“My Friends” cooking school gave many of its students and myself new friends. For example, if it weren’t for the school, I would never have met Leonid Tereshchenko, a resident from Kyiv who once came to Greece and could no longer part with it. Their romance was so serious that a new brand of olive oil from Monemvasia “Mana Gea” was born. Leonid taught me how to taste olive oil and determine its quality, shared some of his favourite recipes of his new homeland at school lessons. Here is one of them: Greek cuisine classic – Greek village salad called Horiatiki in the southern part of the country.
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 5 minutes
- Serves: 4
- Difficulty: easy
- Course: salad
- Cookware: knife, vegetable peeler, olive oil bottle
- Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients
- 4 small tomatoes
- 4 small cucumbers
- 2 sweet peppers
- 1 red onion
- 200 g feta
- 125 g Kalamata olives
- 1 tbsp capers
- 100 ml olive oil
- oregano
- sea salt
Cooking method
Step 1
Peel the cucumbers. Cut cucumbers and tomatoes into large pieces. Peel pepper and onion and cut into thin strips. Cut feta into 4 parts.
Step 2
On the plates lay layers of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, sweet peppers, olives. Add salt. Put feta on top. Sprinkle with oregano, season with olive oil and serve.
My tips and tricks:
I will tell you 2 ways to store feta so that its taste does not deteriorate. The first, ancient Greek method storing feta in olive oil, this has been done for centuries in Hellas. Take a container with a lid, put feta in it and fill it with extra virgin olive oil so that the oil covers the cheese, and close the lid tightly. Oil acts as a preservative, feta does not dry out, and even vice versa, over time it acquires a more saturated, slightly spicy flavour. It is better to store feta this way if you plan to use it for salads. The second option, take the container, put feta in it, pour it with milk with a high percentage of fat and close the lid tightly. Feta will become even more tender and slightly less salty.
- 4 small tomatoes
- 4 small cucumbers
- 2 sweet peppers
- 1 red onion
- 200 g feta
- 125 g Kalamata olives
- 1 tbsp capers
- 100 ml olive oil
- oregano
- sea salt
- Peel the cucumbers. Cut cucumbers and tomatoes into large pieces. Peel pepper and onion and cut into thin strips. Cut feta into 4 parts.
- On the plates lay layers of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, sweet peppers, olives. Add salt. Put feta on top. Sprinkle with oregano, season with olive oil and serve.