Fresh Fish

The other night we were lucky enough to be invited to dinner at the home of one of the locals.  One of her relatives had been out fishing and they had a bountiful catch.  Now there were extra fish that needed to be eaten.  We volunteered.

The top photo is grilled fish.  The second photo has two fish dishes, one is grilled and the other is cooked in the oven with saffron.  The third dish in photo number two is called briam. 

Briam at it's heart is basically a baked vegetable dish.  Traditionally it would have fresh tomatoes crushed into a sauce and seasoned with garlic and other spices as the base.  You then add various sliced or cubed veggies on top of the tomato base. Potato, eggplant, zucchini and onions are classic choices, but any veggies you have on hand will work. Ours substituted carrots for eggplant.  This mixture gets baked in the oven for a couple of hours at low heat. Sometimes feta is mixed in near the end of the baking time. Do add feta! It is so delicious.

We were also taught that the best way to eat a fish is with your hands, not with a knife and fork.  You just break off a piece of the fish and go from there.  I could not believe how easy it was, I always struggled to eat a whole fish with a knife and fork.

I often feel at home eating in Greece, as I like to eat with my hands.  While it is frowned upon back home in California, it is perfectly acceptable in Greece.

More soon.