The Weekly Whisk - 7/11/23

Musings from a foodie…

My Greek Sojourn – I realize that for some folks, a trip to Greece might seem like a dream – especially in a world of seemingly constant dissociations from the realities of the day. However, as a Grecophile, I can tell you that a trip to Greece will cure you – I guarantee. A Greek trip will help you to move toward a more contemplative and meditative state of mind beyond the press of personal problems, the politics of the day and the angst of missives driven from perspectives across the political spectrum like: “they’ve had it”, “enough is enough” and other similar missives dominate the airwaves. In my case, a Greek experience encourages me to disconnect – which is exactly what we did on our recent Greek sojourn. And, as part of disconnecting, we enjoyed some wonderful Greek culinary opportunities – actually way more than I can report on here in The Weekly Whisk.

Here is the best of the best that we found. First up was Psarou [ * * * * * ] – a wonderful little restaurant in the Greek tradition in the Glyfada area near the sea outside Athens. What I absolutely love about the Greek culinary experience is the conversation as the central part of the meal. Food is absolutely important but, it is meant to compliment the conversation. In our case, we started with some mezzes that included dolmades of rice wrapped in grape leaves, a must for any Greek meal; taramosalata (which I had never had previously) made from a puree of fish eggs, garlic, olive oil and egg white; octopus; horta (seaweed) soaked in a sweetened vinegar; gavra (anchovies soaked in a red wine vinegar); and, smoked cod which was absolutely out of this world wonderful. We then moved on to the main course with grilled tuna and zucchini fries with a wasabi mayo sauce on the side; grilled seabream cooked to perfection with a butter sauce for those so inclined (like me); and, sauteed vegetables where the standout was sauteed zucchini with a honey sauce. The crème de la crème was the orange cake with house-made cream ice cream infused with a caramel sauce. And, of course, a single espresso at the end to top of the lunch – which lasted nearly four hours. That’s lots of conversing, lots of debating and lots of laughs. When I met the chef and asked him where he trained (in English) he responded with a hearty smile and said, “In Greece, of course!” I highly recommend the spot we found: Psarou – Lazaraki 14 & Dousmani 10 – Glifada, Greece – 011-30-210-9680040 – Facebook = psarou_glifada