Recipes

Cretan Recipes

ROASTED FISH (PLAKI FISH)

- 1 kg of fish (roufos)

- 1 bunch of parsley

- 2 onions of medium size

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 2 mellow tomatoes

- 1 cup of olive oil

- 1 spoon of sea salt

- ½ kg of potatoes

- 1 glass of wine

We wash and chop the parsley and onions. We drop them in the saucepan along with the garlic, the oil and some water and we boil them for about half an hour. Then we pour some wine and the tomatoes, cut in small pieces. After ten minutes we add 1 glass of water and the potatoes slightly salted. We boil them for about ten minutes and then we add the fish. In about half an hour our fish is ready.

This delicious plate was taught to me by my mothers in law mother who was the best cook in the whole village. Many years ago, when there were no taverns and restaurants, she cooked to everyone that visited our village- to the teachers, policemen and doctors to name a few.

BONATSA

Bonatsa is an exclusive local food of Sfinari. The necessary staff for its preparation can be found only in the near region.

- First of all, the sea salad is a special seaweed that exists only in the western Cretan beaches. It is also the only seaweed that can be eaten. It has been examined by Austrians and Belgium doctors. It was recommended to the women of the village that suffer from incurable illnesses.

- Seashells- limpets

- Sea crabs

To begin with, in order to collect these things, the sea must be completely calm. When the villagers want to describe the sea as completely calm they use the word Bonita. That gives us an explanation for the name of our food. Because when the sea is calm, the water is lowered and we can easily start collecting the limpets, the seashells and the crumbs.

If you visit the older houses of the village, the ones of 300-400 years old, and you dig around you will discover millions of broken seashells and limpets. It is therefore easy to understand that Bonatsa is a very old Cretan plate that was a necessary and part of the Cretan diet.

Method:

- 1 kg of sea shells and limpets

- 1 plate of sea salad

- 1 bunch of fennel

- 2 onions of medium size

- 2 tomatoes

- 1 glass of red wine

- A little sea salt

- 1 glass of olive oil

We break the sea shells from the back side and we wash them well in cold water, repeating for many times. We boil the limpets in little water for about 3 minutes, so as to detach them from their shell and we keep just the crumb. In a saucepan we pour the oil, the onions and the fennel- both chopped in small pieces-, two glasses of water, the sea shells and the limpet crumbs and we let them boil for about half an hour. Then we add the tomatoes and we cook them all together for about another quarter. Finally, we add the sea salad and the salt and our food is ready in about 15 minutes.

STIFADO FOR 4 PERSONS

- 1 kg of beef or pork

- ½ kg of onions

- 1 glass of red wine

- 1 spoon of tomato juice

- 4-5 cloves

- ½ nutmeg

We chop the meat in small pieces. For beef we use 1 ½ cup of olive oil, for pork we use just 1 cup as it has more fat and we fry them with an onion, cut in small pieces. In about 5 minutes we die it out with some wine. Then we pour the rest onions, not cut but riddled with a fork. If some onions are big we cut them in two pieces. We add the cloves, the nutmeg, the tomato juice and a glass of water. As soon as the meat is boiled we cook it in low fire for about half an hour, until is has absorbed all the gravy.

REDDEN MEAT WITH OKRAS OR HOOKS

- 1 kg of goat (of our own production)

- 1 cup of olive oil

- 1 onion

- 2 tomatoes of medium size

- 3-4 cloves

- 1 cup of red wine

- 1 tea spoon sea salt

- ½ kg of okras or hooks

We chop the meat in small pieces and we fry it with the onion- cut in small pieces, too- for about 10 minutes in low fire. Then we pour the wine and we let it for another 3 minutes. We add the grated tomato and a glass of water and we have it boiled for 1 ½ hour along with the okras that we have previously boiled for 30 minutes and fried in olive oil. If we use hooks instead, we add them well-washed half an hour before the end.