Greek Food Lament
I have only travelled to Greece once. It was a University graduation gift to myself. I was not a foodie then-okay I’ll admit it: I was a spoiled brat as far as food went. I would not eat tomatoes unless they were in a spaghetti sauce. I would not eat cheese unless it was mozarella or mild cheddar and melted on something. Feta? Yuck-not on your life. Olives? No way. What is the wierd stuff in my lasagna? It’s not lasagna-it’s mousakka? Eggplant? Gross. I would pick through a Greek Salad and only eat the cucumbers. OMGoodness-why was I such an idiot?
I went with two girlfiends (and one gf’s Mom). Both friends now live in Toronto but sadly I only keep in touch with one of them. Very often when I visit her in TO we head to the Danforth where the Greek restauants are plentiful and fabulous. There is nothing that I won’t taste now. Octopus and squid? Bring it on!
I don’t know why we don’t go out for Greek fook more often in Winnipeg because there are many wonderful choices here as well. It seems that the most of my Greek dining was in yesteryears.
I once worked at the Winnipeg Art Gallery when the Swiss Inn (now defunct) had the foodservice contract. Manny was the Chef, and no he was not Swiss-he was Greek. Ah I can still taste his Avgolemono (Greek lemon soup) now. I traced Manny to a restauant on Sherbrook called the Acropolis. But I believe that is too defunct. There was once a beautiful restauant on Grant called Matheos-gone. I also loved Dionysis on Nairn-gone.
The owners of Dal’s Restauant used to be our neighbours and I have never been to their Transcona location. I have been to Homer’s on Ellice and Niko’s on Corydon but it has been years. I’va also been to the Pembina Village Restaurant and the Garwood Grill but only for breakfast and never sampled their reputed Greek menus. Why, why why?
This weekend I cooked Greek Food for Valentine’s Day dinner. I had never cooked Greek potatoes before and they were fabulous. Here’s the recipe that I used: In a small bowl mix 1/3 c olive oil, 1 1/2 c water, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 c fresh lemon juice, 1 t thyme, 1 t rosemary, 2 t dried chicken stock and black pepper to taste. Arrange 6-8 peeled and quartered potatoes in a baking dish. Pour the oil mixture over top. Bake 1 1/2- 2 hours at 375 degrees, stirring every once in a while.
My husband got out the barbeque for chicken. Marinated in Carver’s greek dressing, grilled and then served with sliced and grilled tomatoes, sliced black olives and a crumbling of feta-yum.
Next time we want to do a dinner with Mom we should do Greek. I really like Niko’s on Corydon. The food is a bit salty, but that means Mom will love it!