A taste of
Santorini
The Islands of Santorini are famous for many things from the stunning views across the caldera and picture postcard white-washed villages to their tiny tomatoes, which love the volcanic, porous soil, the salt laiden breezes and strong sunshine. They are as delcious and aromatic as they are small.
Vassilis Zacharakis, was born on Santorini and learnt how to cook from his mother. He opened his first restaurant, Nichteri, in Kamari in 2003 with the wish to give visitors the taste of authentic local gastronomy. With his partners, he went on to open a second restaurant in Fira named Assyrtiko.
Here's his recipe for these traditional tomato fritters.
Ingredients (serves four):
16oz of small tomatoes from Sanotirni
10oz of onions
30 fresh peppermint leaves
Salt
Flour (as much as needed to make a smooth batter)
Olive oil to fry the fritters (with just a little extra virigin olive oil added)
Tips:
If you can't get hold of the Santorini tomatoes, select another variety but they must not be too juicy.
Don't be tempted to use a blender, as you will then need too much flour and the end result will be too oily.
Method:
1. Coursely chop the tomatoes.
2. Finely chop the mint and onions.
3. Mix these ingredients together in a bowl with a pinch
of salt.
4. Squash the mixture with your hands to make a mush.
This can be made in advance and refrigetated.
5. Add just enough flour, gently mixing it in to make a batter that holds together.
6. Heat the oil to between 100 and 140°C (around 220 to 280°F).
7. Drop spoonfulls of the batter into the heated oil.
8. Cook until browned and crunchy (about 8 to 10 minutes).
9. Serve with a natural Greek yogart dip flavoured with paprika and a little salt and pepper.
Tomatokeftedes
(vegetarian)
Grown on the island in great abundance throughout the first half of the 20th Century they supplied many tomato paste factories but, after World War II, these all closed down. Too poor to afford meat the people turned to their fields of unwanted tomatoes and came up with a new recipe. Instead of meats balls, they created tomato balls, kown as tomatokeftedes, and to this day they are commonly cooked at home and seen on menus throughout the islands.
When I recently spent a week on Santorini I tried them in a number of restaurants and became quite addicted so I was very pleased to get a chance to cook them for myself while on an excellent wine and food tour with Santorini Wine Adventure. There will be more about the wines and cuisine from the islands on my blog, TravelWithKat.com, soon but for now here is the recipe that I tried. The results were spot on, as was all the food we cooked and ate that day, not to mention the wine.
by Kathryn Burrington