Antginas Evdokia - My big fat Greek cookbook: classic Mediterranean soul food recipes

Praise for

My Big Fat Greek Cookbook

Christos has captured the essence of Greek home cooking through this collection of his mothers recipes. An easy-to-read cookbook, emphasizing the simplistic beauty of Greek cuisine.

Peter Minaki, author of The Big Book of Mediterranean Recipes

Bravo, Christos. Documenting the treasure trove of recipes in a Greek kitchen isnt easy, but its well worth the effort. I cant wait to pull up a chair and join the feast!

Marisa Churchill, Top Chef competitor and author of Sweet & Skinny

This cookbook is as much about love as it is about food. A love for family, a love for Greek food, and most of all, a love for the authors mother, who expressed her affection for friends and family through her cooking. Food was her language of love, her recipes preserved for all time in this touching tribute.

JB Macatulad, willflyforfood.net

Christos shows us how to make healthy and nutritious recipes, including plant-based meals, and quite honestly inspires us all to own our culture and heritage. Greek cuisine is such a powerful way of eating and surely this book will transform us all.

Maria Koutsogiannis, food stylist, recipe creator, photographer and writer for FoodByMaria

Who doesnt love Greek food? Years ago, I was invited to Greece to write an article about its cuisine and I had the privilege to stay with a local Greek family. Within five minutes upon my arrival, I was instantly transformed from journalist to family member, and I couldnt stop eating because everything tasted so good! And that familys sense of generosity and pride came rushing back to me when I read Christoss family recipes and memories. The Greeks are masters of simple, accessible, and delicious food. I wish Christoss mother would invite me over to try her yummy galaktobourekosweet and crunchy on the outside, and filled with the perfect custard on the inside!

Ricardo Larrive, chef and owner of Cafe Ricardo, host of Ricardo and Friends (Food Network), and author of Vegetables First

Copyright 2019 Christos Sourligas

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Recipes prepared by Evdokia Antginas, Alexandros Sourligas, and Lambrini Sourligas

Photos by Christos Sourligas

Styling by Lambrini Sourligas and Christos Sourligas

Graphic Design Consultant and Photo Editor Nathalie Savoie

Editors: Natalie Karneef and Nicole Frail

Text Review Alex Roslin and Alison Reid

Cover and Additional Photos: Food and Prop Styling by Kerrie Ahern

Cover design by Laura Klynstra

Cover Photography and Additional Photos by Alison Slattery

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-4984-9

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-4985-6

Printed in China

For my sweet, giving, and dedicated Greek Mama, who would do anything for her family. May your cooking prowess and legacy live for eternity

Contents

Foreword

I first met Christos Sourligas twenty years ago and found him to be a fascinating person. We shared many interests, he being a filmmaker from Montreal, and me starting off in the world of comedy, both of Greek immigrant parents, and the understanding we had growing up in that environment. Especially in the fabled, working-class neighborhood we know as Park Extension. Like most children of immigrants, we quickly had to learn how to adapt to our new country. But the stubbornness of our parents to eat and speak Greek at home could never be challenged.

My Big Fat Greek Cookbook is not only a tribute to Christoss wonderful mama and her yummy passed-down-from-generations recipes, but to all of us in the Greek diaspora who can easily connect to these amazing meals and what it means to them. When the xeno (other) kids at lunch were eating PB&Js, we were having moussaka and dolmades as a snack! The recipes in this cookbook not only represent some of the tastiest culinary dishes you will ever eat, but also the love and the passion and the survival of what our parents went through to create a better life for us all.

A lot of my favorite dishes are in this book. And for anyone who has never enjoyed the Greek food experienced before, this is a must-have! It will appeal to every taste bud. And as I browse through it, I cant help but smile at all the memories and holidays each recipe represents for me and for the millions of other fellow members of the Greek community as we were growing up.

It was an honor to write these opening words to commemorate Christoss mother and to keep these fantastic recipes alive for generations to come. I cant wait to prepare some of these dishes with my family. You do us all proud Christos, and your mama, just like mine, will always know that.

Angelo Tsarouchas, comedian, actor, lover of food

Introduction

Your mother has twelve to eighteen months to live.

As soon as the doctors gave my sister and me the news, my mind went into overdrive. Does Mama have her will in order? What funeral home is best to make arrangements? And when I drive Mama home after her doctors appointment, whats for dinner?

But the last thing came first: being the typical filmmaker and storyteller that I am, I needed to document my Mamas Greek food recipes before she passed on. Not because I was going to miss her cookingalthough I would, more than I could ever imaginebut because I had to honor this woman while she was still alive by preserving her priceless recipes so that generations to come could savor her lifes flavors. The idea being thatsay five hundred years from nowsomeone will pick up this cookbook and make some of my Mamas delicious recipes. This cookbook is bigger than her and me. Its our familys gift to the world. And that can never be final.

So, for one year I braved a series of intense hands-on cooking demos with her, my Baba, and my sister to capture an oral history of her gastronomical treasure trove, and I took some abuse along the way: Teaspoon? What teaspoon? I go with my gut! Back off and just watch me, kiddo!

And yes, my Mama is still alive today, hanging in there like the stubborn, old-school Mama that she is. The time has now come to get her recipes published and into stores. I cant wait to see her eyes well up as she spots the cookbook adorning bookshelves. Who knows, I may even take her on a book tour or to signings. I just need to figure out wheelchair access, and how to stop her from yelling at my Baba for making her life so miserable. But thats a different book.