Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/04/2015 (3854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
In cooking, timing can be everything. Back in 2007, Peter Minaki got a home computer and a digital camera and started blogging about food, at first just as a hobby.
Born in Toronto to parents who had emigrated from Greece, he found it natural to share his love of cooking.
“Being Greek, food is very much part of our culture, our heritage,” the 47-year-old Minaki explains. “We’re always talking about what we’re having for our next meal.”
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Warm Bean Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Lamb Chops.
Minaki’s day job was in the Toronto financial sector, but in 2008 the economic crisis hit, and he was finding it harder and harder to do business. At the same time, his food blog, www.kalofagas.ca, was taking off. He was getting catering gigs, slinging Greek specialties at street-food pop-up booths, and doing takeover dinners, where a chef moves into someone else’s kitchen for a night.
In 2011, Minaki decided to commit to food full-time. “I thought, if it doesn’t work out, I can always go back to the financial field,” he recalls.
“Here we are four years later, with two cookbooks,” Minaki says. (He published The Big Book of Mediterranean Recipes in 2014, and his first book, The Everything Mediterranean Cookbook, is currently in its second edition.) “Life is good. I don’t have to work in a cubicle.”
Minaki has also gotten into the supper-club phenomenon, which is taking off in big cities. The supper-club trend can involve foodie potlucks or underground chef-curated events at somebody’s house.
Sometimes, a chef offers a set menu for one night at a restaurant or a cooking studio. These are often elaborate multi-course meals with wine pairings for each course, often serving 50 to 60 people. Done right, the supper club combines the best of the restaurant experience with the ambience of a great dinner party.
“I started to do Greek supper clubs,” says Minaki. “It’s a good way to give people a taste of authentic Greek cuisine. I go back to Greece every summer and I bring back these memories and experiences, and I try to put them on the table.”
The Toronto-based Minaki will be flying into Winnipeg to host an April 20 Greek supper club at the Olympia Diner at 3253 Portage Ave. The menu is built around the regional cuisine of Laconia, in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The event should appeal to Winnipeg’s Greek community, as well as people who just want to be “Greek for a night,” says Minaki.
The supper club experience is “more personalized,” Minaki suggests. “It’s much like a cocktail party for the first hour. There’s an initial glass of wine, two or three appetizers passed around.”
It’s also a social experience. “We usually try to do a kind of long-table communal dining,” Minaki explains. “So it encourages people to sit beside a stranger and get to know somebody.”
The relaxed format gives Minaki a chance to give some background on the menu and share his love for Greek food, which he sees as healthy, accessible, versatile and full of glorious tastes.
“We’re bold with our flavours,” Minaki says. “It’s not a timid cuisine.”
Greek cooking is very simple, according to Minaki. “It’s best when you eat seasonally, as local as possible, and let the ingredients speak for themselves.”
Staples of Greek cooking include lamb, fish and seafood, loads of fresh produce like eggplants, tomatoes and figs, herbs like oregano and mint. And, of course, olive oil. “We’re not afraid to use it,” Minaki states. “It’s our sauce. We’ll make an emulsion with olive oil and lemon juice to drizzle over grilled meats, grilled fish.”
Keeping to Minaki’s philosophy of simple, fresh, bold food, I tried out two recipes from his blog. It made for a small at-home supper club experience, and the results were fantastic.
Lamb Chops
3 racks of lamb chops
125 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
5 ml (1 tsp) Dijon mustard
30 ml (2 tbsp) chopped fresh parsley
30 ml (2 tbsp) fresh thyme
Juice of 1/2 lemon
10 ml (2 tsp) fresh ground black pepper
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Lemon wedges
Dried Greek oregano
www.kalofagas.ca
Minaki has gotten involved in the supper-club phenomenon, which is taking off in larger cities.
In a shallow glass baking dish, add all the marinade ingredients (olive oil, garlic, mustard, parsley, thyme, lemon juice and 10 ml, or 2 tsp, black pepper) and stir to blend. Pour off and reserve about 1/3 of the marinade (for finishing the lamb chops). Add the lamb chops and ensure all the meat is coated with the marinade. Cover and place in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours. Ensure your grill surface is clean by brushing it and wipe it with vegetable oil. Return your lamb chops back to room temperature before grilling and preheat your gas or charcoal grill to a high heat (you want the meat to sizzle when it hits the heat). Season your lamb chops with salt and pepper. Grill your lamb chops for 3 minutes a side (medium/pink inside) and brush on the reserved marinade when cooked. Squeeze some lemon juice over the chops, sprinkle with some fleur de sel, and finish with some dried Greek oregano. Serves 4-6.
Tester’s notes: These chops are simple, easy and delicious. What could be better, especially if you can get fresh Manitoba lamb? Most racks have seven or eight ribs; I asked my butcher to cut them for me. Cooking times may vary slightly depending on the thickness of the chops.
I don’t think the recipe will be wrecked if you can’t put your hand to Greek oregano — Minaki is easygoing about substitutions — but the Greek variety is known to have a more intense, peppery flavour.
Warm Bean Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Mint
500 g (1 lb) fresh greens beans, ends trimmed
475 ml (1 pint) ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
30 ml (2 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil + 75 ml (1/3 cup) for dressing
15 ml (1 tbsp) grainy mustard
5 ml (1 tsp) honey
15 ml (1 tbsp) red wine vinegar
60 ml (1/4 cup) chopped fresh mint
2 ml (1/2 tsp) dried Greek oregano
60 ml (1/4 cup) finely chopped roasted almonds
15 ml (1 tbsp) sesame seeds, for garnish
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Place a large pot of water on your stovetop and bring to a boil. Season well with salt and add your beans, then cook for 5 minutes or until al dente. Drain and run cold water to just cool. Reserve.
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Place your halved cherry tomatoes on a small baking tray and drizzle with 30 ml, or 2 tbsp, olive oil and add the garlic, salt and pepper and place in a preheated 175 C (350 F) oven for 25-30 minutes or until just wrinkled. Remove from the oven.
In a large bowl, add the mustard, honey and wine vinegar and whisk to blend. Add some salt, pepper and a slow stream of olive oil until emulsified. Add beans, cherry tomatoes, mint, oregano and almonds and gently toss.
Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve. Serves 4.
Tester’s notes: I’m in love with this salad, and so is everyone in my house. It’s packed with strong, distinct flavours and textures that blend together beautifully. I especially like the way the roasted tomato juices mix in with the dressing.
— Recipes www.kalofagas.ca.
Alison Gillmor
Writer
Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto’s York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992.
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Dining and Cooking