The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller.  Just before the outbreak of the Second World War the author Henry Miller went, for the first time, to Greece to visit his friend Lawrence Durrell and stayed for nine months traveling from Athens, around the Peloponnese and to Crete.  His experiences are recorded in one of the best travel books you will ever read, and was certainly an inspiration to me that just made me want to get on a plane and GO!

When I finally got to Greece, like Henry Miller, I too fell in love – with the varied landscapes, the romance of being on the edge of Europe and the beginning of the East, the history, the marvelous island journeys, the best swimming in the world, THE FOOD and, most of all the Greeks.  I agree with Miller when he says in the book “I like a good Greek meal better than a good French meal, even though it be heresy to admit it”

GIGANTES PLAKI became one of our favourite dishes – it is a regular in most tavernas all over Greece.  The trouble was it took us a while to actually try it as it is often translated on the menu as BIG BEAN SALAD which, I think you will agree, sounds pretty unappealing.  Then you notice the next table having this fantastic looking rustic dish of casseroled butter beans bathed in a rich tomato sauce.  When you enquire from the waiter what it is and he tells you BIG BEAN SALAD you realize you are going to have to learn some Greek to find your way around this fantastic cuisine.

Fresh sardines with a fennel and carrot salad, Milos

Why do I love Greek food?  It’s fresh, seasonal, healthy and flavoursome – honouring place, history and the people who grow it and cook it.  Simple dishes – like freshly caught sardines with lemon and REAL Greek salad to more complex slow cooked game, fish or lamb – humming with garlic, juniper berries, herbs and wine in a dish they call Stifado.

Maria’s bougatsa, candied citrus and fresh apricots, Milos

Oh, and did I mention the cakes and pastries, either dripping with spiced and citrusy honey or crispy filo stuffed with sweetened stuffed cheeses and nuts (bougatsa) – and that’s for breakfast!  – and the yoghurt, the dips,  mezze plates, Sifnos chickpea soup, Symi shrimps.

And then there is REAL bread, the TASTE of the tomatoes, sun kissed apricots, peaches and figs, local olives, manouri cheese, wild greens, rose petal jam………………!!

• Gigantes Plaki (Γίγαντες πλακί)  Greek Baked Beans

  
  500gm lima/butter beans, soaked overnight and cooked until tender (you can used canned).
  NOTE:  Don’t add salt when you are cooking the beans from scratch – it makes them tough – add it afterwards.
  200ml olive oil (this may seem a lot, but the Greeks use a lot of olive oil when cooking)
  2 onions, finely chopped
  2 carrots, finely chopped
  1 celery heart or fennel heart
  3 cloves of garlic, crushed
  2 bay leaves
  thyme, one sprig
  small bunch of dill or fennel tops
  1 kilo very ripe fresh tomatoes or equivalent canned
  sea salt and black pepper
  1 tbs brown sugar
  1 tbs balsamic vinegar

Gigantes Plaki

1.  Heat oil in ovenproof casserole.
2.  Add onions and saute for 5 mins.
3.  Add celery, carrots, garlic and saute until soft.
4.  Add tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme and salt and pepper and cook for one hour.
5.  Remove bay leaves and thyme and stick blend until pureed into a thick sauce.
(Blending the sauce is not always done in Greece, instead they grate the onion and chop everything else really finely.  Blending is quicker and coats the beans better)
6.  Add cooked beans, brown sugar and balsamic and bunch of chopped dill (this is secret ingredient and gives this dish its distinctive flavour!) and cook in moderate oven, about 180C (with the lid on) for a further 1 hour.


Serve drizzled with olive oil and extra fresh dill or fennel.

Milos – the best swimming in the world!

TIP:  This dish is often served with the top a bit crusty – yum – to get this authentic look just remove the lid of the casserole 15 mins before cooked.  You can also add crumbled feta to the top.

TIP TOO:  This makes a large amount and I freeze batches of it until I need it.  It’s fantastic with eggs for breakfast, lamb dishes, seafood on the barbecue and grilled chicken (Greek style of course!!).  

MORE SIMPLE AND DELICIOUS BEAN DISHES TO TRY – just click on the link below

1. Tuscan kale and bean soup