Recent Episodes

 

Dwight Furrow, the author of American Foodie: Taste, Art, and the Cultural Revolution, talks about the philosophy of food. We discuss everything the impact of everything from automobile to Alice Waters to the Slow Food movement have shaped the way Americans think about food.
 
 
 
 

 

Inbal Baum, the Founder of Delicious Israel, joins us to talk about where foodies should eat when they travel to her country.

• Shakshouka is a popular dish in Israel
• Israeli Breakfast is a distinct and important meal
• The modern cherry tomato has roots in Israel
• Tel Aviv and Jerusalem top the list of cities you should visit
• Beach season runs from April to October
• Rosh Hashana is a great time to visit Israel
• When you visit Tel Aviv, go to the Carmel Market, the Levinsky Market
• Try the date syrup, Silan

 

 

Food for Thought

• Q: After pita bread, what is the most common food used to “wipe” humus?
• A: Raw onion.

 
 

Out of the Frying Pan

• Favorite Spot for Outdoor Dining: Milgo & Milbar
• Favorite Place to Buy Spices: Cafe Arma in Levinsky Market
• Herbs to Try: Za’atar and Hawaij (in Yemenite Coffee)
• Favorite Winery: Sphera
• Favorite Place for Dessert: The Malabia
• Favorite Food Experience for Kids: Max Brenner
• Chef to Watch: Eyal Shani
• Dish to Try at Different Places: Shakshouka and sabich

Bennet Jacobstein, author of The Joy of Ballpark Food: From Hot Dogs to Haute Cuisine, talks to us about what foodies can find at different baseball stadiums around the country.

• Hot dogs and sausages are not the same thing.
• The quality of ballpark food was elevated in the 90s as new stadiums were built and food television shows took off.
• Stadiums have highlighted regional foods.
• Gordon Biersch‘s founder Dan Gordon introduced garlic fries at Candlestick Park in 1994.
• The song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was written in 1908.
• The Yankees replaced Cracker Jacks at one point, but brought it back after a public outcry.
• 

  San Francisco Giant Gordon Biersch Garlic Fries

  Veggie Happy spearheaded the movement to get veggie dogs sold at ballpark stadiums.

• Andrew Zimmern has a stand in the Minnesota ballpark.
• Rocky Mountain Oysters are bull testicles.
• “The Big Six” are the food companies that service the major ballparks.
• As you go from ballpark to ballpark, try the hot dogs at each to see how they’re done differently.
• Proceeds from Bennett’s book go to Second Harvest Food Bank.

 

Food for Thought

• Q: In what year were Cracker Jacks first served at a baseball game?
• A: 1896 in Atlantic City.

 

Out of the Frying Pan

Here’s what Bennet recommends you try at each ballpark:

• Yankees Stadium in New York City: Chicken and Waffles.
• Fenway Park in Boston: Lobster Roll and a cuban sandwich.
• Wrigley Field in Chicago: Chicago-style hot dog with Vienna beef.
• Turner Field in Atlanta: Boiled peanuts.
• Marlins Park in Miami: Cuban dishes.
• Safeco Field in Seattle: The Ivar’s hot dog (with fish) and cream cheese hot dog.
• Nationals Park in Washington D.C.: A cauliflower hot dog and presidential cupcakes.
• 

  Chicago White Sox Chicago-Style Hot Dog

  Busch Stadium in St. Louis: The BBQ.

• Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles: Tommy Lasorda Spumoni ice cream.
• AT&T Park in San Francisco: Crab salad, lamb sausages, and Gordon Biersch garlic fries.

Try a Food Tour

Our walking food tour combines tasty food tasting, food history, politics, and culture.
It begins with a light breakfast and unforgettable Cretan beverage. Since Arabs, Jews, Venetians, Ottomans, Greeks from Asia Minor, and immigrants have passed through Chania, adding their flavors to the local cuisine, we will follow their trail. We will experience a multi-sensory food event and delectable delicacies from one-of-a-kind specialty food shops while enjoying the opportunity to better understand the culinary history of the city and how the locals eat.

Our walk ends with a dive into the distant past. We will visit the archaeological museum of Chania to view selected cooking vessels and to experience them more in depth as one would taste exquisite old wine. We will then visit either a ceramic workshop, where we will have a chance to enjoy a short lesson in ancient cooking or a local taverna and we will be treated to home-baked bread, made according to ancient baking method- and other fine delicacies of historic Cretan gastronomy.

More in this Country

Greece in general and Crete in particular are very much a food culture. Our lives greatest moments, whether good or bad, whether joyful or with sorrow, are very much linked or accompanied with food. The otherwise typical question: “what did you eat today?” is not one with dialogical curiosity, but rather one that aims in sharing an important event of the day. The answer that follows is not given with a simple verbal answer, but rather with a series of non-verbal cues such as the rubbing of your belly, the shake of the hand as an exclamation mark, or even the sour expression of the face in order to underline the pleasure, or disappointment that came along with its consumption.
 
Greek people see food as a partner, as medicine, as indicator of knowledge, prosperity or even ability and talent. Every mother is chef with a specialty and a group of friends always knows whose mother cooks what the best. Among the several regional cuisines of Greece, there has been a lot of conversation recently about Cretan cuisine, its health benefits, rich and vivid flavors and simplicity of execution.
 
But not many visitors are aware though that Crete is a culinary heaven for vegetarians. Culinary traditions and typical Cretan flavors are developed around mountain flavors. Despite the fact that Crete is an island, historical and cultural events, have affected the development of local flavors in simple, mountainous, seasonal flavors with the presence of meat kept to the minimal. Besides animals were mostly used for work, or their by products such as milk, wool and so on.
 
Thus meat consumption was a three times a month (mostly Sundays) event. So in case you are Taste Trekking on the island here is a list of suggestions that will catch you by surprise for their simplicity yet richness of flavors. An important note to keep in mind is that these types of dishes are not served in special Vegetarian restaurants. They are available depending on the season almost in every restaurant you will be Taste-Trekking.
 

1. Golden Thistle With Artichokes (Askolibri me Agginares)

The Latin name for Golden Thistle is Scolymus Hispanicus and it is a very important nutritious source of organic acids, metals and vitamins. In Crete it is a very popular dish as it combines together with artichokes. Cleaned from its thorns it is simply put for boil with the artichokes.
 
It is served together with the addition of extra virgin olive oil, lemon and salt. For those vegetarians eating eggs, its preparation with the addition of an egg lemon sauce (avgolemono) will make it simply divine. In either case this is a flavorful, saucy, rich dish oozing health and nature!
 

2. Stamnagathi with Feta and Tomatoes

Chicorium Spinosum is the scientific name, but Stamnagathi is how you will find it in Crete. This very interesting wild green grows on hills which are not far from the sea and as the Latin name might imply it is some sort (but not really) of chicory. Some argue it is a great product against liver or kidney problems. All we say with certainty is that if you boil it a little, and then throw it on a hot pan with the addition of tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), feta cheese and olive oil the result is simply phenomenal.
 
Stamnagathi has a natural slight bitter flavor so the addition of tomatoes and feta balance it out. You will often find it simply boiled or even raw in salads. Regardless do not hesitate to try it. Nowadays it is available in almost every restaurant or similar culinary corner of the island.
 

3. Chickpeas- Revithia

It is undeniable that this particular type of pulse is popular on other parts of the world. However in Crete it is prepared in several different ways which will definitely will not disappoint neither vegans nor vegetarians. Chickpeas have been eaten in Crete for millennia.
 
Even today, on summer months, you can find people selling semi-dried branches with the chickpeas still attached on them. You only need to cut and eat them. But if you are not up for the all natural tasting then surely you will appreciate the flavors that come as chickpeas combine with a lemon and flour sauce either oven baked, or, casserole.
 
If you are afraid the flour might feel a little heavy then go for the tomato sauce. Regardless of what you pick a good revithada will definitely make you content and pay off as a delicious alternative of protein source.
 

4. Stuffed Tomatoes (Gemista)

Tomatoes during summer are on their peak. They are juicy and flavorful with great aroma. Stuffing tomatoes with different vegetables and rice is a common practice in Greece. In Crete however they use to stuff them with barley. This alteration gives a more intense and rich flavor which brings the characteristics of each vegetable added in the mix in a nice balance.
 
Zucchinis, onions, egg plants, carrots, but also, peppermint, dill and parsley combine with barley to elevate flavors and bring summer on your plate. Eaten as both cold and warm dish the ideal companion is a scoop of Greek yogurt. Important to note is that you can find Gemista with other vegetables also such as eggplant, zucchinis and red or green peppers.
 

5. Broad Beans Pure (Koukofava)

Broad beans, or Koykia as known in Greece belongs to the family of pulses and it is a product prepared in various different ways. Most common and amongst the favorite ways of preparing koukia in Crete is boiled then mashed, served with onion, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper. This dish is called koukofava and it is served on the island for centuries.
 
Simplicity of cooking meets purity of products in a dish that every flavor is clear and straight forward. Bear in mind that in Crete it is not advised to combine this product with any type of cheese. It is believed there is some connection with the lack of enzyme (G-6-PD) responsible for the processing certain carbohydrates into energy. If you know you are good to go then do not miss the chance to try this recipe. Simple food, simple executions, incredible flavors.
 

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About Georgios Maltezakis

Georgios Maltezakis works as a Sales and Operations Manager for Cretan Paths Alternative Tourism. He is also specializing on culinary tourism programs. He has publications in colaboration with proufound academics on food matters, such as Ken Albala, as well as, culinary tourism specialists like Erik Wolf. Finally he is one of the Ambassadors of the World Food Travel Association in Greece.

This is the second of a three-part series on Greek cuisine by Christopher Bakken, author of Honey, Olives, Octopus: Adventures at the Greek Table. View part 1 here.
 

Volos, Greece: Tsipouradiko Dionysis

Argonoton 3, Volos, Greece.  Tel: (011 30) 24210 22205
 
The drive from Athens to Thessaloniki takes one through the heart of Thessaly—the bread-basket of Greece, with its wide and fertile plains.  Thanks to the superhighway now connecting Greece’s two largest cities, you can complete the whole journey in around six hours, though I heartily recommend breaking the trip in half with a stop in Volos, a lovely port city with an underappreciated culinary reputation.  Very appealing, busy restaurants line the harbor front.
 
My favorite of these is the always impeccable Tsipouradiko Dionysis, where you can dine just feet away from the water and watch the sailboats and fishing caiques bob up and down in their narrow slips.  Poetically, the restaurant is located on “Argonoton,” or Argounat Street.  Indeed, once upon a time, Jason and his men, the Argonauts, sailed from ancient Volos in search of the Golden Fleece.
 
Since 1956, Tsipouradiko Dionysis has specialized in the ritual of the “tsipouro meze” as it is practiced in Volos.  Tsipouro is the home-made ouzo of Thessaly and northern Greece.  It is somewhat higher in alcohol than Cretan raki and is usually made with anise and other botanicals.  In Volos, your tsipouro arrives in tiny bottles (each holds a single shot) and your mesimeriano is not over until your table is littered with them.  The tradition in Volos is to order nothing but tsipouro.  A meze (singular) automatically arrives to accompany each miniature bottle you order and the mezedes (plural) become more complicated, satisfying and delicious the more bottles you order.
 

RELATED: Top Five Dishes Travelers Should Eat in Crete

 

It was a pity that I arrived at Dionysis alone when I ate there in June, because I would have liked to try everything on their menu.  I was fed beautifully nevertheless.  Alongside my first tiny bottle of tsipouro came a plate of pickled vegetables (peppers, carrots, and cauliflower) and a smear of their patatasalata (potato salad): bright yellow potatoes mashed with carrot, lemon, and parsley.  With the second bottle arrived a plate of lightly grilled pleurotus (oyster) mushrooms, drizzled with good oil.  Then, a salad of boiled beets and their greens tossed with garlic and oil.
 
I should have stopped there, since it’s easy to make a completely satisfying vegetarian meal out of mezes.  But when a plate of grilled octopus passed by en route to another table I decided to order a third little tsipouro. The octopus leg that came with it had been boiled until very, very tender and then kissed with some fire and sliced on the bias before it received a splash of simple red vinegar and parsley.  Octopus and tsipouro are made for one another: the anise in the spirit is a perfect foil for the wisps of smoke and char and the rich marine flesh.
 
By that point, my culinary enthusiasm was obvious and I struck up a conversation with the waiter about the kinds of fish being pulled into the Volos harbor that week.  When he mentioned that they’d just received a lovely bunch of koutsoumoura from off the Pelion Peninsula, I swooned.  Koutsoumoura are the smaller cousins of barbounia, or red mullet, and I am obsessed with both fish in the summertime.  Both fish turn bright red when they are fried and their flesh is as sweet as lobster.
 

RELATED: Sample Christopher Bakken’s Book on Greek Cuisine

 
By that point I had asked for the bill, expecting the restaurant would offer me a parting gift of fresh fruit or a little something sweet.  Instead, the waiter returned with one more little bottle of tsipouro (“our gift,” he said with a wink) and a few perfectly crisp koutsoumoura on a plate.  I doused them with lemon and ate every bite of that dessert, from head to tail.
 

 
This is part two of three. View part 1 here.

This is the third of a three-part series on Greek cuisine by Christopher Bakken, author of Honey, Olives, Octopus: Adventures at the Greek Table.View part 1 here and part 2 here.

Thessaloniki, Greece: Ouzeri Agora

5 Kapodistriou Str. Thessaloniki. Tel: (011 30) 2310 532 428

Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki, offers the best casual urban dining of anywhere in Greece. Everyone admits this, even Athenians. Nowhere in Greece is there a more dazzling variety of mezedes, in part because of Thessaloniki’s geographical advantages. It is surrounded by fertile farmland: some of the best beans, grain, grapes, vegetables, and table olives in all of Greece are grown in Macedonia and on the nearby Halkidiki peninsula. Since Thessaloniki is the only major port connecting the Balkans to the Aegean, for hundreds of years such agricultural products have passed through the city on their way to markets elsewhere. Of course, Thessaloniki also hugs the Thermaikos Gulf, with its views of Mt. Olympus and its abundance of seafood. So the city’s chefs are working with the best of both land and sea.

I have so many favorite lunch-time places in Thessaloniki. There’s the famous Myrovolos Smyrni, tucked into the old Jewish market (32 Komninon St.) and also Ouzeri Aristotelous in a beautiful Art Deco arcade just off the quay on Thessaloniki’s main square (8 Aristotelous).   But my latest mesimeriano obsession is Ouzeri Agora, in the Valaoritou district. When I lived in Thessaloniki twenty years ago, this was the city’s more or less abandoned garment district. Now the alleys are packed with funky bars, gastropubs, and hangouts for the thousands of hip university students who make Thessaloniki their home.

RELATED: Top 5 Dishes to Try in Crete

 

It’s surely worth opening your wallet for an opulent night-time meal at Ouzeri Agora. The service is impeccable (ask for Manolis) and the food is exquisite.   But I like visiting in the afternoon: just off the main dining room is a small bar where you can order half portions of their menu items along with daily specials.

Nikos, the completely charming chef and bartender, has his impeccable mise en place ready to go by noon and he prepares many of the dishes to order, right before your eyes. Whether your order draft beer (they were pouring ice cold ALFA, one of Greece’s top breweries, when I was there in July), Cretan raki (without anise) or Macedonian tsipouro (strong and sweet with anise), Nikos will not allow your glass to be empty more than a few seconds. A chalkboard lists the daily offerings, but it’s best to just let Nikos feed you.

My favorite dishes, during the five or six mesimeriana I enjoyed there last month, included an outstanding cuttlefish dish. The cuttlefish were braised with spinach in white wine until very tender and almost sweet next to the rich and salty spinach.   Agora’s grilled octopus was perfect too, though even better was an octopus stifado I ate one day.   Usually stifado is a preparation for red meat or wild game, especially rabbit: it’s one of those slow-cooked braises meant to spend all day in the wood oven, redolent of allspice, tomato, wine, and bay leaf. I’d never heard of an octopus stifado—and I think the chef at Agora probably made it up on a whim. If so, brilliant. The sweetness brought to the seafood by the allspice and tomato created a marine gravy so perfect I could have forgotten about the octopus itself, which was of course perfectly tender and delicious.

Nikos composes beautiful salads, often adding a capricious few bites of hot pepper to keep diners on their toes (and to keep up their thirst), and he keeps a nice selection of Greek cheeses on hand, including Cretan Graviera and the haloumi of Cyprus, which arrives just off the grill with an attendant lemon.

Atop all these beautiful meze, one dish stood out. One afternoon, the chef emerged from the kitchen with a beautifully roasted cut of meat in a huge chafing dish. I leaped from my bar stool to get a closer look. He had slathered a quarter pork belly with garlic and herbs and then slow roasted it, rendering almost all the fat and leaving it impossibly tender. The Greeks call this “pancetta” (which the Italians call the same cut when it is cured) and too often it is grilled into fatty submission. Nikos saw me drooling and rewarded my enthusiasm with two massive slices, which barely fit on my plate. He sprinkled them with oregano and cracked red pepper and slid them my way along with a lemon he’d whacked in half.

I am only slightly embarrassed that I finished the entire plate, even though I’d already eaten an embarrassing amount of food. By that point, a table of businessmen at the end of the bar began singing a song by Nikos Papazoglou, one of Thessaloniki’s great songwriters, and within moments almost all the other very well-fed diners along the bar joined in. Nikos just smiled, turning back to the saffron risotto he was preparing, yet another dish he’d use to cajole us into staying for another round.

More Places to Try

 

Here are a few other places worth traveling for. All are sure to satisfy your mid-day hunger.

Athens, Greece. Di Porta

Located on the corner of Theatrou and Sokratous Streets at one far end of the Athens central vegetable and fish market, the seedy “Di Porta” has no sign. Locals just know where it is. Look around at the intersection and you’ll find a mysterious set of stairs leading down into a cool basement where you are served whatever they are cooking that day, along with tin carafes of ice cold retsina.   Don’t expect to find a written menu. Your bill will be scribbled right on the table when you are done.

Athens, Mezedopolio I Kali Zoi

12 Thiseiou Street.
Tel: (011 30) 210 321 6733

Tucked behind a green space in the busy Thiseiou strip of restaurants and cafes, “I Kali Zoi” (i.e. “The Good Life”) has an excellent selections of mezedes. Especially good are their zucchini croquettes, fried eggplant, and keftedakia (meatballs seasoned with garlic and mint). They pour both raki and tsipouro. Best of all, by mid-afternoon (and again late at night), they have live rembetika music and a sometimes boisterous crowd gathers there to sing along with the musicians.

Plaka Beach, Naxos: Ta Tria Aderfia (“Three Brothers”)

Tel: (011 30) 22850 42777

This excellent seafood restaurant on Plaka Beach is the perfect place to break up your day at the sea. Ask to go into the kitchen to see the fish, all of which is fresh off the boat. They boast a great selection of salads, appetizers, and wines. The owner is a potato farmer and when you taste his potatoes you’ll find out why the potatoes of Naxos are some of the best on the planet.

Panormo, Crete: Psarotaverna Agyra

Tel: (011 30) 28340 51022

If you are driving along the northern coast of Crete between Rethymnon and Chania, stop for a leisurely lunch beside the calm cove of Panormo. Wonderful melitzanasalata (eggplant spread), and very fresh seafood. Ask for Costas. His raki is outstanding.

 

Ageliana (Rethymnon), Crete: Dalabelos Estate

Tel: (011 30) 283 402 2155

Dalabelos is the most progressive agritourism gig on all of Crete. Call in advance to arrange to have lunch, but be forewarned: you’ll probably end up wishing you could stay for a week (they rent beautiful cottages with views of olive groves, vineyards and the Mediterranean on the horizon). The dishes they serve are perfectly Cretan and most of it comes from their own orchards, gardens, and flocks (they raise their own lamb, goat, and rabbit). Dalabelos pours excellent raki, but be sure to try their locally-sourced organic wines. If you are lucky, the owners (Vassilis and Yiorgos Petrodaskalakis) will break out their instruments—including lute, mandolin, and bouzouki—and fill the valley with music.

Alyki, Thasos: Restaurant Archodissa

Tel: (011 30) 259 303 1552

If you have a chance to dip into my book, Honey, Olives, Octopus, you’ll know my feelings about Archodissa, where the Kouzis family offers beautiful food in a beautiful setting. Their balcony overlooks three pristine lagoons, an archeological site, and a Roman marble quarry. The food is almost exclusively local: Stamatis Kouzis brings in fresh fish every day from his caique, the Evanthoula; they make their own olive oil and wine; and they raise chicken, sheep and goats; and they have a wood oven in which they make their own bread as well as a variety of simple, traditional dishes. Their revithia (chickpeas cooked with onions and rosemary) and gigantes (giant white beans) and slow-roasted lamb shanks are especially good. There’s always something interesting and hilarious happening in the afternoon at Archodissa, thanks to the excellent tsipouro the family makes, and thanks to the indefatigable charisma of Tasos Kouzis.   One mesimeriano there will likely change your life.

This is part 3 of 3: View part 1 here and part 2 here.