Dreaming of Avgolemono

Just yesterday, I passed a newly opened Greek restaurant at 17th and K Streets in Washington, D.C. It's called Kellari Taverna, and here's a Zagat interview of Kellari's owner. It's an upscale restaurant with a virtually all-seafood menu (which, combined with the recession, may pose a challenge to its success).

Anyway, I stopped to peek inside. Very handsome decor. Then I read the restaurant's menu, which was posted outside.

My eyes immediately stopped at the word Avgolemono, a pale yellow soup made with lemon and chicken stock that sure warms you up on a chilly evening. I've always enjoyed eating that soup, but it is not an item that every Greek restaurant prepares. As far as I'm concerned, Avgolemono is Greek for "comfort food." I still have fond memories of the first time I ordered Avgolemono. It was at a Greek restaurant in Chicago.

Once I got home, I went online and started looking for Avgolemono recipes. They aren't easy to find.

I found this article on the website Serious Eats, which is accompanied by a recipe. The egg yolk addition looks a bit tricky. I've made Bearnaise sauce before so I know I'm capable of doing it, but there's simply no margin for error when it comes to incorporating egg yolks into a hot dish.

Maybe I'll try it sometime. Better yet, maybe I'll just let the chef at Kellari make it for me.

Dining in Greece (Part I)

Greek cuisine. It feels funny even using such a term because Greek food is distinctly unfussy. After spending nine days in Greece, here are my observations about restaurants and dining over there.

Let me cut right to the chase. Eating in a country like Italy or France is a huge part of the travel experience. This is not the case in Greece. Don't get me wrong -- there are plenty of good meals to be eaten in Greece, but it isn't about the food over there. You don't get the same vibe about mealtime as you get when you're traveling in France or Italy.

Greek Salad

Greek salad is the backbone of the country's cuisine. One interesting note: a Greek salad here in the U.S. is served with small, crumbled pieces of Feta cheese. (Feta is to Greek cuisine what parmesan is to Italian.) In Greece, a Greek salad is served with a rectangular block of Feta, sprinkled liberally with oregano, resting atop the tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion.

The quality of a Greek salad generally rests on the quality and freshness of the tomatoes and cucumbers. My friends and I found that in Greece, this is hit or miss -- tomato and cucumber quality depends on where your restaurant happens to get its produce.

Tomatoes on the island of Santorini are supposed to be the absolute best in all of Greece, but we generally ate better tomatoes on the island of Crete.

Greece's "Can't Miss" Foods

1. The thyme-scented honey in Crete (and just about any other honey in Greece) is marvelous. You might even want to consider buying some to bring back home with you.

2. The olive oil is very good in Greece, although I wouldn't say that it was quite as good as the olive oils I've tasted in Italy or Spain. If you are one of those persons who likes to dip bread in olive oil, beware: this is not something that Greeks seem to do when dining out. If you're so inclined, just ask your server to bring some olive oil to the table. They'll be happy to do so.

3. If you like stuffed peppers or stuffed tomatoes, you're in luck. They are standard items on the menus of most Greek restaurants in Athens and the various islands. And they are generally well done.

Desserts

Like Asian cuisines, Greek cuisine does not take dessert to great heights. The sweet salute to a meal in Greece is usually something pretty simple -- maybe a cake made of crushed walnuts and honey. Or maybe a baklava. Ice cream is also fairly popular among Greeks.

One word of warning. The quality of a dessert in Greece seems to be directly proportionately to what you paid for it. Many restaurants in touristy areas give diners a gratis dessert -- sometimes it's a scoop of ice cream or maybe a piece of walnut cake. These freebie desserts are generally not worth touching.

We had free ice cream served to us at a restaurant on Crete, and one of my fellow diners said it all: "No fruit was harmed in the making of this ice cream."

Having said that, I bought a wonderful piece of walnut cake from a bakery. It was made with honey and chocolate chips. It sounded like a strange mix of ingredients, but it was really good.

Foodphoria: Rested and Ready

Sorry that Foodphoria has been silent for the past 10 days or so. I took a much-needed vacation and so did this blog.

I returned from Greece, and I will have a few posts in the coming days to share my foodie experiences and observations about eating and dining in Greece. Much of Greek dining takes place in simple, no-nonsense tavernas -- one is pictured above.

I promise much more commentary about Greek food in the coming days.