There’s nothing fairly like sitting at a shady desk, tucking into an enormous unfold of scrumptious Greek meals – and that goes double while you’ve made it your self, as I found at our Kefalonia cooking class.
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Set on a prickly pear farm round 20 minutes from the island capital Argostoli, our two-hour Greek cooking class promised to show us 4 completely different dishes earlier than letting us devour the outcomes.
And in addition to traditional tzatziki and spanakopita, we made a Greek model of bruschetta, with native oregano and herby feta on high, plus a implausible dessert utilizing semolina and mantoles, purple sugar-covered almonds that are a speciality of the island.
All of the meals we made was vegetarian, however our host Maggy additionally tailor-made the dishes for my daughter, eradicating any yoghurt, dill or feta, which meant she may tuck in as properly.
Our small group was joined by one different, which made all of it really feel very private – nearly as if we had wandered into somebody’s kitchen and so they had determined to show us their grandmother’s recipes.
Set on a shady terrace wanting down onto the prickly pears, we every had just a little workstation with chopping board and knife, plus a small hob on the finish, with Maggy dividing up duties between us as we labored our approach by way of creating the programs.
Firstly, we tackled dessert, because it wants time to set within the fridge. As my daughter poured the principle elements – oil, semolina, sugar and water – right into a saucepan to be stirred by another person, I used to be busy bashing up the almonds of their brilliant purple sugar shells.
It’s surprisingly satisfying, with a handful of larger items held again as ornament, and the remaining added to the heated combination turning it an unexpectedly fairly shade of pink.
Maggy’s model, she instructed us, had about half the sugar utilized by conventional recipes – grabbing a spoon for a fast style earlier than it was taken away to set, all of us determined it was simply the correct amount of sweetness. Apparently the People who’ve joined her class have all thought it must be sweeter, whereas Germans are inclined to assume it’s nonetheless too candy although!
Whereas we cooked, Maggy introduced out a plate of snacks for us to nibble as we labored – skinny slices of toasted bread with olive oil, feta and cucumber, or tomatoes for my daughter, plus white wine for the adults (those that – not like me – weren’t driving, at the least).
Then it was time for the tzatziki. Having made it as soon as earlier than on Mykonos, it had amazed me to find simply how easy it’s, and simply how good it tastes in comparison with the standard pots of processed tzatziki you get from the grocery store.
As I chopped up an enormous bunch of dill, another person pounded garlic cloves right into a paste and grated cucumber earlier than we combined all of it collectively into the creamy yoghurt. Then added a bit extra garlic for good measure!
My daughter, in the meantime, made a separate dish that was someplace between a inexperienced salsa and chimichurri utilizing parsley, tomato, olive oil and lemon.
Subsequent up, our Greek model of bruschetta – having thinly sliced the bread, Maggy toasted that as we diced fats, recent, purple tomatoes, and combined them with herbs and olive oil, earlier than topping the bread and sprinkling with a thyme and feta combine.
And final however not least, spanakopita. In contrast to the skinny, flaky filo pastry that you just may encounter elsewhere, Maggy instructed us that the Kefalonia model was easier and extra sensible – you wish to spend extra time consuming and having fun with the corporate, relatively than endlessly rolling out pastry.
Is smart to me! And the pastry itself was quite simple, utilizing a kind of corn flour – think about a finer model of polenta relatively than the squeaky white flour you get to thicken sauces within the UK – together with regular white flour, oil and white wine.
Kneaded collectively and rolled out, we then stuffed it with the filling we’d already made – crumbled feta, child spinach, finely sliced child leeks, tons extra dill and crimped down the sides earlier than folding them over.
If a Cornish pasty moved to Kefalonia, I feel that is what you’d find yourself with.
Then after being fried in a pan over a wood-fired grill till the pastry crisped and went golden, they had been able to eat – it’s also possible to bake them in the event you favor (and have extra time).
Which solely left one factor to do. Take our locations additional alongside the shady terrace, pour a drink, and try and munch our approach by way of the unfold. You might wish to skip breakfast to do that justice.
We ended up spending longer than two hours there in complete, lounging, chatting, consuming and having fun with a style of laid-back Greek life – Maggy got here to examine on us periodically however by no means appeared like she was hurrying us away.
And together with our leftovers (which made for one more solely barely much less lavish lunch the subsequent day), we additionally acquired the recipes to take house with us.
Excellent for tweens and teenagers who love cooking, there’s nothing too difficult when it comes to the recipes, so so long as your children can use a pointy knife safely, it’s one thing the entire household can get pleasure from.
For extra concepts of the very best issues to do in Kefalonia with children, try my high picks, together with Kefalonia’s greatest boat journeys and the very best seashores in Kefalonia
Kefalonia cooking class: Must know
We booked our Kefalonia cooking class at Opuntia Kefalonia by way of Get Your Information.
The menu does generally change relying on what’s in season so you probably have specific dietary necessities or restrictions, it’s price contacting them prematurely – when my messages bounced, Get Your Information help managed to contact Maggy for me to verify all the things forward of our arrival in Kefalonia.
There’s no minimal age listed, so in the event you do have youthful children who love cooking, they will actually take part – ideally as soon as they’re secure to make use of a knife, though there are some duties the place you don’t essentially even want to try this. I wouldn’t e book it with very younger youngsters although as they’re possible simply to get bored – that is an expertise to savour, together with the consuming half on the finish!
You don’t should be an skilled prepare dinner – most recipes solely have a number of elements, you’re splitting the duties between you, and Maggy oversees all the things. In the event you love cooking and prepare dinner usually, it’s nonetheless a implausible expertise – a lot extra enjoyable getting arms on with the recent elements and a extra relaxed strategy than the standard every day chore of constructing dinner!
Transportation isn’t included: in the event you’re driving, it’s straightforward to seek out with Google Maps and there’s some restricted parking by a shady tree among the many prickly pears – getting off the highway onto the rocky floor is greatest prevented you probably have a automobile with low highway clearance although.
Alternatively you will get a taxi to and from the expertise or e book it as a part of a half-day tour departing from Argostoli. There’s additionally a sundown cooking class possibility in the event you’re on the lookout for one thing to do in Kefalonia with teenagers within the night.
Disclosure: This put up comprises affiliate hyperlinks – any purchases you make are unaffected however I could obtain a small fee
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