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Spanakopita
Spanakopita (spinach pie) is a dish that just seems to bring people together. My mother first learned how to make her highly sought-after spanakopita not in Greece, but in the United States. Like tiropita (cheese pie) it is one of her go-to recipes to feed a hungry crowd and one of her signature savory dishes. And let’s just say it has a bit of a following. Who knew spinach could be so uniting.
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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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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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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.
