"greek food" news and stories

Californians are crazy for Spanish wines, especially since they are a good value; but SIV's Wine of the Week is a 2003 Berra Sassisto Langhe from Piedmont. It's "warm and earthy," and for $22, makes me warm and earthy, too.

In the kitchen, parsley isn't just a garnish anymore. Fabiolus Cafe on Melrose offers its recipe for Bigoli all'Anatra, a pasta with a rich duck sauce. If you need sausage, Bob's Market in Santa Monica makes it fresh. A story on Greek food has recipes for Balkan moussaka, pastitsio, masahri yiouvetsi, as well as resources around LA for ingredients.

Out on the southeland dining scene, SIV treks out to Ojai and gives two stars (**) to Christian and Tedde Shaffer's Auberge. Neal Fraser will be serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner at BLD.

Regina Schrambling seeks out intelligence on the newsstand that's covered with the likes of "Yum-o" Rachael Ray and Paula Deen.

Back when I roasted cauliflower with curry, I thought that Indian raita, a minty cucumber yogurt sauce, would have been a nice accompaniment.

Raita is made by wrapping 1 seeded, grated cucumber in cheesecloth and squeezing out all the moisture. In a bowl, whisk together 1c. whole milk yogurt, 1/2 tsp. cumin, a pinch of cayenne. Add the cucumber, as well as 2-3 Tbsp. finely grated carrots, and 1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro or mint.

Raita is very similar to Greek tzatziki which is yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, and a lot of minced garlic. I have to say that even though the raita sounds like it matches better with a roasted curried cauliflower, I'd rather have the garlicky tzatziki.

Stuffed grape leaves are a typical Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. Depending on which cultural cuisine, they are called by slightly different names: "dolma" in Turkey, "dolmade" in Greece, and "dolme" in Iran. The grape leaves are filled with anything from rice, different types of nuts, and meat, usually lamb.

Though I call my stuffed grape leaves "dolma," and they include rice and pine nuts, they are nowhere near traditional because I leave out typical herbs like mint (I don't love mint), and cook the rice before wrapping in the grape leaves.