Local recipes

Stuffed zucchini flowers

• 5 - 30 zucchini flower

• 1⁄2 kg of rice (preferably Carolina)

• 1 cup olive oil

• 3 ripe tomatoes

• 1 onion

• salt and pepper

• parsley / mint

Wash the zucchini flowers thoroughly with running water and place them in a pan with the stalk facing up, so that they won't close. Cut the onion, parsley, mint and tomatoes and put them in a bowl. Add the rice, olive oil, salt, pepper and water and mix well by gently pressing the ingredients. To fill the zucchini flowers, put the filling using a teaspoon and then close and place them in a pot. Once one layer is full, continue to the next. Housewives often also cook dolmadakia (stuffed vine leaves) in the same pot. Once adding all zucchini flowers to the pot, add water until they are covered and put a plate on top to keep them in place and prevent them from opening while cooking. Simmer for 45 minutes. The food is ready as soon as there is no water seen around the zucchini flowers and rice is cooked.

Pork with bulgur (pligouri)

• 700 gr. pork in pieces

• 2 cups thick bulgur

• olive oil

• salt and pepper

• cumin

Put 6 tablespoons of olive oil in a pot. Heat the olive oil and add the meat. After 4-5 minutes, when one side of the meat darkens, turn it around so that it is also cooked on the other side. Stir and continue for another 2-3 minutes. Add 2 cups of water (the meat must be covered with water) and cover the pot. Boil the meat until it gets soft and there is little remaining oil and broth in the pot's bottom. While boiling the meat, wash the bulgur under the tap in a strainer and then place it in a bowl and soak it in warm water. When the meat is cooked, remove the pot from the heat. Uncover the pot and add salt, pepper and cumin. Strain the bulgur, which will be soft yet grainy by then, and throw it into the pot. Stir with a wooden spoon. The bulgur will immediately absorb the broth, so close the pot's lid and wait for five minutes. Serve and add a little cumin for extra flavour!

Stuffed vine leaves (dolmadakia)

• 1 kg of vine leaves

• 1 kg rice (preferably Carolina)

• 1 cup of olive oil

• 1 large onion

• 2 tomatoes

• 2 lemons

• salt and pepper

• parsley

Fill a large cooking pot with water and start boiling it. Place the vine leaves into the pot for 4 minutes. Then put them in a strainer to remove water. Grate the onion on the small side of the grater, the tomato on the large side and continue by chopping the parsley. Mix all these ingredients in a bowl with your rice (which should be previously washed) and add a little salt. Proceed to the wrapping process by opening the vine leaves and placing a teaspoon of filling on the edge of the leaf. Close the edges of the vine leaf and roll / wrap the vine leaf. Place some vine leaves at the base of the cooking pot, then carefully add the dolmadakia one by one, very close to each other. Once the first layer is covered, continue to the next. When placing all the dolmadakia into the pot, add salt, pepper, the juice from two lemons, olive oil and about 500ml of water. Place a plate on top of the pot in order to keep them in place while cooking (we do not want them loose!). Put the pot on fire and cook at a low temperature for 45 minutes. Cooking is over as soon as water disappears from the pot and rice inside is cooked!

Evraiko (scrambled eggs with tomato)

• 4 - 5 eggs

• 3 medium onions

• 4 red tomatoes

• salt and pepper

• virgin olive oil

Peel the onions and tomatoes and cut them into small pieces. Add olive oil into a frying pan and as soon as it’s heated, start frying the onions. Continue by throwing the chopped tomatoes into the pan, while adding salt and pepper. Mix them until tomatoes are cooked, removing its liquids (about 10-15 minutes). Break the eggs in a bowl, making sure they are ok and stir quickly using a fork to dissolve the yolk. After stirring, place the eggs into the pan and mix well. At the same time, low the temperature and cook for about 10 minutes. Move the frying pan away from the heat as soon as the eggs are cooked and liquids in the mixture have disappeared. Serve on a plate and add some grated feta cheese, if you are into it!