious as it is, tiropita is relatively straightforward…
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The Pita Challenge
Go to any Greek restaurant or festival and you’re likely to see at least one type of pita on the menu. I’m not talking pita bread for your gyro or souvlaki sandwich here. When Greeks say “pita” or “pites” they are usually referring to a “pie” made of a vegetable, cheese, or meat filling and phyllo dough. Pites come in a variety of configurations, and are always delicious. My personal favorites are my mother’s tiropites (cheese pie), triangular packets of cheesy deliciousness wrapped in buttery, flaky phyllo.
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Cooking Greek In America: Q&A with John & Maria
John and Maria Frangakis are my parents and the inspiration for Phyllo Files. They emigrated from a small village in Chios, Greece with my brother and sister in the late 1960’s. They had no running water or electricity when they left Greece, and grew almost all of their own food. I sat down with them in their New Jersey kitchen to ask them about differences cooking in Greece and the US. And, for the record, learned that some of the Greek foods I grew up with, they started cooking after moving to the US. Responses have been edited for clarity.
