Cyprus-Forum.com

[boomerang]

so how does one make the perfect kleftiko? My dad has built a fourno in my backyard but have not attempted kleftiko yet

A fourno should be essential for the 100% perfect and authentic kleftiko. But since I don't have one myself I must admit that one can achieve perfectly acceptable results in a clay baker used in a regular oven. Low temperatures for long hours is a must if you ask me. Good food shouldn't be cooked in a hurry but with lots of love and dedication as well as a healthy amount of patience.

What is perfect and what is not is up to the person actually eating to decide I reckon. My recipe for kleftiko isn't necessarily what you would consider perfect and it's far from orthodox as I've experimented some to create something I'd like to call my very own original recipe.

My recipe includes the following:

Lamb shanks
Olive oil
Tomatoes
Yellow onions
Celery
Lemon juice (and peels)
Garlic
Salt
Ground black pepper
Whole black pepper
Cinnamon
Bay leaves
Fresh flat leaf parsley
Fresh rosemary
Fresh or dried thyme
Fresh or dried oregano
Fresh or dried mint
Potatoes

All mixed according to my own taste... which is top secret to anyone outside my immediate family.

Is this the kleftiko? ...I had this the other night...my wife made it...I love lamp shanks...but in a conventional oven still tasted great

[kangaroo]

I thought that was you kangaroo.

What about tomatos and eggs done the same as Oracles courgettes, thats pretty good.

Or rollo:

Mince, onions, parsley, wrapped around hard boiled eggs and then wrapped in pana (caul). I like to make a nice yakni sauce to serve with it.

there you go again... suprising me. I have made rollo many times, but never have I wrapped it in Panna... that is saved for my sheftalia.... and my secret to making the best sheftalia is mincing my own meat (pork of course)

[CBBB]

Kangaroo,

The panna keeps it nice an moist.

I have also used sausage meat, chicken breast, onions, herb and spices wrapped in panna. Very tasty, but not really cypriot.

[CBBB]

I have not eaten Australian pork, but can tell you British pork does not make good sheftalia, the Cypriot pork is much better (for nearly everything).

[boomerang]

OZ pork is excellent...lean pork...sheftalia taste great and all this talk is making me hungry...off to raid the fridge...bloody hell I got the munchies...

[denizaksulu]

kolokasi giahni...the old man grows it...

Kolocasi was my joint dish with Fasulaki Yiahni. Do GCs do the Kolokasi in the oven as well? Lices of potatoes tomato's and augergine with the Kolocasia. (Mousakka?) with radishes.

[Nikitas]

Deniz,

I never had kolokasi in the oven, but did once taste poulles (young kolokasi) kapama with pork, red wine and koliandro. It was back in 1970 at the Casanova cafe in Green Lanes Harringay and still remember it to this day.

Poulles must rank as one of the most unusual and delicate natural flavors.

Kolokasi in the oven is a dish known in Ikaria, the only other place that has kolokasi that I know of. I heard that it is used in Crete but for animal feed, not human consumption.

Now and again you can find it in some Greek supermarkets for a few days.

[CBBB]

Haven't seen it done in the oven like that, I will ask the Mrs.

[CBBB]

Nikitas.

Kolokasi is found all over the world and normally called taro in English. Good entry on wikipedia if you are interested.

[denizaksulu]

Deniz,

I never had kolokasi in the oven, but did once taste poulles (young kolokasi) kapama with pork, red wine and koliandro. It was back in 1970 at the Casanova cafe in Green Lanes Harringay and still remember it to this day.

Poulles must rank as one of the most unusual and delicate natural flavors.

Kolokasi in the oven is a dish known in Ikaria, the only other place that has kolokasi that I know of. I heard that it is used in Crete but for animal feed, not human consumption.

Now and again you can find it in some Greek supermarkets for a few days.

We would call the kolokas in the oven "Mousakka of the Kolokas".
They are sliced with the aubergines and potatoes, fried till lightly browned, seasoned , laid out in the baking tray, covered with the mince meat, which had been prepared with onions, slt and pepper and parsley. Spread over the layers of veg. Covered over with slices of beef tomatoes. Tomato puree is used according to requirements. Enjoyed with radishes.
I thought this was prepared in Greece too with the additional cheese sauce on top. Well that is what an ex told me.

I bought a few Boullez, 2 years ago and planted them in a large pot in my office. The plant was the centre of attraction. I photographed every stage of its growth.. Great fun.