In the kitchen with Evi

Private Athens food tours & Greek cooking class in Athens

These days, with everyone worried about packing light and lighter – what better souvenir to bring back and share with your friends than the ability to create a fabulous Greek feast?

Your afternoon begins with a visit to our neighborhood “laiki agora”.

Just a few minutes by foot from the kitchen, the streets are blocked off and the local and not so local farmers and resellers come to our neighborhood to sell their goods. All the produce is fresh. Everything from fresh flowers, eggs, olives, tomatoes from Marathon, potatoes from Tripolis and honey from Attica. The strawberries (when they are in season!) are bright red, smaller than the variety we are used to in the States, about the size of your thumb, ripe and fragrant. They are heaped in a pile and the seller uses a dustpan to put them in the paper bag so as not to bruise them. The lively exchange amongst the sellers, the constant banter about the soccer teams, about who has the best quality produce, sounding off the prices. “Oranges for babies” yells one, “so good the mother keeps it all to herself and does not give any to her baby” yells another, “I knife everything” yells the watermelon guy – meaning he is so sure his melons are good he is willing to cut you a slice to taste before you buy, keeps the market humming. Women with overladened upright folding shopping carts weave their way through the crowd stopping, examining the goods before they put them in their basket. You will not find tomatoes in the wintertime and you will not find apples in the summer. When they are in season though, you will find the best. Oranges are picked with a bit of branch and leaves so you can see how fresh they are.

The olive guy will let you taste any of his 2 dozen varieties of olives before you buy.

Evi knows what is in season and can pick out the best. She will tell you which are the eggplants for stuffing and which are for mousaka. You will see plump eggplants and skinny ones, white ones from Santorini and purple ones from Peloponessos.

On your way back you will stop at the local “kava”, the liquor/wine store and pick a couple of wines to go with your meal. Evi will tell you about the varietals and let you taste before you buy. Ladenned down with your vegetables, fruit and wine you will make your way back to the kitchen where you’ll roll up your sleeves and learn how to turn today’s laiki finds into the perfect Greek feast.

Greek food is surprisingly simple. The balance between the herbs and spices and the proper execution make all the difference. It is amazing what a wonderful salad a ripe tomato, a crisp cucumber, a little thinly sliced onion, a pinch of good mountain oregano, a drizzle of virgin Greek olive oil can make. Mix it, let the flavors blend together, dip a bit of fresh crusty bread in the olive oil and you will be in heaven!

Evi talks, she loves to talk, she will tell you stories about the food, about the flavors, about the history and the way her mom and her grandmother made the dishes.

All the time her hands (and yours!) are working… creating… cooking … guiding you in what to do and how to cut. The aroma from the oven leaves you anxious with anticipation, your stomach growls a bit as you slice tomatoes for your village salad. Worry not, Evi often arrives armed with special treats to nibble as you prepared: cheeses from non commercial cheese makers, smoked sausage from Crete … olives from Thassos … anything from anyplace is possible.
Just as you think you are done, she will start preparing dessert. Her passion is desserts. Evi does it all with such ease… like a ballerina, dancing the most impossible dance and making it look effortless.

And though your dinner will eventually come to an end as Evi bids you farewell, fret not:

There are always leftovers.

Evi Papadopoulos is an accomplished chef, writer for the daily newspaper Eleftherotypia, she was featured on Chef on Air.