Monthly Archives: February 2012

Lagana bread recipe for Clean Monday

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La la la la la la lagana!

See the Greek version of this postLent for the Greek Orhodox people starts on a Monday. Much neater that way, don’t you think?

I already posted the other day on Tsiknopempti, our BBQ Thursday. Then there is the Sunday of Apokreo – very similar to Halloween, but probably a bit more Dionysian in nature – when we dress up, eat, drink, dance and generally go a bit crazy.

The next day is Clean Monday, the start of the Great Lent, 40 days of no animal products whatsoever. Supposedly. Most Greeks don’t fast during Lent anymore. However, I’ve heard it’s quite good for detox to abstain from animal products now and again.

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Social media baking: Lagana Bread

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(refresh – this post is updated – working draft as I bake, take pics, video, update facebook (in Greek) and tweet (in English).) 

(This post was being updated while I was baking. Thank you for the nice comments and support on Facebook and twitter. Full normal post (and video) coming up) 

21:00

Check our the full normal recipe post with loads of pics and tips

17:45

It’s all gone Pete Tong. Or rather, half of the two laganas is gone. We chomped it all!

Baked each for 20 minutes and they came out lovely!

Here’s a quick pic and I will be uploading a full proper post (and video) tonight with full explanations of what the heck lagana bread is.

Lagana Bread done

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Tsiknopempti – the Greek BBQ Thursday and some survival tips

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If you ever happen to be walking around a Greek town or village and it seems that there are BBQ smells everywhere chances are it’s probably Tsiknopempti. (It could also be Easter Sunday but in that case the smell is the roasting lamb on a spit so you’ll know quite quickly which is which).

Tsiknopempti comes from the words tsikna (the characteristic bbq meat smell) and Pempti (Thursday). It comes about once a year, about two weeks before Lent starts.

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Onions stuffed with cheese by Dimitris

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Onions stuffed with cheese by Dimitris

See the Greek version of this postThere is a whole host of dishes we make in Greece which are classed as ‘meze‘. These are small (or big) plates of delicacies and nibbles (not prawns on stick or mini sausage rolls though) which are served with tsipouro (a.k.a. raki) or ouzo. Try not to drink the later if you’re not used to them. Meze can be simple – just a few slices of cheese and tomatoes, more complicated like boureki or just out-of-this-world, like today’s recipe.

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