Twenty years after “the Spanish Inn”, THE children of Romain Duris continue their shared accommodation at the gates of Europe, in Athens. We do not know if their concerns will revolve around the specialties of Greek cuisine, but there is an essential dish that gives its title to the series: the Greek salad. You should know that this famous dish, emblematic of the Mediterranean diet, is in reality… just a simple mixed salad. But not with anything.
It is sometimes believed (wrongly) that this salad that adorns Greek tables at every meal can be prepared to taste with the seasonal vegetables that we have on hand. Because as chef Mikaëla Liaroutsos reminds us “It is very easy to make a bad Greek salad”. Even if there are some variations depending on the region, we must respect the basic ingredients – tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions and feta – and what we know less, their cutting. Never sliced or sliced, the vegetables must be cut into large chunks, so that you have a “crunchy” feeling. For seasoning, olive oil of course, and an aromatic herb that we tend to forget in France, oregano, which will give a peppery and essential note to the salad.
The sequel after the ad
At the heart of 18e district of Paris, the Franco-Greek chef Mikaëla Liaroutsos has opened two restaurants in her image. First Etsi, where the young woman cooks grilled octopus like no other, then five years later, Etsi L’Ouzéri, more “tavern” as its name suggests. The young woman is part of this generation of young Greek chefs who want to express themselves and take a new look at the cuisine of their country, less cliché, but while respecting tradition. Etsi means “like that”, quite simply, and this is how she offers us her recipe for Greek salad.
Ingredients (pfor 4 people)
- Tomatoes, big or small cherries, it doesn’t matter, as long as they’re juicy. Because the idea is to have juice, yes, to be able to sauce.
- 1 cucumber
- 2 green peppers
- 1 red onion
- 1 nice slice of feta
- oregano and olives
Recipe
- Cut the vegetables into coarse pieces, pieces that can be cut without a board, directly above the salad bowl, like this, like a real yaya (” Grandmother “).
- Add the diced onions
- Season with olive oil
- Wine vinegar? Put it on the table, so that everyone can finish it off in their own way.
On the salad, add the slice of feta – drizzled with olive oil and oregano, of course.
Nota Bene: it probably did not escape you that the Greek salad was made of summer vegetables… hard to find all year round. For tomatoes, you will have to look for early varieties from Italian grocery stores, the merinda from Sicily, or the small datterini. Mikaëla recommends small cucumbers which will be firmer.
For the rest, feta, olive oil and oregano, we cannot recommend enough that you go shopping in a Greek grocery store, it changes everything, especially for such a simple salad.
Where to shop
Rap4 rue Flechier, Paris-9e. For the merinda tomatoes
Future Terroirs (several shops in Paris). For the datterini tomatoes
Greek profile109 rue de Belleville, Paris-19e. For the feta, oregano and olive oil
Yorgios31 rue d’Hauteville, Paris-10e. For the feta and olive oil.
The restaurants of Mikaela Liaroutsos
The Bistro23 rue Eugene-Carrière, Paris-18e
L’Ouzeri41 rue du Ruisseau, Paris-18e
