But when I moved to Houston, I discovered Mediterranean food. Wow. I had always loved Greek salads and gyros, but I hadn't even scratched the surface. Gradually my friends at work clued me in to the great Mediterranean places close to work. Demassi's, a buffet-style place with a huge selection of foods - fresh vegetable and herb dishes, rice dishes, pita bread that literally melts in your mouth, and the best hummus in town hands down. Then there's also Hungry's Cafe, which is modern fusion Mediterranean, Murphy's Deli, with a good selection of sandwiches and salads and finally Shish-kabob, with its more traditional Mediterranean fare.So I was inspired to seek out a Greek cook book. I found a safe experimentation platform - a collection of modern recipes.
About 5 miles from work, there is a specialty Greek grocery store. After my new acquisition, I went wild. Traditional cheeses, olives, pita bread, Greek yogurt, tahini, various fresh produce, and of course I couldn't leave without some sesame candy.
Since then I've been cooking up a storm, and my eyes have really been opened to alternative ways of preparing food. Using a mortar and pestle (which can be improvised with a cutting board), using a sieve, and boiling among other things. I've also been open to cooking foods in ways I ordinarily would not prefer - frying (though not deep-frying), and more importantly, stewing. I've tried a stewed vegetable dish that is to-die for.
There are also some unusual flavor combinations that I have found very appealing. The most remarkable was a warm potato-red onion-caper-parsley-lemon juice-olive oil combination. I never would have thought to combine those ingredients, but it was the most delicious salad I have ever eaten. I've also learned that lemon juice, olive oil and salt is like the season-all for Greek food. And can make the most simple dishes spectacular. Just try Halloumi cheese fried in olive oil served with fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Or boiled spinach drizzled with the same.
My favorite part of this whole adventure is perfecting the making of hummus. The recipe is very simple, but you've got to tweak the ingredients to make for that wow-effect. Still working on that one, but with some reading I'm making some progress. Hummus is something worth taking seriously!!
All in all, this has got me going with all sorts of new ideas for cooking. And having the opportunity to say "OMG this is so delicious!" every night has been a very gratifying experience for the taste buds.
Anyone want to come over for dinner?
2 comments:
As long as you're cooking I'm there! I love looking at cookbooks but am too lazy to put my new knowledge into practice.
It all looks so yummy!
For years I stared at cookbooks. Then I graduated from school, got an 8-5 job, became single and suddenly had all this free time...
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