You will know by now that I'm always open to suggestions regarding recipes or stories for this blog, in fact I'm flattered by the response I get and owe many of my posts to ideas and input suggested by friends and readers. I've been invited to various eateries and into people's homes, I've received photographs and cookery books and a lot of support so thank you all!
My neighbour in Spain has featured in several of my posts (pink kitchen and two mad cows.) Each time I return to Spain we have our 'blog evenings' whereby he will always create a meal that hopefully I won't have heard of before. On this last visit Tony was all prepared to surprise me with a Greek dish called Skordalia, time passed so quickly that we didn't get the opportunity and so I felt I had to research and make the recipe myself.
This recipe varies from region to region, essentially it is a thick puree - sauce - dip or spread not dissimilar from Spanish alliol. It can be made with either pureed potatoes or soaked stale bread, combined with crushed garlic and olive oil to make an emulsion which would traditionally be served with batter fried or poached fish, fried or boiled vegetables or with bread.
When Tony explained the recipe to me he spoke about the method of soaking the garlic in vinegar, in all the various recipes I found online I didn't come across one where the garlic was pre soaked, in some recipes there is no vinegar at all, in some recipes lemon juice is combined slowly with the olive oil. In various regions in Greece, chopped walnuts or almonds are pureed along with the potatoes.
The Mediterranean diet has included garlic for thousands of years, with over 300 powerful substances resulting from crushing raw garlic, this miraculous herbal bulb provides tremendous health benefits. Yet we have a squeamish relationship with garlic in the UK, ignoring it's medicinal qualities in fear that we might have garlic breath. Ironically the worst breath is that of someone who lives on a processed diet, I'd prefer the smell of a herb any day over the smell of 'beef and cheese' as bad breath is comically described in the film Elf, (although that's a very polite description.)
This is such a simple dish and so versatile, ideal for barbecues and parties, dishes can be placed on the table beside crusty bread and crudités, I promise you it will go down a storm.
Skordalia
Recipe
2lb potatoes with thin skins, I used organic, chopped
5 cloves garlic
2-3 cups olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Soak peeled garlic in vinegar for at least 30 minutes
Boil potatoes until tender, drain
In a food processor blend garlic and oil
Add garlicky oil gradually to potatoes and mash
At the last stage you might want to use an electric mixer to get a really smooth emulsion
Season to taste
'You can never have enough garlic. With enough garlic, you can eat the New York Times.'
- Morley Safer
Love Donna xxxxxxxx
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