Tsureki, ever heard of it? A little bit of Greek blood and you know him. Tsoureki is both fresh (due to the orange zest) and sweet and vaguely resembles the Dutch Easter (Christmas?) stollen.

For 2 loaves you stock up on:

– 250 ml warm milk

– 1 sachet of dry yeast

– 585 g flour

– 200 g sugar

– ½ teaspoon salt

– Zest of 1 orange

– ½ tablespoon mahleb

– 1 tablespoon melted butter

– 3 beaten eggs

Ingredients for the bread:

– Egg yolk

– 1 tablespoon of milk

– 50 g finely chopped almonds

And this is how you make a tsoureki:

Mix the milk, yeast, half the flour and a pinch of sugar in a large bowl. Cover this bowl with a cloth and place the container in a warm place for about an hour. Take another bowl, add the second half of flour, salt, sugar, orange zest and the mahleb. Make a kind of bowl in the middle of the mixture and place the yeast dough in it with butter and eggs.

Knead until you get a nice smooth get dough that doesn't stick to your hands and cover the bowl again with a cloth. Leave it alone again until the dough has increased twice in size. Divide the dough into thirds and make a braid. Then pinch the ends together to make a nice loaf. Let it rise for another hour while you whisk the egg yolks with some milk. Just wipe the bread with a cooking brush and then it can go into (a preheated) oven. 40-45 minutes at 180°C. Before you serve the Tsoureki, finish it by sprinkling some almonds over it. And you're done!

Traditionally, mainland Greeks from the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus and Macedonia eat lamb from the spit at Easter. On the Cycladic Islands you can enjoy lamb from the oven and you want this! Make this lamb dish and taste a piece of Amorgos. Serve with typical Greek potatoes with fresh oregano. The recipe for success!

For 6 people
Ingredients:
– 1,2 kg lamb
– Olive oil, salt and pepper
– 1 finely chopped red onion
– 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
– 6 peeled tomatoes, quartered

– 6 peeled potatoes, quartered
– 2 tablespoons tomato paste
– 240 ml dry white wine
- Pepper
– Bay leaf
– 1 cinnamon stick

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat and fry the meat for 6-7 minutes until a brown crust forms. Then add onion and garlic and stir for 3-4 minutes until translucent. The potatoes and tomato puree can then be stirred in. Once the potatoes are nicely glossy, add the wine and let it bubble for a few minutes so that much of the alcohol disappears. Then fill the pan so that the ingredients are approximately half covered with water, add allspice, bay leaves and the cinnamon stick and bring everything to the boil. Then you can lower the heat and let the pan simmer for about an hour and a half. When the meat has become tender, seems to be falling off the bone and there is almost no water left in it, the dish is ready! Just season to taste and you're done!

For all the sweet tooths among us. This sweet mini cheese pastry is fantastic! And it tastes as surprising as it sounds. For those who have never been on Crete has been: Crete is a heaven for foodies. And Crete cuisine is based on the Mediterranean diet. Many Greek dishes have their origins on this island. And of course they are very proud of that.

For many, many, pastries: 

For the dough:
– 2 kg flour
– 2 tablespoons of salt
– Olive oil
– 240 ml Tsikoudià (alcohol without strong taste)

– 3 glasses of water

For the filling:
– ½ kg mizìthra cheese (or ricotta)
– ½ kg anthòtiro cheese (or unsalted feta)
– ½ kg soft white cheese
- 3 eggs

Instructions:

To make the dough, mix together the flour, olive oil, tsikoudia, salt and a little water. All ingredients for the filling can be mixed together in a separate bowl. Then roll out the dough and press out circles the size of a bowl. Place a little filling on each circle with a spoon and fold the pastry well. And then you fry the whole thing in a pan with a lot of oil.