Can You Guess The Secret Ingredient?

In this delicious Part 2 of our onboard cooking adventure, we dive into the art of making Seafood Saganaki — a traditional Greek dish that blends fresh seafood, ripe tomatoes, feta cheese, and a splash of Ouzo for that authentic island flavor! 🦐🍅🧀

Join me aboard the Celestyal Journey as the ship’s chef walks us through each step of this classic Greek recipe — all while we cruise through the stunning Aegean Sea. 🌊🇬🇷

If you love Greek food, Mediterranean cooking, and cruise travel, you’ll love this flavorful episode from my Alisa’s Adventures In Cruising series. Don’t forget to catch Part 1, where our onboard cooking class begins with the chef and our cruise director Teresa!

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🕒 Chapters:

00:00 – Welcome back aboard the Celestyal Journey
00:38 – Introduction to today’s Greek dish: Seafood Saganaki
02:05 – Ingredients overview: fresh shrimp, mussels, tomatoes & feta
03:45 – Chef’s tips for the perfect Saganaki sauce
06:10 – Adding the seafood and signature Ouzo flair
08:25 – Plating the finished dish — the Greek way!
09:30 – Taste test and final thoughts
10:15 – Thank you from Alisa’s Adventures In Cruising

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🔖 Hashtags:

#CelestyalJourney #GreekFood #SeafoodSaganaki #CruiseCookingClass #GreeceCruise #CookingAtSea #GreekCuisine #MediterraneanFlavors #CruiseLife #AlisasAdventuresInCruising #TravelVlog

Woo! Thank you for not burning them. Hi guys, welcome back to Celestial Journey. I thought I would bring you the second part of the cooking demonstration we attended while on board. In this second part, um Teresa and the chef will show us how to make seafood saganaki. It was delicious. And then the little theater uh room that we came and did the demonstrations in the morning. Next question please. Is anyone allergic to seafood? One, then this recipe is not for you. But you can use the same recipe of making the sauce. But if you’re allergic to seafood, you want more satik and pizza. Just just now everyone likes feta cheese. No. No. One. No. Two. No. Two. No. Feta cheese. Three. Oh, no feta cheese. Okay. No cheese. Okay. Okay. So, let’s see the seafood before everything else. Okay. We have here calamari squid. Calamari. We have muscles with no shell. Okay. I have mediumsized shrimps already clean. Yes. Yeah. Please don’t take the one that you need to bring. I have clams and I have muscles with shell. Okay. Now, something common that we are making here in Greece is all with muscle or with shrimps. Okay. Don’t forget budget. If you want to show off, put them all salary. Yes. Yeah. Now, we need stove. Medium heat, medium heat, not medium low, medium high. You need to be on the top. On the top, you cannot leave. So that means that you need to have all your ingredients ready cut. Why? Because if I say I need chopped onion, chopped garlic. If I chop my onion and after that I say okay, let’s chop the garlic now, you will burn everything. Yes. So, chopped onion, chopped garlic. Someone to cook it. Chef, we need tomato sauce. If I don’t have the time to chop a bunch of tomatoes, because if I have the time, instead of using tomato sauce, you can use chopped fresh tomatoes. It will give another sensation to your dish. Yes, but if I don’t have Teresa time, what you talking about? I need to go. No way. So, tomato sauce and please add one or two chopped tomatoes. It will change all the taste. Yes. So, I need this oregano. Yes. Buy oregano for the end. And if you have do you have uh do you have a garden? If I have I will take I me neither. I have a supermarket close to me. Yeah. So I have a garden and I have herbs. If I have time fresh time I use at the end at the end. If I go to the supermarket and I take like let’s say thyme but dry thyme I use it at the beginning because time is doing what? Pops. Time pops. Oregano birds. So dry oregano at the end, dry thyme at the beginning, fresh thyme at the end, fresh oregano at the end as well. Thank you. So feta cheese I’m not saying the quantity feta cheese is as much basically me a lot. Yes, it has to be. And here I’m using the olive oil I was using before. I don’t want to cook. I want to sauté. Yes. Saute. And now don’t forget on the age of my grandmother, they were doing everything with olive oil, frying, cooking, everything now. No. Smells so nice. Smells so my eyes are burning. I am free for hugs later. Yes, we smell onions. And I have a question that we’ll use later. Do you know? Okay, I have I have youngsters here. Okay, so for the ones over 18 is in Greek the age to drink. Yes, 18 US 21. So, do we know what is this? That’s 40% alcohol. Okay, let’s let’s discuss this later. But keep this in mind. We need this to cook now, not to drink. cook. So we add no like this. So we put the calamari the squid first. Why I put the squid first when I know that if I put the squid and I leave it in 30 seconds will be like rubber. Yes. But squid it’s from is the seafood that needs more time to take the flavors. That’s why you are on the top and you steer. Yes. You don’t lift. You steer all the time. Now ladies, if you have your phone next to you and you like talking on the phone while cooking, so I’m the only one, please. Airphone. Yes. Plug it in. Plug it in. And still keep cooking. Next one. Shrimps. You put them all brown. Thank you. So, mediumsiz shrimps. When you will cook the shrimps, what will happen automatically? From medium to become All right. Yeah. Small. Can I give you a When you will go and you will make it with shrimps. Mhm. You will buy one big pack of medium size. Mhm. Ready like this. Clean. Ready. And you will buy as well a pack of big size. You will put all the medium size in your seafood tag and you will put not many some big. So at the end for the presentation you put the big on the top. Yeah, it’s true. Works. Good tip. Yes. I the I now for the muscles. Put put foot put foot put it. So muscles muscles no shell cheaper right? Yeah. But you eat So a big pack of muscles no shell. And you have a pack of muscles with shell. You make it only with muscles. All the pack with no shell and some with a shell presentation shell on the top. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Why not? Thank you so much. Now clowns just to show off. Yes. Yes. But doesn’t matter. Let him put. Now, this is a recipe that can be ready in 20 minutes, 20 minutes, even 15 minutes cooking. Yes. Now, something really important. This is an appetizer. Originally, this is an appetizer. What is the Greek word for appetizers? Me, me. Now, do I have Spanish people here? Tapas. Tapas. We call it tapas. Tapas because everyone has been to eat tapas. Tapas in a wine. Tapas in Greek. Me. Now you want. Uhoh. Wait. Put pause on the me. Yes. Pause. Okay. Can I ask now something? Who’s doing at home? We have. I burned my kitchen twice. That’s why I’m asking. I did it twice. So, ready? Put you after. Thank you for not burning the feeling, which is okay. It’s done. Why is flambe is important, ladies and gentlemen? Burns off the alcohol. Evaporates all the alcohol. Why we don’t need the alcohol? Excuse me. Because it will get beat if I leave it and I won’t burn it. Do you know what will happen? You know so okay empty. Bravo. So don’t even bring this close to me. So still burns. He puts a lot evaporates the alcohol. The extra alcohol. So we have at the end what stays is the aroma. Cooking seafood, we like the anise. Yes, it’s the aroma of anise. Now, you would tell me yesterday, but I don’t want to use alcohol on my dish or it’s not easy to find uzo back home probably. So, what you going to do? The best souvenir I will be honest with you. The best souvenir to buy from Greece is a small bottle small I’m not taking small bottle of olive oil. If you’re not making yours, yes, you’re making yours, bring me in exchange. And a small bottle of uzo or something that is not easy to find at home or if you find it’s too expensive. Yes. Like something I have I don’t drink uzo obvious reasons. So I have one small bottle for cooking. Ah. Now if you don’t want to use for cooking, do you know the aesthetics the the stars the they the stars? Yes. So what you do you put it in a cloth in a cloth and the beginning of your cooking section at home you put the cloth inside. Mhm. When you when your dish is done, you remove the cloth. Put put Oh, you put it on tomato sauce. after the uso, not before. After the usuzo, you put the tomato sauce and of course the chopped tomatoes, which I love. I prefer to cook with chop both. Now, I don’t have I don’t have the stars. I have a good bottle of white wine. Do I use or not? Yes. Yes. Question. Who will use the wine that is almost ready to discard? Mhm. Are we going to use it for cooking? Yeah. No, no. Okay. I will tell you I at the beginning when I start cooking, I was thinking I need to use it. I need to use it because you know anyway, I would throw it away. Whatever you use on your dish, the quality that you will use, you will taste. So if you want to use a wine, you use the wine that you will drink because you will feel it. So I don’t have uzo. I use white wine. Yes. For fish, seafood, white wine or uzo. So you steer. Don’t put the feta. Still. Okay. Again, I have three. No feta. Three. No feta. Okay. So I don’t like feta. Is anyone else that came now doesn’t like feta cheese? One. Two, three, three, three. Okay. So, you steer. You steer. Don’t forget when you will turn it off, it will still continue the cook process, right? So, it’s need more than 10 minutes basically for the seafood. More time you need for the garlic and the onion basically and the tomato sauce to mix all together. Now we need three plates empty. Sorry. Empty. Yes. So question. Four plates. Four. Four. Four. Four. Four. Four. Four. No. You can do this without cheese as well, but you cannot call it. Yes. You call it Greek seafood. Now remember I will tell you because saganaki is whatever has the tomato sauce and the cheese. Okay. Yes. That’s why we call it saganaki. And because we have cheese, tomato sauce plus seafood. Seafood sanaki. Now this is a mess. You can you can serve it as it is small. Yes. Maz. But we want it for main dish. What you will add? pasta. Pasta. What else? Rice. When I ask as well. Yes. What else we can add? I will tell you. No one else. Now, if you’re Greek, you will feel it. If you’re not Greek, you will say, “What are you talking about?” Summertime grandma’s house. Fried potatoes. Ah. Homemade. Huh? Homemade fried potatoes. Something that really common in grandma’s grandma’s house. All Greek people are doing the same until now. It’s not helping. I know. Except if you have what you how you call it an air fryer. An air fryer. Yes. Except you have an air fryer. Yeah. But like original uh Fried potatoes. You will tell me is not healthy. But what to do? Grandma is grandma. Grandma. Okay. So, you use it however you want. If I don’t want to use pasta or rice or pa bread or I don’t want to use ket, I can make a really nice really nice fish fillet, grilled fish fillet and put it on the side. This to be your side. Yes. Or stir fry all fresh vegetables and put it on the side. Or if you want a nice salad, let salad like and put it on the side because this has everything. Now, have you been to a Greek taivera? Yes. Not fancy restaurant. I need to like ta think so. So I will tell you no no no feta cheese they’re coming now raise your hand one here two there one my lady in the middle they will show you Oh, heat.