Table of Contents
To Basil, Vicki, Anastasia, and Evangeline: the reasons for all my cooking.
With love,
Mom
PREFACE
Our single-estate family olive grove is in the west Peloponnese region of Greece. The hilly landscape, about twelve miles (nineteen km) from the sea, is peppered with relics of the past. The panoramic views are breathtaking and the regions natural beauty is unmatched; fruit, olive, pine, and cypress trees line the slopes, with vegetable farms and vineyards nestled in-between. Here we grow Koroneiki olives and Corinthian currant grapes, which we use to produce our award-winning extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
For four generations, our family has been producing olive oil. Our olive grove is certified organic, which means we dont use chemical fertilizers or sprays; our farming practices are similar to those of our fathers, grand-fathers, and great-grand-fathers. (Some consumers believe that organic foods are too expensive, but there are enormous hidden costs to foods that have been grown with pesticides, which affect our health and the environment. And with increasing consumer demands, organic foods are becoming more affordable and accessible.)
Basil, my husband, takes enormous pride in harvesting the olives we grow. Each October, he makes his annual trek from Vancouver to Greece, where he spends the next two-and-a-half months. His time there takes great patience and endurance, as we strive for high standards in the production of our olive oil. He is often challenged by bad weather (too much rain, or not enough) and a tight timeline in which to assemble a work crew, organize the harvest, oversee the olive press, and prepare our oil for shipment. None of this could be done without our family and friends in Greece, who help us to maintain the grove and produce the oil.
For years, we gave bottles of our olive oil as gifts to friends. Everyone loved it and always asked for more. In 1997, Basil and I decided to bring our olive oil to Canada. We have been privileged to introduce our extra virgin olive oil to food lovers and feel blessed to do something we truly love.
The cuisine offered in this book is inspired by the olive oil we grow and produce. It includes a blend of modern fare, creations by renowned chefs Basil and I have met over the years, and treasured Greek and Mediterranean family recipes, passed down from generation to generation. When I was growing up, all of our meals were made from scratchthere was no fast food. You cannot rush perfection. I remember the mouth-watering aromas from slow-cooked foods that would greet us at the door when we got home. My mother (Evangeline) and grandmother (Anastasia) were both great cooks. I loved cooking with my grandmother, who encouraged my participation in the kitchen and was a perfectionist, especially when it came to making dolmades (stuffed grape leaves). This recipe (p. 155) calls for quality olive oil, and a lot of it! My mother and grandmother taught me how to make everything from bread (p. 164) to quail with olives (which to this day is my favoriteyou can find the recipe on p. 110). I owe my talents in the kitchen to them.
In writing this cookbook, I want to share with readers the true versatility of olive oil, beyond its better known uses in Greek cuisine. Olive oil is flavorful, and not just for drizzling on salads; its a healthy oil that can be used to saut or fry foods, make delicious cakes and cookies, and even as an ingredient in ice cream (p. 185; 187). In Greece and throughout the Mediterranean, we use olive oil liberally, as part of a well-balanced diet containing a moderate amount of meat, plenty of seafood, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Olive oil is sometimes called liquid sunshine; it is real food, that is, it has life and vitality, and isnt riddled with chemical additives. It is also a functional food, helping to prevent disease and increase health and well-being.
When I taught Greek cooking classes, the students always told me how wonderful everything tasted. The lesson was that fresh herbs, proper seasoning, the use of local and organic produce, and good quality olive oil enhance the taste of food. As producers of olive oil, we have filled these pages with tips on how to choose a great olive oil and how to use it in healthy meals your dinner guests and family will enjoy. Eat well. And as the Greeks say, kali orexi (bon apptit)!
Helen Koutalianos
PREFACE
Ive always loved the kitchen, and more importantly, food. I remember being ten or eleven years old and getting to stay home on a school day because I didnt feel well. I would end up in the kitchen pretending to be a cooking show host. I was Julia Child, voice and all, and created imaginary but magnificent meals for hours. When I was a kid, I loved to help my mom stir whatever she was making. Anything that needed stirring, I was there. Even to this day, sure, Ill cut the veggies if you need me to, but stirringyou dont have to askIm already on it!
The first thing my mom asks when we talk on the phone is, What did you eat today? Food has always been a big thing in my family. Our kitchen and pantry were filled with great olive oil, hand-picked dried spices, grains and roasted nuts, and homemade preserves, sauces, and wine. Every summer since I can remember, my parents have been going to the Okanagan in southern British Columbia to pick ripe tomatoes so we could can our own sauce. We chopped and blended each tomato and boiled the sauce in a huge cauldron over the old backyard sandbox. Over 200 pounds of tomatoes each time!
Good food was a constant in my familys home and still is. My mother made us home-cooked meals every night. The kitchen was packed with fruit, fresh fish, game meat (my dad loves to fish and hunt), herbs, veggies from the gardenand an abundance of love. My father would always say of me, This kid, she knows how to eat. I would make weird culinary concoctions, adding Dijon mustard, splashes of olive oil, and spices to any meal; Ive always been creative in the kitchen! Im also the child who, on a trip to Greece at the age of ten, fell asleep with her head in the plate of tzatziki.
To this day, our whole family gravitates toward the kitchen whenever my mom is cooking. Its our place to share and create, and my mom is a great teacher. She is patient and cooks with love. And she is a storytellera gift shes passed on to me.
In 2007 I went back to school to study magazine and book publishing. It was then that I got the idea to write a cookbook filled with my mothers recipes. At the time, my parents company, Basil Olive Oil Products, was entering its tenth year of business, and I figured this would be a great way to celebrate all their hard work. I rifled through her recipe binders and newspaper clippings from the food column shed written for a local newspaperand there were a lotand through cookbooks full of handwritten scribbles and food-stained pages. Soon we had some 200 recipes ready to go.
The dishes were predominantly Greek and Mediterranean, and while olive oil is often associated with these cuisines, we didnt want to limit the recipes to one geographic area. We decided to approach some of the chefs who use our olive oil to see if they would like to contribute recipes to our cookbook. And sure enough, they were excited to be involved. The chefs come from all parts of the world and contributed recipes reflecting a range of cuisines, including West Coast, French, and contemporary.
