Cinammon and Clove restaurant
Zagoria villages
On the second day of our visit to Ioannina, our friends took us to Vitsa, a nearby village that belongs to the Zagoria villages complex. The way I am saying it, it sounds as if they are not real villages but vacation places built like villages, but trust me they are very real and very beautiful. And very cold.
We went to have lunch at this restaurant Cinnamon and Clove (Kanella & Garifallo) and as soon as I opened the menu my pupils were dilated and my jaw dropped. There were dozens of mushroom dishes, with all kinds of mushrooms, cooked in all possible ways: soups, stews, grilled, oven baked, sautéed, in salads. Porcinis (we call them vasilomanitara which means king mushrooms) chanterelles, morels and other delicious fungi and when the waiter asked me what I wanted I said everything.
Chanterelles
Greens pie (lahanopita)
The other great thing you can eat while in Ioannina or Zagoria or Epirus in general (the northwest region of Greece) is savoury pies. I had a pie with all kinds of greens that they describe as “Lahanopita”. You can have one piece for lunch and you are full until dinner.
They do eat some disgusting things like frog legs and eels but thankfully apart from being a frog lover I am also vegetarian so I did not feel the urge to try either. I did have some horrid dreams about eating snakes in the days that followed though.
Poor, disgusting eels
Before we left my friend Pan made a cheese pie for us to eat on the road. I had seen it in a menu and asked her what it was and she said it was very easy to make. “One egg, one yoghurt” she said. That’s what it takes. Plus cheese and flour. I made it today too (envy), but I used twice of everything (gluttony).
Easiest cheese pie ever
Easiest & Fastest Cheese pie ever
I mixed together 2 eggs, around 300 gr (3 cups) all purpose flour, 2 cups yoghurt, 3 cups cheese (any kind, I used feta, gruyere and the Greek equivalent of cottage cheese). Beat them all together and add some milk and one or two tablespoons of olive oil. You have to end up with a thick mixture that will look like pancake batter but thicker. If it is too runny add more flour. Sprinkle some oregano or chopped rosemary and bake in a buttered tin in a pre-heated oven at 200 C (392 F) for about 20 minutes or until it is set (you can dip your knife in it and comes out clean). Frankly, it is the easiest cheese pie I’ve ever made (sloth) and one of the tastiest.
Penny is my sister and this is her cheese pie. She makes her own pastry. Truly, it takes less time that waiting for the ready made to defrost.
The fact that my sister is on diet all the time, won’t stop her from making cheese sauce and adding it to the pie which she later gives to unsuspecting relatives.
For the pastry
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup olive oil
- A bit of salt
For the filling
- 300 gr. Feta cheese, crumbled
- 200 gr. Gruyere cheese, grated
- 2 eggs
- Pepper
- Dill
- 2 cups cheese sauce
- 2 tbsps quality butter
- 2 heaped tbsps flour
- ½ lt milk
- 2 eggs
- 200 gr. grated gruyere cheese
To coat the pie
- Some milk
- a beaten egg
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