You need tiny green almonds that are crunchy but tender —before their shells have started to harden. My marinade is sour-sweet (agro-dolce). inspired by the pickling-liquid Italians in Liguria use for their tiny unripe peaches, which look and taste very much like green almonds.
Most Greek women use fresh or home frozen grape leaves, and this makes all the difference. During our spring and early summer Keartisanal cooking classes we pick them from the garden. The leaves toughen as the days get hotter, though, so we use our home-frozen ones…
In a large bowl stir together the dry ingredients. In another bowl beat together the olive oil and orange juice. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and knead briefly to make a soft dough.
Heat about 1/2 inch olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onion slices and sauté for 3-4 minutes, to soften. Add the olives and sauté, stirring often, for about 5 minutes, or until puffed and shiny.
Following our tradition, I substituted fennel for the celery called for in the original recipe. I made it last year for the first time, and I loved both the spicy olives as well as the fragrant preserved lemon pieces that are a great addition to all kinds of winter salads.
Place 2-4 pounds ripe, black olives in a basket or large colander, sprinkling generously with coarse sea salt. Place in a cool corner of the kitchen, over a large bowl. 
Rinse the freshly picked green olives with cold water. On a flat surface, crack each fruit with a stone or a meat mallet and soak the olives in cold water for 6-8 days – depending on the size of the fruits — changing the water every 12 or 24 hours.
I tasted this simple but delicious meze in Mytilini, the capital of Lesbos, at the old ouzo bar Hermes, in the old market. This, as with all vegetable meze, is one of the first dishes brought to the table, according to the traditional ouzo ritual of Lesbos.
The recipe evolved from my mother’s rengosalata (smoked herring spread), the meze she always served on Kathari Deftera, when everybody else served taramosalata. Kathari Deftera (clean Monday) is the first of the forty-days Lent that preceed Greek Easter.
Greek Books
Out of print
Copyright Aglaia Kremezi 2008 | Interface Design by Defrost Design | web development by ds-creative.gr
Greek Books
Out of print
Copyright Aglaia Kremezi 2008 | Interface Design by Defrost Design | web development by ds-creative.gr