Zespri kiwifruit - kiwifruit is also grown in Northern Greece, as well as Crete, but I confess to being a bit biased to the kiwi version...
New Zealand lamb is available in the frozen section of nearly all Greek supermarkets. It bears little resemblance to local Cretan lamb, but I prefer it NZ lamb because it is larger and hence meatier, and cooks to a succulent consistency, retaining its juices and taste even when served as the next day's leftovers (this isn't quite the case with Cretan meat).
Here's one of the funnier sides of imported NZ food; marinated deer - at 24.65 euro a kilo, there will probably be few takers of this delicacy, which is evident from the discount: buy one, get one free...
Frozen seafood products from NZ are commonly found at the supermarket - they are usually bigger and cheaper than similar Greek products, mainly due to their abundance in other parts of the world. Pictured above are what is known in Greece as thrapsala (a cheap kind of kalamari-squid), fished in the Pacific.
Here's one I haven't had in a while: I bought this for purely sentimental reasons, taking me back to my university student days when these were a fashion in the food scene in NZ.
Here's one I haven't had in a while: I bought this for purely sentimental reasons, taking me back to my university student days when these were a fashion in the food scene in NZ.
New Zealand cuisine is known for its use of fresh ingredients and barbecued meats rather than for any particular dish, with the exception of the pavlova dessert and a few other sweet treats which can all be made in Crete using imported and local ingredients, so if a Kiwi comes to live in Crete, there will be little that they will miss culinarily speaking, unless of course they crave for something like pineapple lumps and peanut slabs, which haven't quite made it into the Greek snack spectrum.
Click on this link to see how a recent Greek arrival in The Land of the Long White Cloud made Greek food using local kiwi products.
Click on this link to see how a recent Greek arrival in The Land of the Long White Cloud made Greek food using local kiwi products.
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
Amazing to see so rich diversity of food!
ReplyDeleteI gave maple syrup and peameal bacon to remind me of my home....even if it is only a few thousand kilomters across the country.
ReplyDeleteA leg of lamb from NZ looks that good when cooked by someone who knows how - perhaps a Maria of Greek ancestry?
ReplyDeleteMy dear Mother's roast lamb was an over cooked horror. She still over cooks good roasts, though no where near as badly as she did back in the 70s and 80s*. I love her dearly, however now I take over their kitchen whenever I visit.
* the "cook every thing until it is grey. whether meat or veg" school inherited from Brit origins. I have only now started to like fresh GREEN beans, as they were always served grey. I think this fits with your previous post.
Enough of a rave from me - sending love and care, and grateful thanks,
Michelle in a cloudy, windy Wellington, xxx
Hmm..you can get alot more than we can...got loads of broad beans AND yes..artichokes!! what the hell can I do with them? do they freeze as I'm working nights and don't cook...(Geoff has to fend for himself...pasta and omelettes..!)
ReplyDeleteOK, found your recipes...very confusing for someone with a handful of brain cells...haha!!
ReplyDeleteΜε γεια το καινούριο look στο blog! Πολύ ωραίο!
ReplyDeleteFortunately I can get most things Kiwi here in Melbourne, Australia - which I believe is the largest Greek city outside Greece - but unfortunately some favourites like the winter fruit tamarillos (see http://www.cookingdownunder.com/articles/2004/183.htm ) can be quite expensive. And Aussies don't seem to share our love of smoked fish. The stuff on sale here is from South African.
ReplyDelete