Corfiot Traditional Recipes, tastes and products



Pastitsada



Ingredients:

  • 1 kg beef or one medium-sized rooster
  • 1 tea cup oil
  • 1tea cup red wine
  • 4 ripe tomatoes or 1 soup spoon tomato paste
  • 3 medium-sized finely cut onions
  • 2-3 cloves garlic cut in half
  • Cinnamon
  • cinnamon-cloves
  • a little sugar
  • pepper
  • 1 packet macaroni
  • Grated cheese.

 

Preparation:

Wash the meat, pierce it in different places and fill each hole with a clove of garlic, salt and pepper.
Warm the oil in a pot and brown the onions with the meat.
Add the wine, tomatoes (peeled and passed through the blender) or tomato paste as well as all the other ingredients except the macaroni and the cheese.
Let the meat simmer for approximately 2 hours.
Boil the macaroni in lots of salted water, strain and serve it with the sauce and the grated cheese sprinkled on.
Serve the meat on a separate platter together with the remaining sauce.

Sofrito


Ingredients:

  • 1 kg leg of beef (without the bone)
  • 4-5 soup spoons flour tea
  • 1 cup oil
  • 4-5 soup spoons vinegar
  • 3 cloves
  • crushed garlic
  • Parsley finely cut
  • Salt & pepper

Preparation:

Mix the flour with salt and pepper. Cut the meat into slices and flour it. Warm the oil in a pan and brown the meat. Transfer the meat to a pot. Put the vinegar, garlic, parsley and a little water into the pan. When the sauce begins to boil, pour it onto the meat. Cover the pot and simmer the food for 1 hour.

 

Stifado


Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1-1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes
  • 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 12 ounces small white boiling onions, peeled
  • 1 pound tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2-1/2 Tablespoons chopped fresh thyme OR 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2-1/2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary OR 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 2-1/2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano OR 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf, crumbled
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 cups dry red wine
  • 1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Preparation:

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Heat oil in heavy 4- to 5-quart Dutch oven over medium high heat. Toss beef with flour in large bowl. Add beef to pan in batches and cook until brown, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes per batch. Transfer browned beef to bowl. Add onions to pan and cook until light brown, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, thyme, rosemary, oregano, bay leaf, and cumin to pan. Stir in wine and bring to a boil. Cover and bake in oven until beef is tender, about 2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm to 350-degree F oven before continuing.) Stir feta cheese into stew. Return to oven and continue baking until cheese is heated through, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.


Bianco (Fish  Stew)

Ingedients:

  • 1kg fish, cleaned (use sea bass, soleor black fish)
  • 4 garlic doves, mashed
  • 300 grams potatoes, peeled and out inwedges
  • Lemon juice of one lemon
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • Salt
  • Black and white pepper
Preparation:

Heat olive oil in asaucepan and sauté thegarlic. When it becomesslightly brown add somewater, fish, potatoesand simmer. Season withsalt and pepper. Addgradually more wateruntil the fish is cookedand potatoes tender. Addwater gradually in order toensure that the sauce willremain thick in the end.Remove from saucepan,serve in plates and pourlemon juice on top.

Savouro

''SAVORO''or ''SAVOURO'' (traditional venetian pesse in Saor)

It was sailors meal; small fish usually sardines, bogues or large whitebaits, marinated in white sauce with garlic finely chopped, rosemary, vinegar and black raisins. To be good, it must stay at least for a week in a pot. It is kept for a long time.

And other tastes & products

Corfiot Ginger Beer

Ginger beer is a traditional and tasty refreshment drink that is produced only in Corfu. It was first introduced to the islands during the British rule (18th century) and it is made till today. It is mostly consumed in summer as it is very refreshing. 

Igredients:

- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 full spoons of powdered ginger 
- juice from one lemon
- ¼ spoon of dried yeast
- tepid water


Preparation:

In a bottle, put the sugar and yeast. Shake the bottle well to mix the ingredients. Make sure the bottle is plastic because this mixture is eruptive and a glass bottle may break. Then blend ginger with the lemon juice and throw it into the bottle. Shake again until the sugar melts. Add tepid water until the bottle until it is 3/4 full. Close the bottle very well and leave it in a warm place (e.g sun, radiator) for 48 hours until the fermentation is completed. When you press the plastic bottle and there is resistance, then the drink is ready. Put it in another (glass) bottle and leave it in the fridge for about half an hour. Drink it chilly and consume it within a month.

Koum Kouat

What about it?

The Kumquat is a unique small tree bearing tiny oval fruits. The tree has dense branches and deep green leaves. Its flowers grow white, resembling the citrus flowers, before turning into the miniature kumquat fruit.

Kumquat has been cultivated in China and Japan for centuries. It was brought to Corfu by the English botanist, Merlin, in 1924. Merlin was a great traveller and used to bring exotic products back from his trips. He discovered the kumquat on a visit to Japan and brought some plants to cultivate on Corfu. There are now thousands of trees on the island.

The kumquat fruit resembles an oval tiny orange about three to four cm long. It is the only fruit of the Citrus family that is eaten with the peel, which is rich in essential oils and vitamin C. Its distinctive bittersweet zesty flavour makes it the perfect ingredient in deserts and salads and is a favourite for marmalades, sugary and other traditional sweets as well as liqueurs.

Corfu is virtually the only place in Europe where kumquat is cultivated. It mainly grows on the northern part of Corfu in Nymphes, where the mild climate, rich soil and abundance in water make it the ideal place for the kumquat trees to thrive. It blooms in March and April and the fruits are picked in May.

Corfiot Wine

The locally famous and of excellent quality THEOTOKY WINE is produced in the estate's 30 acres vineyards. The wine exists in two main varieties, dry white and red. The first comes in two different types, Kakotrygi and Robollaand the latter comes in Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is produced in the traditional way: the process of fermentation and saturation, in new oak barrels, gives the wine natural stability, superb quality and taste.

Patounis Soap Factory

Apostolos Patounis, whose great-great grandfather founded the factory, believes that the factory is among the very rare ones that make soap the traditional way and the only one that he knows about is in Aleppo in Syria .

The soap starts as olive oil, which is produced with caustic soda in heated tubes for approximately one week. The resulting liquid soap is then cast in open moulds where it stays for a week or two to solidify. Finally the bars are placed on wooden racks to cure for 3-4 months. Basic and pure and natural ingredients are used for the Patounis soaps and no additives are used unless specifically stated.

Patounis manufactures four main types of soap. GREEN SOAP made of crude olive pumice oil known for its disinfectant and healing properties for skin infections, allergies, bed sores and strained muscles.

STRONG GREEN SOAP a more powerful formula effective for washing clothes and for use on hard ceramic surfaces.

WHITE OLIVE/PALM KERNEL SOAP used as a gentle personal cleanser with good lathering performance.

WHITE OLIVE OIL SOAP which is hypoallergenic and the very best for facial use. All the soaps are 100% vegetarian and 100% biodegradable.


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