The simplicity of delicious Greek food
From tripe soup to sea bass with ouzo, cookbook author and television presenter Lyndey Milan has discovered a lot about Greek cuisine.
While travelling through the Peloponnese for the SBS series Lyndey & Blair's Taste of Greece - with recipes from the series now available in a cookbook - she learnt new kitchen techniques and was often surprised by her findings.
"I was really amazed actually to see how much pork there was," she says.
"I had no idea pork was so big in Greece, but of course, souvlaki in Greece is always pork."
Milan says she has finally figured out how to tenderise octopus.
"Nationalities have different methods: The Spanish will put boiling water over (it), drain it off and refresh it with cold water three times, and then some cultures they just bash it against the rocks, and the Italians, I think they marinate it and they put a cork out of a wine bottle in, but this way, where you just wash the tentacles and put it in a baking tray lined with baking paper and seal the top really well, steam it virtually in the oven in its own juices for 45 minutes and it's just amazing."
Milan, who travelled to Greece with her late son, Blair, says Greek cuisine is very immediate and locals will sit down in family groups to enjoy it.
"What I love about Greek food is that it's very accessible and it's very affordable," she says.
"It's not elitist. You know, there's no foie gras or truffles and it's entirely seasonal and the thing is that everybody can eat it . . . even people who like their meat pink will still love a long slow-roasted lamb where it just falls off the bone, which is great."
Slow-roasted lamb is one of Milan's favourites, especially ribs seasoned with dried Greek oregano, lemon zest and olive oil. She is also a fan of baby squid with olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, while for dessert her choice is cheesecake with muscatels.
Aside from learning to tenderise octopus, Milan has also discovered a new way of cooking okra: deep-frying okra for two to three minutes in extra-virgin olive oil before placing it in a pan with fresh tomato sauce and then in the oven stops it from going slimy.
The Greeks will use extra-virgin olive oil for everything, she says.
The new season's oil is drizzled over salads and vegetables, while last year's is used for deep-frying.
While there, Milan also tasted cockerel for the first time and says to test the recipes for the book back in Australia she had to order it from the butcher.
Although Milan says there are 400,000 Australians of Greek descent, she believes Greek cuisine is underexposed, which is part of why she is attracted to it.
She also likes how simple it is, and says it doesn't require special equipment or techniques.
For the cookbook, Milan has included a mix of traditional recipes as well as those with her modern twist, such as swordfish souvlaki. Most of them are easy enough for home cooks to tackle, she says.
RECIPE: LYNDEY MILAN'S BABY OCTOPUS MARINATED IN HONEY Preparation and cooking time: 25 minutes + 1 hour marinating
Serve with a Greek salad or as part of a meze
Serves 4-6
1kg baby octopus
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1. To clean each octopus, use a small sharp knife and remove the head from the tentacles. Either discard the head or slit it open and remove the insides, then slice it in half. Remove the beak from the tentacles by pushing your index finger into the centre of the body. Rinse the octopus thoroughly then pat dry with paper towels.
2. Combine the octopus with the vinegar, honey and oil. Marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
3. To cook the octopus, preheat a barbecue flat plate or chargrill plate to very hot. Use tongs to remove the octopus from the marinade, shaking off the excess so the octopus is not too wet as it hits the barbecue plate.
4. Cook the octopus in small batches for 2-3 minutes, turning once, and then remove to a serving plate. Do not crowd the barbecue plate or the octopus will stew.
