Welcome summer with a fresh and original Greek Salad
Just because there's goat's cheese in it doesn't mean you get to call it Greek
Greek Salad is dish known worldwide. Many restaurants in London include it in their menus, even if they don’t do Greek cuisine, and most probably you have tasted it at least once. Most people may think that there is no specific recipe for a Greek Salad. If you consider a Greek Salad to be just tomatoes, green leaves and feta cheese, like the one from the JCR and the Library Café, then you need to take a look at the recipe below that includes all the ingredients you need and some useful do’s and don’ts.
What you need
1) Medium sized tomatoes DO NOT use rotten tomatoes, put them aside for Italian pasta.
2) Cucumber Any kind will be fine. Besides, it adds more freshness than taste.
3) Red onion No specific clarification is required here. Just be sure to pick the right one for you: not too mild, not too strong.
4) Green pepper DO NOT use red, orange, or any other kind of pepper.
5) Feta cheese In the UK, people tend to use creamy feta cheese. DO NOT use it though. Feta isn’t supposed to be creamy.
6) Extra virgin olive oil If you decide to be stingy at this point please abandon this recipe. DO use the best olive oil you can find and if you don’t manage to get it send me an email and I’ll get you some from Greece in September.
7) Vinegar Optional. Used to add taste. DO NOT use balsamic!
8) Oregano Like vinegar, it gives taste. As before, if you can’t find good oregano, email me and I’ll ring my grandpa to cut some from Cephalonia’s mountains.
9) Kalamata olives DO NOT use any other kind of olives, especially not any green olives.
Procedure
Here’s the thing: there shouldn’t be a procedure. Greek Salad is synonymous to simplicity, so the least time it gets you to cut the tomatoes, cucumber and peppers, peel the onion and spread the feta cheese pieces the best your salad will be. That said I am not implying that you must rush. Just keep in mind to choose the right ingredients and good olive oil. Lastly, don’t forget possibly the most crucial thing when it comes to enjoying a Greek Salad properly: the so-called “papara” (probably the easiest Greek word to pronounce after “malaka”), which is fresh bread literally soaked in the left over mix of oil, vinegar and traces of feta.
PS: If you’d like to taste real Greek Salad but don’t want to bother making it yourself, visit Greece in the summer. Islands are completely safe, despite Athens I must admit, and well… sun is free and always present!
