See José Andrés’ Athens list. 

We had compiled quite a few suggestions, but José surprised me when he chose Birdman, the Japanese-inspired Pub, for his fist afternoon bites and drinks in Athens. I had proposed we try a few cocktails there later in the night, since it was already past four, but this didn’t stop José from ordering most of the truly wonderful seafood and meat bites chef Ari Vezenes cooks on live fire. He loved the chicken liver and heart, even the Iberico Katsu that I was afraid would not meet his high standards…

* * *

Dinner was at Bobena fish tavern in Kesariani, arranged by avgotaraho producer Zafiris Trikalinos, ‘one of the world’s most incredible delicacies,’ according to José who could not stop eating it, especially freshly cured as we had it in various dishes throughout our meals. Fortunately, Tikalinos Avgotaraho is available in the US and ideal for a precious Valentine’s meal.

The taramosalata with avgotaraho was as I remember it from my early childhood when this iconic Lenten meze was prepared with this precious Greek fish roe –before cheap cod-roe from Norway and Iceland became available. We We also had linguine with avgotaraho, and loved the two kinds of home-baked breads, and the delicious sea-urchins from Chanea, Crete. The chef chopped and served us his incredible slow-roasted eggplant salad, and José created his avgotaraho-sprinkled olive-oil-fried eggs, as well as a sweet version of meringue lightly sprinkled with avgotaraho…

Before our visit to the Central Market the next morning, we stopped for coffee at Mokka, the usual coffee spot. Besides the traditional Greek/Turkish coffee prepared on hot sand, Jose tried the  cold brew which he loved. And we were surprised when visitors commented that these days Athenian cafés serve some of the best coffee in Europe.

January is a particularly good time for fish in Greece, and José was enchanted to find live karavides (langoustines) sold at a price that to me seemed exorbitant, but apparently it was considerably less than Spain or the US. He bought quite a few, and, at the newly established Hasapika restaurant in the Market, he proceeded to cook them for us full of joy! It is obvious that cooking is his favorite job and he misses it now that he is involved with World Central Kitchen and so many other things that keep him away from the kitchen. He simply boiled the langoustines in ‘water heavily salted similar to the sea,’  then peeled them and offered us sublime bites. He then braised some with olive oil and lemon, and fried eggs in their delicious sauce! For me this was one of the most memorable meals I ever had!

We then had a brief tasting at the humble Diporto, the old tavern José remembered from his previous visit, 20 years ago. Even after those incredible langoustines, the beans, chickpeas and fava still tasted wonderful, José exclaimed, as he was eager to be photographed with Mitsos, the old, tireless cook.

* * *

It was a pleasant, not too cold afternoon, and José and Tichi decided to visit the Parthenon. Then we all met at Pharaoh, the much talked-about new restaurant which has become the young Athenians’ favorite, but it is unfortunately small which makes it particularly hard to get a reservation.

Chef Manolis Papoutsakis’ homey dishes may not have included much avgotaraho, but José loved them, while chef Michael Costa besides the food enjoyed the jazz music, well-chosen by the DJ who plays old vinyl records on the turntable. We enjoyed the chestnuts stifado, with pearl onions and warm spices, a dish from the mountains of Crete, and José loved the humble rice with cabbage and leeks, and the rare monkfish avgolemono with ascolymvrous –the thorn particularly loved in Crete. The slow-cooked zygouri (1-2 year old lamb) risotto was exceptional, as was the lamb, and rabbit. As for the long wine list, it included some new Greek natural wines, along with an eclectic selection of international labels.

José, along with everybody else, were delighted and he immediately posted on his Instagram: “Amazing NEO Taverna, celebrating the traditional dishes of Greece with touches of Crete island in a cool place, with awesome food and unique Greek wines with many indigenous grapes and awesome music.”

* * *

Next morning I took chef Mickael Costa to Stani, the old loukoumades (fried dough-puff) and dairy shop, where my father used to take me and my sister when we were kids. It still makes THE best traditional, crunchy loukoumades in Athens.

On our way back, at a busy sidewalk we came upon a lady selling exquisite wild greens, in neat clean bunches: nettles, vrouves (white mustard shoots), mallow, chicory, sorrel, wild arugula. 

* * *

At Ergon Market we tried the freshly-grilled, sourdough Greek pita –very different from the crunchy-airy Zaytinya pita—which was drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with oregano and served with black, squid-ink taramosalata, which looked more impressive than it tasted. The lamb hunkiar, with mashed eggplant, and the shrimp saganaki were more interesting.

Nolan, star chef Sotiris Kontizas’ acclaimed small restaurant combining Japanese and Greek traditions, is always full. We only managed to get an outside table, braving the chill with portable heaters. We enjoyed zucchini and smoked eggplant salad with miso vinaigrette, raw shrimp and tuna in crunchy rice paper, and unusual fried chicken bites, among other dishes.

The last Athenian dinner for José and the team was at Kookoovaya, again lavishly arranged by Zafiris Trikalinos. He brought copious amounts of avgotaraho, which chef Periklis Koskinas served in various starters, mostly pairing it with morsels of  raw fish. I particularly loved the sea bream topped with blood orange slices and avgotaraho, but also the less sumptuous paper-thin fried zucchini and his rif on the traditional greens’ pie he simply accompanies with thick yogurt. 

Jose had a long discussion with the chef, and obviously would have loved to be able to get his hands on some of the exquisite fish the restaurant uses, but it was late and the kitchen was busy cooking for a large group of people…

Thinking back on my days with José in Athens, I would love to arrange for him to cook along with some of the chefs whose dishes he tasted. I only hope that he will soon return to Athens, which he characterized as a very interesting European food scene. Maybe he would also visit Crete and the north of Greece to sample wines and try his hand with our fish, vegetables, and meat, as it is more than obvious that the great José Andrés is certainly happier in the kitchen, cooking and creating for his friends and customers…

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Her recipe, the very first I encountered of roasted cabbage wedges –many have been published since– inspired me to try my version.

I omitted the anchovies and parmesan, but added both soy and fish sauce, as well as a large pinch of my favorite hot Florina smoked pepper, along with plenty of rosemary, which I think complements beautifully this Asian-Mediterranean roasted cabbage.  Costas and I loved it, and we make it quite regularly these days.

It accompanies beautifully any kind of meat or chicken, but we also eat it with the wonderful olive-oil-fried eggs from our neighbor’s hens, and feta cheese.

Serves 3- 4 

1 medium head green cabbage (1 ½ kilo, about 3 pounds)

½ cup fruity olive oil, plus more to drizzle at the end

¼  cup soy sauce

2  tablespoons fish sauce

3-4 garlic cloves, finely grated, or passed through a garlic press

2 teaspoons piperokama or any good smoked, hot pepper

¼ cup rosemary leaves, and more sprigs to serve

Freshly ground black pepper, as needed

½ cup whole wheat breadcrumbs, or chopped walnuts or other nuts, such as almonds or hazelnuts

Heat oven to 450 F (230 C).

Cut the cabbage in quarters lengthwise through the core, then cut out the cores and stem. Slice the quarters lengthwise into about 1½-inch-thick (3,5 cm) wedges.

Place the wedges on a rimmed sheet pan, lined with parchment paper, flat sides down. It’s OK if the pan seems a bit crowded; the wedges will shrink as they roast but try not to overlap much, if possible. Lightly drizzle them with oil.

In a small bowl, combine the soy and fish sauces, the garlic, the smoked pepper and the rosemary leaves. Add about ½ cup olive oil and stir to mix. Massage this mixture into each cabbage wedge, making sure it goes in-between the leaves.

Roast until cabbage is lightly browned in spots, about 20 minutes. Spritz with water, nd contilue roasting another 10 minutes, until the cabbage is tender and caramelized. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and roast another 10 minutes, then remove from the oven, drizzle with a bit more olive oil, sprinkle with some black pepper and serve immediately or let cool and serve at room temperature.

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I originally wrote and posted this seven years ago, as I was going through my first-grade school book published right after the Second World War. In it there was a description of fassoláda (bean soup), which was often referred to as ‘the Greek national dish’ in the old days. Surprisingly, the version in my book had no tomato! I was shocked, as fassoláda is always made with tomatoes as far as I can remember, but probably in those days canned tomatoes as well as tomato paste were not yet a common ingredient in all households. See also how the kitchen and stove looked in most parts of the country the 1950ies…

My revised recipe below is flavored with the wonderful Piperokama, the dried, smoked, hot peppers of Florina that our friend Naoumidis prepares.  I am told that it will be soon available in the US, as are his other deeply flavored roasted peppers which you can order  HERE and also HERE. 

We love to eat fassolàda with feta cheese, but also with canned sardines in olive oil or any smoked fish.

A simple bowl of olives, and/or taramosalata is the custom during the days of Lent, preceding Christmas.

Serves 4-6

2 cups dried white beans, like cannelini, soaked overnight in water and drained, or 4 cups pre-cooked beans

2/3 cup olive oil

2 small onions, halved and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

4 large garlic cloves, sliced

2 tablespoons (70 grams) tomato paste

3 medium-small carrots, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

One 16-ounce can diced tomatoes with their juice or 2 cups grated ripe tomatoes 

1 tablespoon turmeric

Peel from half an orange, in 2 strips or 2-3 pieces preserved lemon, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

2 teaspoons Piperokama, or Maraş (Aleppo) pepper, or crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

2 cups coarsely chopped celery, preferably ‘wild’ (see note)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle

Fleur de sel, preferably from Kythera, to sprinkle

1 lemon, quartered, to serve (optional)

Place the beans in a large pot and cover with plenty of water, about 3-4 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Drain, discarding the cooking water. If you use pre-cooked beans omit this step.

In the pot warm the olive oil, add the sliced onion and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic, sauté one minute more then add the tomato paste and stir a few seconds. Add the peas, if you use them, along with the carrots and the precooked beans. Toss a few times and add the tomatoes, turmeric, orange peel, salt, Maraş pepper, celery, and 2 cups water.

Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, adding water as needed, until the beans are very tender, almost mushy. Add the mustard, taste and adjust the seasoning. Simmer for 5 minutes more, until the beans are just covered with broth.

Remove from the heat and serve, drizzling with extra-virgin olive oil.

Pass the lemon quarters so people can add a fresh, bright squeeze at the table, and also pass Piperokama or Maraş pepper, as well as good Fleur de sel, we use the one from Antheas, so diners can sprinkle more over the beans.

NOTE:

If you use common celery add an extra 1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley with the mustard toward the end of cooking.
The leaf or‘wild’ celery commonly used in Europe is strongly aromatic and looks like oversized flat leaf parsley. You can easily grow it in your garden or in pots. It is very different from American celery, which has long crunchy stalks, and wild celery is never eaten raw.
You can get leaf or ‘wild’ celery in Asian markets under the name kun choi or kin tsai. When you find it, buy it in quantity, wash it, coarsely chop it and keep it in zip-log bags in the freezer to use as needed. Unlike common celery, it does not keep long in the refrigerator.

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The tanginess of yogurt accentuated by the crumbled feta beautifully complement the sweetness of the broccoli and the peppers.

Serves 5-6: 12X9-inch (30X20cm) glass casserole

About 1 ½ pounds (750 grams) broccoli: pare the hard stems, discarding only the very hard parts, separating the tender florets. Wash under running water in a colander and drain.

2/3 cup olive oil

1  large or 2 small red bell peppers, seeded and cut into somewhat thin strips (about 1 cup pieces)

4  cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

½  cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs

YOGURT SAUCE

1 ¼  cup full fat yogurt, not strained (Greek)

1 ½  cups full fat milk

¼  cup olive oil

4  tablespoons all-purpose flour

400  grams crumbled feta –about 1 2/3 cup

3  medium eggs

1  teaspoon or more smoked red pepper flakes

TOPPING

3  tablespoons grated kefalotyri or pecorino cheese

Pinch red pepper flakes

Preheat the oven to 350F (180 C).

In a pot of boiling water, add 1 tablespoon salt, and the harder broccoli stems and cook for about 10 minutes, before adding the florets and cooking them until easily pierced with a knife. Alternatively arrange the stems in a basket or colander that can be fitted over a pot (or a steamer, if you have one), and steam for about 15 minutes, then add the florets and steam until tender.  

Drain the cooked broccoli and chop the stems and florets into about ½-inch pieces.

In a skillet add half the olive oil and sauté the peppers for 10-15 minutes, until soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  

Add the garlic to the hot oil and stir a couple of times –don’t let it color. Add the Broccoli pieces and stir a few times then remove from the heat.

Pour the rest of the olive oil to the baking pan and spread the breadcrumbs, stirring to coat then with oil. Set aside.

Make the sauce: In a bowl add the yogurt and the milk and stir to mix.

In a saucepan warm the olive oil with the flour, on medium-high heat, stirring with a whisk, and cook until well frothy, about 4-5 minutes. Pour in the yogurt mixture and cook stirring until it thickens and starts to boil.

Remove from the heat and stir in the feta and eggs, mixing them well. Add the smoked pepper flakes, stir, and keep 1 cup of the sauce for topping. To the rest of the sauce add the sauteed peppers and the broccoli and toss to mix. Taste and add pepper and salt, to taste.  

Carefully spread this mixture on the oiled breadcrumbs, in the pan, being carful not to mix the broccoli with the crumbs that should stay at the bottom. Even the mixture with a spoon or spatula, then pour over the reserved yogurt sauce, spreading it all over. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and with some red pepper flakes and set on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper, before placing in the middle of the oven.

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until well browned on top and bubbly. Let cool for 10-20 minutes before serving.  

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Fuji are grown in Greece the last few years and they are by far the best –and more expensive.  For this simple, plant-based (vegan) dessert I loosely follow my mothers recipe.

Unlike northern Europeans and Americans we don’t add butter to baked apples. I would serve these as dessert, but I know that some people would like to compliment game, poultry or hearty winter meats with baked apples.  

6-7 Servings

6-7 Fuji, or other firm-fleshed apples

4-5 dried figs

1 cup fig jam, or quince preserves

1/2 cup walnuts peeled

1 cup mixed sultanas and currants

2 pieces cinnamon stick, cut in half

½ -1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 – 1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 cup or more Commandaria, Mavrodafni, Masala or other sweet wine, as needed

A good sprinkle of Mishmish spice mix (optional)

Honey or Maple syrup for drizzling

Plain Halva for serving, optional

Heat the oven to 392F (200 C).

With an apple corer, remove the pits from the apples.  With a peeler remove most of the skin in a spiral all around the fruit. Place in a pan that holds them snugly.

Cut the stem from the dried figs and quarter them. Place a piece of fig in the hole of each pitted apple, along with some of the jam, and squeeze in some currents and/of sultanas.

Spread the rest of the dried fruit, the jam, and the walnuts around the apples in the pan, and scatter the pieces of cinnamon. Sprinkle with the spices and douse the apples and all around them with the wine that should come to about half up the fruits. 

Bake for about 1 hour, dousing every now and then the apples with the juices from the pan.

 When they soften, turn off the heat and leave them in the oven for 15 minutes, keeping the oven door ajar.

Take out of the oven and pour again juices from the pan over the apples, then sprinkle generously with Mishmish, if using. Drizzlingthe fruit with some honey or maple syrup, if you like the apples sweeter. Cover with foil and let cool completely before serving. They taste better the next day and their flavor improves the next 2-3 days. They keep at least ten days, covered in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Accompany with halva, or if you are not vegan, with Greek manouri cheese or mastic ice cream.

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It is the traditional one-pot Christmas dish on Rhodes and other Dodecanese islands. Christmas in the Greek islands is not the big feast celebrated in the United States or northern Europe: Easter and the Virgin Mary’s Assumption (August 15) are the important island festivals.

The addition of ginger and a piece of lemon peel is my twist on the basic recipe I got from my mother. I think their flavor and aroma deepens the broth’s taste. I prefer making the soup lighter, with vermicelli instead of rice, or even plain — just the broth and pieces of chicken. In that case you may want to add one more egg if you want to make it thicker, creamier.

Sometimes instead of chicken meat,  meatballs such as the Scallion Meatballs,  are cooked in a chicken or meat avgolemono  soup.  

Until the late 1960s, chicken was considered a great delicacy on the islands. It was the most expensive of all meats and, except for important feasts, it was usually reserved for children and the sick as the lighter of all meats.  The free-range chickens or capons of Greece need a long time to cook, and even then, their flesh can sometimes be tough and stringy. But they make the most delicious soup or youvetsi.

Instead of chicken you can make the soup with de-fatted broth from beef bones or make an exquisite fish soup (psarosoupa) boiling down fish heads, bones, and small fish. I try to always have various homemade stocks in my freezer so that I can make not just soups, but flavor risotto and all kinds of sauces.  

 Makes 6 to 8 servings as a first course, about 4 to 5 as a main course 

1            3-to-4-pound free-range chicken, quartered, plus 3 pounds chicken backs, necks and/or wings  OR instead of entire chicken, use 5-6 skin-on chicken legs        

1            large onion, halved        

2            medium carrots, peeled and quartered 

2            bay leaves         

2            tablespoons salt             

10–12   whole peppercorns

2           tablespoons allspice berries bruised in a mortar

1          3-inch piece ginger unpeeled, cut into 4-6 pieces lengthwise (optional) 

1          3-inch lemon peel (optional)         

2            tablespoons olive oil     

5            scallions (white and most of the green parts), thinly sliced

A few stems from dill or fennel (optional) 

1-2         Thyme or Savory sprigs                

1            cup chopped fresh dill   

2/3        cup medium-grain rice, such as Arborio or about 100 grams vermicelli pasta

2            large eggs          

4–6        tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice                         

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the chicken and chicken parts in a large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam and reduce the heat to low. Add the onion, carrots, bay leaves, salt and peppercorns. Cover and simmer for 2 hours, adding a little more water as needed, until the chicken starts to fall from the bones.

Transfer the chicken quarters to a large plate. Remove the meat and cut half of it into bite-sized pieces; cover and refrigerate. Refrigerate the remaining chicken for another use.

Strain the stock, discarding the solids, and refrigerate it for a few hours, or until the fat congeals on top. Remove and discard most of the fat.

In a large pot, heat the oil and sauté the scallions over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until soft. Add 1/2 cup of the dill and sauté for 1 minute more. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the rice or vermicelli, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender, or about 10 minutes for the vermicelli.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, 1/4 cup lemon juice and 2 tablespoons water. Whisking constantly, slowly pour about 3 cups of the hot stock mixture into the eggs. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the pot, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling. Add the chicken and the remaining 1/2 cup dill. Taste and adjust the seasonings with lemon juice, salt and/or pepper. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes more; do not boil. Serve hot.

VARIATION On Kea, 1 cup of grated or diced tomatoes is added to the broth along with the rice, making a delightful pink soup.

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We also experience THE most spectacular moon this January, not just in the evening, but also early in the morning… 

We may even get some snow on Kea this coming weekend!  

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They are supposed to bring luck and help start the year with sweetness and strength, something we particularly need these difficult times…

English pudding is one of such festive cakes, but it is somewhat too complicated, with lots of strange ingredients, while the Boozy Fruitcake I propose is quite simple, provided you have help chopping dried fruit, and do not spare the cost of real, aged Cognac, Armagnac, or Grand Marnier needed to douse the cake. 

There is also our morning treat: the somewhat heavy yeasted Seedy, Fruity and Nutty Bread, close to a fruit-nut cake, with complex, bold flavor I always have sliced in the freezer. We toast pieces to enjoy with our coffee.

A variation of this bread can become a vassilopita —the New Year’s cake where the lucky coin is hidden.

I used to make our family’s traditional rich, elaborate cake but recently I prefer the simpler Orange or Tangerine Olive Oil Cake, the one I soak in syrup and I often complement with jam or marmalade as well as with seasonal fruit to create a more elaborate dessert. It is a lighter version of my mother’s vassilopita, which she always baked for the New Year celebrations.

Our neighbor Ela’s New Year cake, is another idea: she bakes it halving her mother’s original recipe that calls for 16 egg whites…

This is a delicious, quite easy treat, especially if you have a surplus of eggs, as Ela does. Fortunately she shares with us some of the delicious eggs her hens lay this time of year!

Use the egg yolks to make Pots de Crème!  

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This is a dense fruitcake, full of flavor, that should be thinly sliced and enjoyed in moderation, maybe accompanied by cream, mascarpone, or thick yogurt. 

Makes 2 Fruitcakes

Butter or olive oil for pans

2 pounds mixed fried fruit (pitted Medjool dates, prunes –preferably from Agen, candied pineapple, candied cherries and or cranberries, dried apricots etc)

2 tablespoons freshly grated orange zest

4 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 ½ cups mashed, baked butternut squash

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons double acting baking powder

½-1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ pounds mixed nuts (shelled pistachios, shelled almonds, shelled walnuts and/or pecans)

Maple syrup or warm honey to brush the cake

1/2 cup Armagnac, Grand Marnier or Brandy

Line two 9-inch pans with parchment paper, or one 9-inch square and one long cake pan and brush with butter or oil. Heat the oven to 275 F (140 C).

Combine the dried fruit in a bowl with cherries and orange jest. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Sift this over fruit. With your hands, toss to coat.

In medium bowl, preferably on a standing mixer, beat eggs with sugar until frothy. Add the squash and the vanilla extract and mix. Pour over the fruit.

With wooden spoon, mix very well. Fold in the pistachios, almonds, pecans and walnuts, and mix until coated with batter.

Divide the mixture between the pans. Using your hands, press to pack the batter very firmly and fill in open spaces.

Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, until the tops of cakes look dry but not brown. When the cakes are done, transfer to cooling racks. Let stand for 5 minutes, then release springform and peel off parchment paper on sides.

While cakes are still hot, brush lightly with syrup or honey. Let cool 30 minutes, then prick with a toothpick all over and spoon the Liqueur or Armagnac on top.

When completely cool, remove the cakes from pan base and peel off parchment paper on bottom.

It is advised not to eat right away but wrap the fruitcakes in plastic wrap and try them the next day.

They will keep for two months in refrigerator, their flavors getting even better.

Sprinkle with more Armagnac or liqueur before serving.

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My recipe is inspired by the soups of Gaziantep, which often combine bulgur and/or chickpeas with the lentils.

Photo by PENNY DE LOS SANTOS  from my Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts.     

The pulses in Turkey are usually cooked with lamb or beef bones to add body, and the soup is finished with aromatic-infused butter, though olive oil is an excellent alternative.

Vegetarians can make the soup more substantial by adding diced feta, as Costas and I do, or complement with grilled halloumi cheese.

Serves 6 to 8 

1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil, plus 1/3 cup (80 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup (160 g) chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (220 g) red lentils rinsed in a colander under running water

2 medium carrots, thinly sliced

1 cup (160 g) precooked wheat berries (see Note)

1/2 cup (100 g) precooked chickpeas (optional)

1 tablespoon turmeric

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 to 2 teaspoons Maraş pepper or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons combination of cumin, ground coriander, and dried basil, to taste

1/4 cup (15 g) chopped fresh basil leaves, or shredded fresh tarragon plus 1 teaspoon or more dried basil or tarragon; reserve extra leaves to decorate

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Sumac, for sprinkling (optional)

In a thick-bottomed pot, warm 1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil, add the onions, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, and sauté for about 6 minutes, until the onions are soft.

Add the lentils and carrots, turn a couple of times in the oil, and pour in 2 quarts (2 L) water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding more water as needed to keep the lentils covered.

Add the wheat berries, the chickpeas, if using, the turmeric, the tomato paste, the Maraş pepper, and the spice blend. Stir to incorporate and add more water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, simmering for at least 20 minutes, until all the ingredients are very soft. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Purée the soup to a thick, chunky consistency with a stick blender, or transfer to a food processor and pulse several times.

In a skillet, over very low heat, warm the extra-virgin olive oil with the fresh and dried basil or tarragon  and plenty of pepper.

Serve the soup in bowls, adding swirls of the basil or tarragon-infused oil, decorating with herb leaves, and sprinklings of sumac, if you like. Also, add 1-2 tablespoons diced feta cheese, if you like.

NOTE: 

Precooking Pearl Barley, Wheat Berries, and Farro

Pearl barley, wheat berries, and farro need longer cooking than rice or bulgur, but their incomparable earthy, nutty flavor is ample compensation for the extra work. In order to be able to add the grains to stuffing and pilafs whenever you feel like it, precook 1 to 2 pounds (455 to 910 g) of your favorite grains and keep them in the freezer.

Makes 2 1/2 to 3 cups (400 to 480 g) cooked grains

1 cup pearl barley, wheat berries, or farro

Place the grains in a pot and add cold water to cover by 2 inches (5 cm). Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer half the time recommended on the package. Cooking times vary greatly between brands, so carefully check the cooking times suggested on the package.

Taste, and if the grains are still quite hard, continue cooking. Taste again after 10 minutes. You want the grains al dente, not mushy. Drain and let cool completely, then transfer to a zip-top bag and freeze flat. They will keep for up to 6 months.

To finish cooking, take out the bag, beat on the counter to loosen the grains, and use as many as you need. Close the bag and return to the freezer.

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