Shrimp: Santorini to Vancouver | Sara’s Weeknight Meals

The impossibly romantic Greek island of Santorini is our destination for a walk in the tiny village of Meglachore, where Sara samples the famous local wine on the edge of the Caldera. Then she joins local chef Christos Tyrantasyllopoulos to make three famous Greek dishes: Greek salad, Tzatziki and Shrimp Saganaki. And speaking of shrimp – some of the best in the world come from Vancouver where the local Spot Prawns are almost a religion. Sara learns their secrets from a Vancouver fisherman, then joins a local to make Spot Prawn Risotto.

Legendary TV chef Sara Moulton travels the globe to discover the kind of easy weeknight recipes cooked by mothers and grandmothers the world over. She meets locals at markets, food stands, shops and farms to discover age old food traditions. Along the way she shares the tips, tricks and recipes that have made her one of America’s most beloved cooking teachers.

Subscribe to Hungry for more Sara’s Weeknight Meals!

#recipes #saramoulton #cooking

(light upbeat music) Today on “Sara’s
Weeknight Meals”, we visit the magical
Greek island of Santorini, (light upbeat music) and discover its many charms. – In Santorini, we have a motto, save water, drink wine. (Sara laughing) – [Sara] Okay. (glasses clinking) – Yamas.
– Yamas. – Yamas.
– Okay. From a cliff with
a gobsmacking view, to a little village with
a salty Greek grandmother. Oh, yeah. That’s a little risque. And then, the
great Greek dishes, salad, tzatziki, and. – [Christos] Saganaki shrimp. It’s shrimps-
– Mhm. – With fresh tomatoes,
and feta on the top. – That sounds like a
perfect weeknight meal. Then it’s beautiful Vancouver, and their legendary spot prawns. – They taste like
lobster, don’t they? – They do. They came straight from the
docks from a secret spot. You’re not gonna tell me, huh? – We’re not gonna tell anybody. – Oh, and I was planning on going fishing.
– Yeah. – [Sara] Then we stirred
and stirred the prawns into a divine lemon risotto. – So you just keep at that, why don’t you, Sara?
– All right, you just go read a book. Shrimp around the world, today
on “Sara’s Weeknight Meals”. (gentle music) (bright music) Is it the famous sunset
into the Blue Sea, or the white houses
spilling down the sides of a long extinct volcano? Whatever it is, the
Greek island of Santorini is an exceptionally
romantic place. (bright upbeat music) Where else would
this be a thing? Or this? (bright upbeat music) Well, I guess you could
say this is my thing, or one of them, but I’m
getting ahead of myself. I’m here to cook, as
usual, in Megalochori, the village that
the flying dress, betrothed tourists forgot. And from the looks of things,
I’ve come to the right place, cliff side at
Venetsanos Winery, with, Christos.
– Tyrantasyllopoulos. – Let’s just call him
Christos, a local chef, he teaches at his Gastronomy
Center of Santorini. – In Santorini, we have a motto, save water, drink wine. (Sara laughing) We, and here-
– I like it here, I knew I did. Yes. – Everybody.
– Mhm. – And, Venetsanos
is one of the oldest and most famous
winery in this island. In Greece, we say, “Yamas.” Yamas means cheers, good
health, health to us. – [Sara] Okay.
(glasses clinking) – Yamas.
– Yamas. – Yamas.
– Okay. (gentle upbeat music) – This is Venetsanos- – Ooh, that is delicious.
– Yes. That’s the most famous
variety at this island. This is Venetsanos, you
can find only in Santorini. – Oh.
– Sundried grapes for at least 10 days. – [Sara] So they get raisin-y. – You never tried
something like this. – I love the texture, too, it’s a little bit of-
– Okay. We can take one with us. – You’re gonna show me
three very Greek dishes, I can’t wait.
– Got it. (glasses clinking) Yamas.
– Yamas. (gentle acoustic music) This is such a charming town. Are all the towns
in Greece like this? – No, no, this is Megalochori,
it’s the most traditional and picturesque village.
– Yes. – It’s quiet.
– It is. (gentle acoustic music) – I love living here. – Yes, I can see why.
– Oh, here, the loyalty lady, Catina. – Catina. Hello, Sara. (Christos speaking in Greek) (Catina speaking in Greek) – That rhymed, but
what did it mean? – No, no, if comes
the end of the world, she want to know in whose
bed you are sleeping. – Oh, dear. That’s a little risque. It’s been charming to meet you. (Christos speaking in Greek) Is that what I say? (Catina speaking in Greek) – Another one.
– Oh, dear! Oh no, that was good,
that was excellent. Thank you. (Christos and Catina
speaking in Greek) – Bye-bye! (Catina speaking in Greek) – Oh, dear, she’s still going. (bells chiming) What a character was she, yikes! But it’s time to cook,
just up the street, we’ll make three
classic Greek dishes. (gentle acoustic music) (cucumber scraping)
(birds chirping) You know, I don’t
normally get to cook in a gorgeous spot like
this, but, I’ll take it. What are we making
today, to begin with? – Tzatziki, tzatziki,
our national Greek sauce. So we can start with the yogurt. – That is serious Greek yogurt. And it’s really thick. And, it’s what you
call Greek yogurt, you didn’t strain
it or anything? – No. – I’m gonna say-
– And, here in Greece, we don’t say Greek yogurt,
of course it’s Greek. – Of course.
– Just yogurt. We just say yogurt.
– Of course it is, yeah. That looks about one
and three-quarters cups. Okay.
– Mm, yes. – [Sara] Mhm, wow,
that is thick. – One secret ingredient,
extra olive oil. This is from Kalamata.
– That’s Greek. – I think that we- – Kalamata.
– Kalamata, I think it’s the best in the world.
– Okay. – So.
– Okay, and what do you think,
how many tablespoons? – Two.
– Two. Okay.
– And, look, mix. – This guy doesn’t
measure, but that’s okay, we’re gonna have the recipe
exactly put up on the website. Okay, next. – [Christos] Sea salt. – [Sara] We are by the sea. – Have a lot of sea
salt, so some of that. – It’s right out your back door. – And pepper.
– Pepper. – Fresh ground black pepper.
– Mhm. – [Christos] And then
white wine vinegar, that’s for the acidity. – What was that,
about two tablespoons? – Two tablespoons.
– Two tablespoons, okay. (lively acoustic music) Could you make a batch
and keep it in the fridge for like five days, a week? – Yes, of course.
– Yeah, yeah. – [Christos] Next, you
have chopped the garlic. – [Sara] I have, do
you want all of this? – Tzatziki without
garlic, it’s not tzatziki, it’s yogurt for the breakfast. – Oh dear, okay.
– So. – It’s like a day
without sunshine. There we go, that’s
a lot of garlic, but I think that’s
about two cloves. – We love garlic. – Yes, well, it’s
so good for you. – And, now-
– The cucumber. – The cucumber, I have
started to grate it. – Now you have different kind
of cucumbers, right, here? – Yes, this cucumber
has not a lot of- – Juice.
– Juice, so, we don’t need to salt it. – So, if it’s a juicy cucumber,
you grate it, salt it, leave it for a little
while, then you squeeze out all the excess juice. – [Christos] And, I tell
you another one secret. – [Sara] Yeah? – And, I see that to your show. – You saw that on my show.
– Yes. (Christos laughing) – And you went and-
– And I buy one. – Oh, make my day. It’s like we’re communicating
across continents. I’ve done my job.
– Mhm. And remember, tzatziki,
it’s better after two hours, or the next day. – So, do we taste it now-
– Yeah. – Or we taste it later? – No, we taste it now. – Mm, mm! Mm, oh my goodness,
that’s so good already. – So fresh and so- – Oh!
– Oh. I put this, refrigerate,
and I come back. – Okay. (lively acoustic music) – Next, the Greek salad.
– Oh. – We don’t have the
same Greek salad. – We don’t?
– No. – What’s different?
– You add, you put lettuce in
the Greek salad. – I guess, yeah, we do. – No, never.
– Never. – Never.
– Oh my God. – I show you the
original Greek salad. – Okay, let’s go.
– The authentic recipes. So simple. First, the tomatoes. – That looks like about
three plum tomatoes that you quartered. And next? – [Christos] Next, the cucumber. – And that looks like about
a half a cucumber sliced. And one green bell
pepper, sliced. Could you use red?
– Green, yes you can, of course.
– As long as you don’t use lettuce. – Slices of red onions-
– Red onion. – Why red onions?
– Why? – Are stronger and
better than the white. – [Sara] Okay. Kalamata olive-
– Kalamata olives. (lively acoustic music) – [Sara] The olives
are even better here. – Now, I salt it.
– Okay. Sea salt.
– Sea salt. – From around here.
– From around here. Then, I use thyme. – Dried thyme?
– Dried thyme. And then, the feta. – The feta.
– I cut it in half. – That looks beautiful. Is that sheep or cows or? – Sheep and goat milk.
– Sheep and goat. – Goat milk.
– Okay. Oh, that’s so pretty. Oh, now what is this? – Ah, that’s amazing. – That’s so funny, it looks
like a teething biscuit. (birds chirping) (biscuit crunching) – You can decorize-
– Mm! I’m sorry, this one, I keep. (Christos laughing) Mm, that is really good.
– You see? And-
– Yummy. – Extra virgin olive oil.
– Oh, of course. – [Christos] All around- – And that’s-
– From Kalamata. That’s only Greek.
– The best. – And, a little bit here.
– Little more thyme. – Yes.
– Okay. – [Christos] That’s
our Greek salad. – So simple, and no lettuce-
– Without lettuce, yeah, no lettuce.
– No lettuce, never, never, never. (lively acoustic music) What’s next? – [Christos] Saganaki shrimp. It’s shrimps.
– Mhm. – With fresh tomatoes,
crushed tomatoes, and feta on the top. – That sounds like a
perfect weeknight meal. So, tell me, why do
you grate the tomatoes? – It’s more delicious and
has more flavor, you will see – You’re essentially
making a puree and losing the skin
at the same time. – Ah, yes, it’s my trick. Okay.
– All right, so how do we- – [Christos] We start it. – Olive oil, of course.
– Olive oil, of course, extra virgin from- – Kalamata.
– Kalamata. – So that looks like about
two tablespoons of olive oil, tell me about these shrimps. – We call Vathy
shrimps, from Vathy. We can found for three,
four months every year, we are very lucky-
– Wow, those are gorgeous. And, how long do you cook ’em? – Mm, about one minute,
it’s just to give flavor. – [Sara] And then after
they’ve cooked, what happens? – You see the magic liquid here? – Looks like water. (Christos laughing)
– It’s not water. – Let me smell it.
– Dangerous water. (Christos laughing) – Woo, what is in there? – This is raki,
makes from grapes, serves in salts, always
cold, and make yamas. – Oh, no, no more yamas, are we gonna yamas again? – Again, yamas. – Do you ever flame it?
– Yes, yes, I flame it, but here we have wind,
we have a church, so. – A church, we don’t flame-
– Yes, we don’t risk. – We don’t flame near
a church, I get that. Oh, that looks wonderful. You’re just sort of reducing
it down a little bit, huh? – Mhm. (stove beeping) (pan clanging) Same pan, of course. – More olive oil.
– More olive oil. – I’m beginning to
think you’re Italian. (Christos laughing) You know how much
olive oil they use, but yours, of course, is-
– In the Mediterraneans, we use olive oil-
– A lot of olive oil. That’s why you’re so healthy. Okay, so some onions.
– Onions, red onion. We’re cooking for one minute
before we add the bell pepper. – [Sara] Looks about
one chopped, that’s- – [Christos] Next- – Tomato paste.
– Tomato paste. This is from
Santorinian tomatoes, it’s triple compressed. – Oh, so that’s local also, and that’s a lot
of tomato paste, it’s like about
three tablespoons. And so, you’re cooking it-
– Yes. – Which sort of catalyzes it.
– Yes. – When do we put the garlic in? – Now’s the time.
– Oh, now’s the time. There we go. – Salt.
– There we go. – Now, it’s time. (Sara gasping) – For the tomato.
– Tomatoes. (lively acoustic music) With the seeds, you see?
– Mhm. – Salt.
– Salt. – And then.
– Oh. Pepper flakes.
– The chili, yes, pepper flakes, chili pepper. – [Sara] And now what,
this just cooks for a bit? – Five, 10 minutes.
– Okay. – Lower heat last minute. – Shrimp go back in.
– Go back in. Cook this for
another one minute, all the ingredients. (lively music) – Ah, the feta.
– It’s time for the feta. – Okay.
– A little bit melted. – [Sara] Some thyme. – [Christos] Thyme. – And that’s it? – And that’s it.
– Wow. – And we need some
crusty bread with that, don’t you?
– We have, we have. – Okay, I’m sure you do. Well, now we have to go eat
all the yummy things we made. – Yes, I think we are ready.
– Okay. (gentle acoustic music) I can’t wait to
try these shrimp, ’cause they’re so different. – We drink wine, you
have taste the raki. – I have. When do you normally have
raki, what time of day? – At night, with
your good friends. – Mhm. The shrimp is really sweet.
– Mm. – Mm.
– Mm. – Lovely texture, I love
the spice in this too, and the tomatoes,
the hot pepper- – And the tomatoes, yes.
– Hot pepper flakes. Mm. – And the tzatziki, so fresh.
– Well, it is. Well, I have to say, yamas. – Yamas, now you know. (gentle acoustic music)
(birds chirping) Ah, so fresh.
– Mm. Okay, we deserve it after all that hard cooking.
– Yes. – I’m mixing things, got the
tzatziki with the shrimp. – Sorry.
– Mm. – I want there to be more.
– Mm. (upbeat music) Vancouverites love their food, stuff we Americans have never
heard of, like Japadogs, ketchup chips, Nanaimo bars,
and especially spot prawns. They shipped them to Asia
until Chef Robert Clark put them on the menu and
unleashed spot prawn mania, now the critters have
their own festival. In May, folks pay 40
bucks a pound for them at False Creek Wharf, that’s where I met
fisherman, Stewart McDonald. Is this where I can
get some spot prawns? – Yes, it is.
– Are you Stewart? – I am Stewart-
– Oh, great. – Nice to meet you. – When did spot prawns
become such a big deal? – People recognize that
they’re the best prawns in the world. They’re delicious, it’s
sustainable, it’s well managed, and we don’t over fish,
and every year there’s more than the year before. – Where do they live,
and how do you know where to go?
– They’re hard to find. – Oh.
– Trial and error. – Oh, so this is a-
– Those are our secret spots, so we don’t give out those.
– Oh, okay, you’re not gonna tell me, huh? – We’re not gonna tell anybody. – Oh, and I was planning
on going fishing. – Yeah, well. – Or I guess that
isn’t gonna happen. – You’ll have to figure
out for yourself. – [Sara] What makes
’em spot prawns? Where are the-
– One, two, three, four. They always have those
four white spots. – Okay, I understand
they’re a little strange, in that they sort of are, just change.
– Yeah, yeah, yeah, so a smaller one like this, is a male.
– Oh. – And, so the first three
years they live, they’re males. – Okay.
– And then they transition to females.
– Really? – And a bigger one like
that, in the wintertime, will grow eggs, and have
a nice big egg sack, like a shrimp there.
– Oh. – Then they hatch,
then they die. They’re hermaphrodites. – And guess what’s on the menu. Now, you’re gonna join
us for dinner tonight, I think we’re turning
this into some yummy dish. – Well, I’ll be there,
it sounds delicious. I love spot prawns, I like
catching ’em, I like eating ’em. – Okay, perfect.
– There you go. – All right, thank you.
– That’s all yours. – Thank you!
– See you at dinner. – [Sara] Yes. (bright upbeat music) Hey, Jane. – Hey, Sara.
– Look what I brought you. – Spot prawns.
– Yes. – Vancouver special. – Yes, this is true. You’ll never guess
where I got ’em from. (Jane laughing) Cousin Stewart.
– Excellent. Well I promise to show
you what to do with those, and I’ve got everything
ready in the kitchen. – Well, let’s go do it.
– Okay. You wanna know
what we’re making? – Yes, tell me.
– Well, we’re making lemon risotto that has asparagus and spot prawns in it.
– Ooh, yay. – [Jane] Yeah, it’s a big
favorite this time of year. (upbeat music) – I’m in the home of Jane
Macdougall, here in Vancouver, and I’m so excited because we
are taking the star ingredient of Vancouver,
namely spot prawns, and we’re gonna turn it into? – Lemony risotto with
asparagus and spot prawns, and we’re starting with a
stock made from the shells of the spot prawns.
– Wait a second, wait a second, there’s
heads in there, too. – Well, that’s right,
’cause that’s where most of the flavor is, and
you never cook a spot prawn with its head on, so
you take eight cups of rinsed prawn shells,
and four quarts of water. Ooh, boy, these are
prickly, I gotta tell you. (Sara and Jane laughing) – They’re attacking you. – To this, we are going to add
a rib of celery, one carrot, and half of an onion,
and so it’s all going in the pot.
– A classic mirepoix. – Exactly. (bright acoustic music) Now, that’s going to
simmer for about one hour. – Okay.
– But, as luck would have it, I’ve already made some.
– Oh, ’cause you’re just such a smart cookie. – And we’re gonna bring over. – So you strained that,
you started with 16 cups, and after you strain
it, you end up with- – [Jane] That’s what we’re
down to, about eight, yeah. So it’s ready for
us, for the risotto, we’re gonna need about
24 spears of asparagus, I’m gonna need you to
break off the woody ends, and then we’re gonna blanche
them in the prawn stock. – Oh!
– Which will add, I think, a really nice flavor.
– The flavor. – Yeah, exactly.
– The flavor, yeah. – So, we can cut those up
into about one inch sections, and then after they’ve
been into the prawn stock, we’re gonna take them
into the ice bath. – Oh, right.
– Yeah. – Set the color,
stop the cooking, do all the good things we want. I can tell you’ve taken
your CIA grad also. You’re a CIA grad.
– We’re gonna shock them! – I did a boot class there,
and it was marvelous. – Oh, I bet it was.
– You know what I learned? I learned how little I knew
about cooking, my goodness, those people are-
– Those chefs will make you feel tiny every time. – Okay, wonderful. Now we’re gonna take the
chopped up asparagus, and we are going to
blanche it, not in water, but in the prawn stock. While that’s blanching, can
you mince two cloves of garlic? The,
(knife clanging) oh, I love it when
someone does that. So let’s get the asparagus out, I figure it’s just about ready. – [Sara] Mhm. And then what are we
moving onto, what’s next? – Prawns. About a pound and a
half of shelled prawns. So, we’re going to add about
four tablespoons of oil to this pan here, now this
step happens pretty quickly, because what we don’t wanna do is overcook these spot prawns.
– Got it. – And, they will be ready
to go in about, oh gosh, you know, like a minute or two, maximum.
– Oh, dear. And you need some
lemon juice, right? – Oh yeah, we’re gonna
definitely need lemon juice. The moment they have achieved
the appropriate degree of doneness, they become pink. – Oh, like shrimp.
– Yeah. Yeah, very much like shrimp. – [Sara] So you’re
gonna want the zest and the juice of two
lemons for the whole dish, but right now, you just
need a little lemon for the- – Yeah, we just wanna give
these guys a little flavor. I think we are just about ready, now I’m gonna add the
juice of half a lemon. And then, we are going to
oh so swiftly transfer them. – [Sara] Boy, does
that look good- – Doesn’t it?
– Already. (bright music) What do you think if I ate one? – Ah.
– Would that be okay? – Yeah, well try it with a
little salt and pepper on them, see what you think. – Mm.
– They’re good, aren’t they? They really are good, they’re better-
– Wow. – Way better than
regular shrimp. – Whoa, hey.
– They taste like lobster, don’t they? – They do.
– Yeah. There we go, okay, so now
we’re gonna add in the onions. Now this next step is
called the sofrito, which is to say we’re
going to basically just cook these
onions down a bit, so that they’re translucent. I think now would not be a
bad time to add the garlic. (bright music) Smell that instantly. Oh, who doesn’t love that? – Oh, I love garlic.
– And I do not know why women don’t wear
garlic behind their ears. – I know, really.
– Yeah. – [Sara] Yeah. – But now we’re going to
add three cups of rice. We’re using the Carnaroli,
the king of risotto rices, and we’re now going
to make the next step, which is called the tostatura. – Oh, goodness gracious, you
know all the Italian words. – Yeah, I love it. Well, it’s just a fancy
word for toasting. So what we’re doing is we’re
coating each grain of rice with the fat that we’ve
already got in here, and we will know when it’s
done, what it’s supposed to do, when there’s a degree
of translucency to
each grain of rice. And we are ready,
now, to add the wine. And, the wine goes in
first, because it gives you sort of a structure, you
know, a flavor structure. Two cups of white wine. (bright music) (pot sizzling) There we go. – Ooh.
– The risotto is saying hello. The trick is to make sure
that all of this absorbs, and absorbs, and absorbs, and every time it absorbs,
we add more liquid. So, we will switch from
wine to prawn stock. This is also known as a death
dish, you wanna know why? – I don’t know, I’m scared. – Hey, come and
stir it for a while. You’re standing over
a hot stove, stirring, because it’s all
about the stirring. It is starting to absorb, but
it’s still got a ways to go. – Yeah.
– So you just keep at that, why don’t you, Sara?
– All right, you just go read a book. I’ll just stand here,
it’s fine, it’s fine. I don’t mind, hand
me that wine, yeah. – Okay, that’s good,
so the wine is now almost completely
absorbed, and we’re gonna start adding in the prawn
stock, and we’ll add it in one ladle at a time. The important thing is
that the stock is hot, and that the risotto
is simmering. – I’ll tell you what, I’ll
take one for the team, I’ll just keep stirring, I will, and don’t we need to set
the table for our guests? – Okay, I’ll go do that, you carry on.
– Okay. Yeah, you’re not dummy. (Sara laughing) (bright music) That’s looking pretty
darn good, though. – Yeah, I’d say so.
– Mhm. Should I drain the asparagus? – Yes.
– Right? Look at how gorgeous
and green this is. – Mm, I know, it’s gorgeous.
– Oh, wow, that is springtime, right there. – We’ve got two cups of
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. – Uh-huh. – So, that can just basically
get dumped in on top, I’ll fold it. Now, add the lemon zest. – You know, lemon is one
of my favorite ingredients, and lemon zest, ’cause it’s
got all the lemon oil in it, so-
– It makes a big difference, doesn’t it?
– It does. – Yeah. The lemon juice.
– Okay. – [Jane] How about
a knob of butter? And, I mean, we were talking
about two tablespoons, but. – [Sara] More? – [Jane] If you wanna
go four tablespoons, I’m not gonna stop you.
– I won’t tell anybody. – I happen to like
a lot of pepper. – Me too.
– Yeah. – [Sara] Me too, I’m
right there with ya. – Yeah. (pepper grinding) We should definitely travel
together, butter, pepper. – Yeah, yeah.
(Jane laughing) Clearly. – We’re going to fold
in the asparagus. (bright acoustic music) Oh, so the risotto itself
will warm the asparagus. – Let’s do it.
– The prawns. – Mhm.
– Okay- – [Sara] With all
this yummy juice. – Oh, absolutely,
that’s critical. (bright acoustic music) I’m just gonna move ’em
around just a little bit. (bright acoustic music) One for you, one for me?
– Yes. – And then one for
the rest of them. – Yes.
– Good. (bright acoustic music) There you go, one for you.
– Mhm. I’ll do the garnie. (bright acoustic music) – [Jane] Oh, that is
such a happy thing. – All right, I’m gonna
bring the pepper, let’s head on out. (bright acoustic music) There we go, so what
are we having with our, what did you pick, what wine? – Sauvignon blanc.
– Oh. The same one we put in-
– Exactly, yeah. – Oh, everybody
should be eating. I have a rule in my house,
one is served and all may eat, ’cause you must eat
it while it’s hot. (bright acoustic music) – It’s amazing, it’s a-
– Mhm. – The difference between
this and the regular prawn, it’s just crazy, it’s-
– Right, right. – [Guest] Yeah. – We made it, he caught them. – Yes. – You guys get to enjoy it.
– Yes, we like that. – Why are they
called spot prawns? – Stewart can tell you that. – No, no, I learned-
– Oh, all right. – ‘Cause they have four
little spots on ’em. Four, right? – Four white spots,
same spot every time. – Yeah, yeah.
– Weird. – They’re consistent that way. All right, so everybody, I
have a toast, I have a toast, no surprise here. To the star of the day,
what did we make today, what do you call it? (Jane laughing) – We called it,
oh, the death dish. Right, the death dish. – I got stuck, really. When I did switch hitting,
I got really, you know, really buff now, yeah.
– It’s a bit of a workout. – But anyway, to the
spot prawn, yeah, yeah. – [Guest] Oh yeah. (bright acoustic music)