FOGATSA Makes 2 large round loaves In Corfu the Venetian influence is echoed in the island’s Easter bread, which is called fogatsa. Unlike the braided tsoureki eaten everywhere else in Greece, here the Eastern spices mahlepi and mastic are nowhere to be found. Instead, fogatsa is a dense, high, round loaf, with a cross slashed into its center and flavored with […]

BIANCO Makes 4 to 6 servings Another Corfiote fish recipe with an Italian-sounding name. Bianco is pungent with garlic and is called “white” because it is made without tomatoes. Ingredients: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced 8 to 10 garlic cloves, to taste, chopped 6 to 8 […]

TO BOURTHETO TIS KERKYRAS Makes 6 servings The name comes from the Italian brodeto, for “broth,” a legacy of Corfu’s Venetian past. A similar dish, at least in name, is the bourieto of the northern Peloponnesos, where it refers to a fish stew redolen  with onions but not colored with paprika or tomato paste. On Corfu, bourtheto is one […]

Stuffed Little Meatballs POLPETES APO TIN KERKYRA Makes about 24 meatballs What the rest of Greece knows as keftedes or by the diminutive, keftedakia, Seven Islanders call polpetes, delicate little meatballs. In the Ionian area these days they are apt to be the mint-doused rendition common throughout all of Greece. This particular recipe, borrowed from Ninetta Laskari’s excellent book on Corfu, […]

KERKYREIKO SOFRITO Sofrito gets its name from the Italian fritto, or “fried.” The dish is traditionally made with veal, but beef can be substituted. Makes 4 to 6 servings Ingredients: 1/3 cup all-purpose flour Freshly ground black pepper to taste Dash of cayenne pepper 2 pounds boneless veal, preferably top round, cut into 6 slices 6 tablespoons […]

PASTITSIO VENETSIANIKO Ingredients: Makes 10 to 12 servings For the pastry: 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter 1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water, as needed For the filling: 1 pound thick tubular spaghetti, like bucatini 2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, […]

AYIATHA TIS KERKYRAS Another take on the pan-Mediterranean garlic sauce that accompanies fried fish and boiled vegetables. But Corfu’s version of ayiatha, as it is pronounced in the local dialect, calls for bread and almonds, as opposed to potatoes, as the base. Vinegar makes this garlic sauce slightly harsher in flavor than those that call for lemon juice. Locals tend to […]

In Greek: μπουρδέτο, pronounced boor-THEH-toh (hard “th”) Bourthetto (bourdetto, bourdeto) is delicious made with tope (shark), cod or haddock, or scorpion fish (red or black), but those in the know say black is best. So here it is. Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 5 black scorpion fish 4 medium onions, finely chopped 1 tablespoon of […]

SARTSA – frangokota Guinea fowl in the Ionian region might have an interesting history—or, at the least, an interesting etymology, if one is to believe historian Waverley Root. The Zakynthians call it frangokota, or “French chicken,” while in Corfu it is called faraona, after the Italian gallina faraona, or pharaoh’s turkey. Root says that the bird, indeed a native of Guinea in […]

Pastitsatha was the traditional Sunday meal of Corfu’s well-to-do. It was almost always made with free-range cock or with turkey, which Corfiotes hold in particularly high esteem. Thick tubular spaghetti is needed for this dish. According to island cooks, a proper pastitsatha requires no fewer than 9 spices: allspice, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, nutmeg, paprika, cayenne, salt, and black pepper. Makes 4 to […]