Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Food Quest: Getting Greeky P3

Our final look into Greeky cuisine brings us to the best of the best. It's been a wild ride for us. We ate a lot... and our palates are forever stained with the memory of these amazing Greeky dishes. Things have been prepared, cooked, and taste buds have decided. So, without further a due:

Grilled Lobster Tails

My jaw dropped when this silver platter was brought to our table. It had been a long time coming since we had lobster, but never this elegantly presented. The lobster tails were garnished with tomatoes, lettuce, and squeezed lemons & limes. It also came with moderately sized bowl of butter oil for dippings. We know you're salivating by now, so we'll ease you toward climax. The lobster was incredibly rich and juicy. Its succulent meat was sweet, yet fluffy; teetering on the edge of orgasm with every bite. The close burn/grill gave it a slight crispy delight. I hope you were prepared for that and/or have extra underwear at hand. Bottom line... it was awesome!

Creamy Lentil Soup

On a first glance you might think this was the result of a long night out, lots of drinkies, and maybe even a late night snack. However, you'd be sadly mistaken. This bowl of lentil deliciousness is not to be taken lightly. Mixed with chopped onions, beans, olives, garnished with squeezed lemon, and various spices; the final result was a mind-blowing taste. Any veggie lover would find bliss with a serving of this. Dip with some bread, or simply scarf it down as is. Either way, you won't be disappointed.  

Milopita - Apple Pie

Every morning, just before the sunrises over Nafpaktos, a local baker prepares these uh-mazing apple pies by the dozens. As the dough rises in the oven, its scent escapes the bakery, slowly drifting toward our apartment. It's not the clucking of the chickens that wakes us, nor the faint sunrays which pierce the cracks of our shudders, not even the incessent tossing and turning of hungry RoLo... It's the smell of fresh milopita. Sweet, fluffy, crunchy, juicy, powdery, and awesomey... are just the beginning of describing this fulfilling breakfast. You might ask yourself: "Sweets in the morning? I don't know if this is for me." You are weak. Don't let your health conscience prevent you from indulging in such a sweet pastry. Just try it, eat it, EAT IT!!!! Seriously though... delicious. 
 
Frappe - Metrio Gliko (Medium Sweet)

If you've ever wondered what keeps the Greeky civilization motivated to do things, here's the answer. No afternoon is complete without a delicious frappe to wash away the unruly mediterranean heat. It's simple: ice, coffee, water, foam, sugar, and straw. Milk is optional, given that some of us can't handle it. Needless to say, the frappe became a staple to our daily life in Greece. Without it, we might not have left our apartment, or even our beds.  
Mousaka

Among the more commonly known Greeky dishes, it's incredibly difficult to hate mousaka. It has something for every kind of foody. Eggplant for veggie lovers, ground meat for dinosaurs, and béchamel sauce for those who scream for their cream. It's not quite lasagna, and not quite eggplant rollatini. Regardless, mousaka carves a place in food history for itself.   
Choco-Banana Crepe

From a tiny eatery called Delizia, this delectable crepe was prepared to perfection. Unlike most other creperies, we immediately noticed two things: it's crispier, and chunkier than the average crepe. Furthermore, the chocolate they use is orgasmic. In place of the fan favorite nutella, this delicatessen uses rich melted chocolate in their crepes. Bananas are freshly picked from the bin behind the counter. One crepe was hearty enough to satisfy two bellies. Lastly, it was a real cheap eat, averaging at about 3.75 Euros per crepe. THAT'S LESS THAN 2 EU PER PERSON!!! If you don't like this version, Delizia has a wide variety of sweet substitutes. As well as salty variants to your satisfaction. It's one of the best in the world :-P


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Little Bit of Island Life: Andros

"Have A Good Trip"

“Have a good trip.” Our final moments before floating away on the Aegean couldn’t have been more symbolic of the last couple of weeks. 4 days of wandering through ancient history and 10 Days of rest & relaxation at the beach were epic enough to deserve that message. It also helped reassure us that good times were still coming. Our next destination: the beautiful lush island of Andros. Home to about 10,500 people, Andros is a moderately sized chunk of mass in the Cyclades islands. The terrain is very diverse; it’s got cloud kissing mountains, rolling hills, brush land, sandy beaches and tons of foliage. We were really lucky to land at the time we did for several reasons: 1) Andros is a hotspot for vacationing during the summer. As much as we love to party, NYC gives us more than enough chaos all year round. So, we appreciate the peace and quiet. 2) Late September isn’t dreadfully hot, but not miserably cold. We hit a weather bull’s eye. Lastly, 3) Christina’s father was on the island with his buddy. So, we had a really nice roof to sleep under and an entire farm to ourselves =D

Beautiful sunset from ferry.

Batsi in the distance.

Port Gabri (Main Port of Andros)

Panoramic view of Batsi

Roadside Donkey


***Click "Youtube" for fullscreen***

Hanging Octopus Tentacles
 
The Greeks hang their octopus tentacles in order to dry out the meat. This method gives the octopus the proper texture and flavor which bring tears of joy.

Our First ATV rental.
 
Meet Dino, our trusty iron steed. We figured that renting a car was too cliché for our tastes. So, this was the optimal choice. We raced across Andros at blinding speeds, peaking at 52 kph… downhill. People were jealous of our awesomeness, for sure 8) This baby took us every corner of Andros: inside town, the beautiful beaches (which Andros has plenty of), and even the famed party island Mykonos (future blog post).


*** Click "Youtube" for fullscreen***


Golden Beach, Andros
Soakin in the rays.



 
Sunset in Andros, across the Aegean Sea.



Remember how we mentioned the farm we lived on? Well, this piece of land was no joke. Fully equipped to be self-sufficient, our host grew everything from fruits & vegetables (olives, grapes, peaches, lemons, pomegranates, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and many more), to livestock (goats, lamb, chickens, and a prized pig). They are definitely prepared for extended isolation in case shit goes down in the larger cities. The panoramic view of the neighboring islands across the Aegean was out of this world. Christina and I spent many an evening watching the sunset, in awe of its beauty.
It didn’t take Roland long to develop a ritual. Every morning, he would wake up, put on his farming clothes and head outside to fetch breakfast. Roland loves to munch on fruit (especially when he wakes up). So he was really excited to hear that our host grows Figs on his farm.


***Click "Youtube" for fullscreen***
Many Figs

A Fig




*Top-Left* Chickens and Goats feasting - *Top-Right* Roosters
*Bottom Center* Chicken Eggs


Our Buddy Wilbur

Fresh Lemons

Basil

Mmmmmmmelons



"I LOVE LUCY!" - Our awesome doggy companion in Andros; who came to visit us every morning for a good ol' belly rub. We will miss her =(

Saturday, October 1, 2011

PixLaxalicious!

Earlier in our Greeky ventures, we were blessed with the opportunity to see one of Greece's most popular rock bands: Pix Lax. Check out the vid, it was pretty special 8)
*NOTE* For fullscreen, simply click the "youtube" icon on the bottom of the video menu.


Thursday, September 29, 2011

Nafpaktos P2 - CnR Find a Home.

The second installment of our adventure in Nafpaktos brings us closer to anything we could ever consider a home away from home. Christina's family has been gracious to let us stay at their apartment in Nafpaktos while we bask under the mediterranean sun. It was 10 days of rest, relaxation, lots of frappes, amazing food, beautiful scenary, awesome fire spinning chill sessions, and endless memories for a lifetime. We put together a short photo montage to show you some of our experiences. ***It should be said, as beautiful as the images are, they don't do the real thing justice. It is highly recommended that you drop EVERYTHING you're doing in your life and visit this lucious land... Otherwise, just open up some vacation time during the summer.



For the full-screen version, just hit "youtube" to find the source.

Food Quest: Getting Greeky P2

Our quest to eat all the food in the world continues. This chapter of our saga takes us out of the major city of Athens, into the countryside of Greece. Our first stop is Nafpaktos, Greece; a beautiful beach village nestled in the Sterea Ellas region of Greece. During the summer, this small town turns into a hotbed of beach bums, party seekers, and food lovers. We happen to be all of those, so naturally this was an awesome place to stay. Sooooo, without further adue:
Horta w/olive oil & lemon
While this may look like baby poop to kseni (foreigners), this simple side dish is one healthy pick! Horta is delicately picked from dandelion plants. Once again, referring back to the idea of peasant food in this ancient land, it is an economical treat for green lovers. It has a slight bitter taste but the lemon compliments it by giving it a refreshing spritz to your palette. As a double reward, the excess oil and lemon juice makes for great dipping.

Melitzanosalata a.k.a. Eggplant Salad
Eggplant lovers rejoice. We’ve found your holy grail! Don’t underestimate this modest dish, it’ll fill your belly in no time. Grab some bread (preferably toasted) and dunk away. Traditional recipes include vinegar as well as trace amount of black pepper or paprika. The result is a sweet and spicy flavor coupled with chunks of eggplant (which carries an awesome flavor in itself). Topping off this creamy, yet savory dip are some tiny slices of red pepper and olive oil.
Patates tiganites w/oregano and salt
You can call these “just French fries,” but they are far from it. Sliced from fresh potatoes, these fritters are carved in the most effortless way and cooked in olive oil (which is second nature for Greek cuisine). Sprinkled with oregano and salt, these are a delicious side dish to snack on, while waiting for a main dish to come or side track your hunger while exploring the grounds of GrecaLand.
Bread...
The cornerstone of Greek nutrition, bread is arguably just as important to Greeky society as water or air. It’s a munchable as is, it’s often used as a utensil, you can plunge it into the endless assortment of Greeky dips, etc. Other uses for bread may include: weight lifting, baseball bats, decoration, ritualistic sacrifice, fashion, and many, many more…. Might I add, it’s nice a fluffy inside.
 


Grilled Octopus
My mouth begins to salivate just thinking about this beautifully presented and scrumptious dish. Chewy, crunchy, sweet, and salty are just the beginnings of a typhoon of flavor surging across your palette. Local Greek islanders garnish their octopus with parsley and squeezed lemon (for that extra tang). The trick, according to the owner of a restaurant on Andros, is to string the octopus tentacles out for a day before cooking. This allows the meat to dry out, giving it the texture that makes it so rich. No need to worry, flies won’t be buzzing around your 8-tentacled meal… ever! This is because octopus doesn’t actually have blood.  
Octopus Salad w/ capers and olive oil
An off-shoot of its more basic presentation (grilling or frying), this homemade dish takes octopus to a whole new level of awesomeness. Our chef Michael Gdisis boiled the octopus and chopped it up to little bites. He then mixed it together with capers and olive oil. Simple, yet mind blowing. One bite is never enough. It’s chewy, it’s sweet , it’s great to eat at just about any time of day. Screw eating the same old pizza at 3:30 AM on a drunken Friday night. Make yourself some Octopus salad ah la Gdisis; you won’t regret it ;)


If you're just as much a foody as we are, you're probably hungry right about now... So with that in mind, it's time to chow down!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Nafpaktos P1 - The Battle of Lepanto



All that remains from the battle =P

My family has been from this land of olives and feta as far back as we can trace it. They’re from a small village called Agia Triada (Agia Triada), which is maybe 30-45 minutes in distance from this town called Nafpaktos (Spelled Naupaktos in the Greek language). This is common for villagers to have ventured down and bought/rented property in this waterfront community due to its proximity, making it easy access for xoriani (villagers) to go back and forth to their hometowns in the mountains.
Of course there is no talking about places in Greek without speaking of its historical context. Nafpaktos is conveniently located in the middle of Greece, in a body of water that helps meet the Aegean to the Mediterranean Sea. It also is located a few miles away east of the Little Dardanelles, which are the narrows that close the Gulf of Corinth.
A quick timeline is in order:
1407 Venice bought the port of Lepanto
1499 Lepanto was conquered by the Turks
1571 Battle of Lepanto between a Christian fleet, gathered at the request of the Pope and led by Don John of Austria, and the Turkish fleet
1687 Lepanto was occupied by the Venetians but it was returned to the Turks by the peace of Karlowitz (1699)
On October 7th, 1571, a fleet of the Holy League (Catholic maritime states) engaged and defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire. In total, around 500 ships participated in this bloody battle. The Christian fleet was outnumbered, yet held a key advantage in their use of "modern" cannonry. Historians say that the battle lasted over five hours in the tight corridor between the two large seas separating the opposing empires.

Christian guns unleashed their fury on Ottoman vessels as they collided headon. A storm of swords ensued as ships crashed into one another. Ultimately, the strength of Christendom's infantry and artillery overcame the Ottoman naval might, dissolving its main fleet and crushing an entire generation of skilled sailors. The victory was extremely crucial for the Christian armies, as the Mediterranean sea was a highly contentious highway between major trade routes. Consequentely, the Ottoman navy was rendered useless for an extended period of time.

Fortifications of Nafpaktos' Castle


The trek on the way up to the castle provides a nice view of the fort in the bay (limani). 
From a worm's eye view, a clear image of the castle above.

Located at the very top of the hill of Lepanto (Nafpaktos) is the castle itself, extending out with its walls of protections reaching out diagonally towards the water, to form a triangular shape. While it was the Turks that maintained the walls of the fort and the castle, it was the Venetians that created the structure.

The cobblestone road to the top!
Narrow crossroads up the hill. 


Beeeee-you-Ti-FULL

Pomegranites? Fresh fiber for your eatens.

Great panoramic look out for strategory and awesomeness. 

The gate into the pallisade of Castle Nafpaktos

Murder holes looking down on gate... Wouldn't want to be storming these doors, naked.
View toward the Mediterranean. Bridge to Patrai in the distance.


Main gate to the castle. It was closed =(

The wise guardian turtle, protecting the townsfolk of Nafpaktos.