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Trockene Maßnahmen 1 Tasse Mehl = 150 grams Flüssige Maßnahmen 1 Tasse = 225ml |
HOME OLIVENÖL ALS KONSERVIERUNGSMITTEL TRADITIONAL COOKING FRYING MEAT AND FISH PASTAS VEGETABLES PULSES SALADS SAUCEN UND DIPS MIT OLIVENÖL SUBSTITUTING MILK OR CREAM PIES SWEETS OLIVENÖL ALS KRÄUTERÖL |
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DAS OLIVENÖL ALS KONSERVIERUNGSMITTEL In der herkömmlichen griechischen Küche werden viele im Sommer produzierten Produkte konserviert, und somit wird die Wintermahlzeit um einiges bereichert. Konservierungsmethoden wie sie jede Hausfrau kennt haben v. a. in den letzten Jahrzehnten geholfen, die täglichen Auslagen für Nahrungsmittel zu verringern. Mit Hilfe von verschiedenen Konservierungsmethoden konnten die Hausfrauen verhindern, schnellverderbende Früchte oder Gemüse wegzuwerfen. Es ist eindrücklich zu sehen, wie die Nahrungsmittel der griechischen Küche auf altherkömmliche Weise konserviert, auch nach Monaten noch ihren vollen Geschmack beibehalten. Frisches Gemüse sowie auch Früchte wurden für einige Tage in der Sonne getrocknet und waren in den kalten Wintermonaten eine gesunde und willkommene Kalorienquelle. "Die Konservierungsmethode ist einfach...“ stellte das Rockefellerinstitut fest, als es 1948 eine Studie auf Kreta durchführte. "...Alles wird entweder an der prallen Sonne oder im Ofen getrocknet...“ Auch das Olivenöl spielt bei der Konservierung eine erhebliche Rolle. Die Nahrungsmittel, die in Glas- oder Tongefässen in Öl eingelegt werden, büßen nichts von ihrem Geschmack ein. Zusammen mit Salz und Essig ist das Öl schon seit dem Altertum als Konservierungsmittel bekannt. Es ist ein natürliches Mittel und verhindert den Kontakt mit der Luft. Aus diesem Grund werden die Nahrungsmittel meist ganz in Öl eingelegt oder es wird einfach deine deckende Schicht Öl ins Einmachglas gegeben. Obwohl wir heute fast zu jeder Jahreszeit alle möglichen Gemüse kaufen können, sind die in Essig und Öl eingelegten Gemüse auf unseren Tischen stets gern gesehen. Konservierte Nahrungsmittel sind nicht nur am bekömmlichsten, wenn sie zur rechten Jahreszeit geerntet werden, sonder sie sind zugleich am vitaminhaltigsten und auch am billigsten. Es ist unglaublich, wie viele Nahrungsmittel in Öl eingelegt konserviert werden können: Fleisch, Fisch, Gemüse, ja sogar Käse. Was sehr wichtig ist bei dieser Art von Konservierung: die Nahrungsmittel müssen sehr sauber sein und gut getrocknet werden, da die Bakterien Feuchtigkeit lieben. Auch die Gefäße und Deckel müssen sehr sauber und natürlich trocken sein. Am besten werden sie für einige Minuten gekocht, dann lässt man sie auf einem sauberen Tuch oder im leicht vorgeheizten Ofen trocknen. Die Gefäße werden erst gefüllt, wenn sie vollständig trocken sind. Alle zu konservierenden Gemüse müssen frisch und noch fest sein. Das Gemüse wird am besten für einige Minuten in Essig gekocht und anschließend mit Öl bedeckt. Der Essig sollte nicht zu dunkel sein, damit das Gemüse sich nicht verfärbt. Vergessen Sie auch nicht, Salz nach Belieben ins Gefäß zu geben. Das verhindert das Zerfallen des Gemüses. Bitte achten Sie darauf, dass das Gefäß nicht bis ganz oben gefüllt wird, sondern immer noch ein Finger Freiraum belassen wird. Am besten schreiben Sie auf einer Etikette, wann die verschiedenen Nahrungsmittel abgefüllt wurden, damit Sie sie der Reihe nach brauchen. Wenn die Gläser im Kühlschrank aufbewahrt werden, wird das Olivenöl trübe und fester. Bei Zimmertemperatur aber erhält es schnell wieder seine ursprüngliche Konsistenz und Farbe. |
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In Mediterranean cooking, the olive oil is used to its best in cooking, being the prime ingredient of various delicious starters and renowned for its individual taste. This custom is best seen in the farming communities where it is more readily available. It is mainly consumed in its natural form and can be used to accompany a variety of dishes. Without cooking, the olive is hardly missing from the Greeks’ diet. This has made the farming population accustomed to its taste and so they have tried to find different ways of using it in cooking. |
TRADITIONAL COOKING - RECIPES |
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Doctors and dieticians are right with their advice: Fried foods should only be cooked in olive oil! This goes against the myth that animal fats and hydrogenated oils are more resistant to heat, when heated, in comparison to olive oil. Recent studies have shown that olive oil is the most suitable oil for frying because it remains stable due to its anti-oxidization agents, even at high temperatures. HEAT RESISTANT UP TO 250° Animal fats do not have anti-oxidative agents, so as a result, they are oxidized very quickly, with all the harmful effects to the health of those who consume them. Seed oils contain tocopherols (which are anti-oxidative substances) but the great amount of unsaturated acids they contain makes them to get oxidized quickly when they are heated. Research that has been conducted in the recent years has shown that seed oils spoil at a temperature of 170-180° Celsius. On the other hand olive oil can stand temperatures over 200° C. It is even believed that olive oil can stand temperatures of up to 230-250° Celsius! By olive oil, we mean extra virgin olive oil that is more stable due to its anti-oxidative agents, but even refined olive oil has been proven to resist to heat and remain more stable than seed oil! The chemical substances also which are contained in hydrogenated oils have been shown to increase “bad” cholesterol and to reduce “good” cholesterol levels in blood. FEWER CALORIES, MORE VITAMINS Special research studies carried out in the last few years have refuted one more myth. That is the one that states that fried food absorbs too much oil and so it becomes fattening and bad for the health. If someone tries to use a frying pan correctly, then the crispy curst of food seals in the juices and doesn’t let the oil into the food. In order to achieve this crispness, the oil should be allowed to heat, almost to “burn” as they say, yet without being over-heated and producing smoke. Neither should all food be cooked in a frying pan at one time so that the temperature doesn’t fall and the frying is done correctly. If the amount of olive oil in the pan diminishes during frying, extra olive oil should be added but only when there is no food in the pan so that the temperature does not drop. It has been proved that foods fried in olive oil absorb less fat in comparison to those fried in seed oils. Therefore, olive oil encourages fewer calories and so it is less fattening! It has also been pointed out that frying doesn’t destroy the water-soluble vitamins and the nutritional value of fried food remains almost unaffected. CAN BE USED MANY TIMES Olive oil can be used several times for frying, as long as we fry similar things, otherwise the quality of the taste will be affected. But if we fry foods dredged with flour, especially fish, the oil obviously can’t be used many times. Yet this oil can be filtered and be used for the frying of similar foods. After 3 - 5 fries, 30-50% of the vitamins in the olive oil remain unchanged! |
FRYING - RECIPES |
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M. Chourmouzis-Vyzantius came to Crete from Constantinople at the beginning of 19th Century. A phrase expressed by him, “they cook even pork with olive oil”, shows the great importance of the precious juice of olives in a unique manner. Various foreign travellers to Crete but also groups of Doctors who studied the dietary habits of the Cretans were equally surprised. This fact is almost inconceivable to the inhabitants of northern regions or northern countries because they use animal fat in cooking such dishes. Maybe that was similarly inconceivable to Cretans who “are used to cooking with olive oil”, as the learned British traveller Robert Pashley wrote in 1834. The American members of the Rockefeller Foundation who carried out a study in 1948, observed the dietary habits of the inhabitants of the island and pointed out that “at noon they eat vegetables, pulses or starches”. On the island of Crete where the diet of the people is believed to be the healthiest in the world and certainly the model of the Mediterranean diet, meat is consumed usually cooked with wild edible greens, vegetables and pulses. Even the formal Easter dish is lamb or goat with seasonal vegetables (wild greens, lettuce or Artichokes, etc…) cooked with olive oil, of course! |
MEAT AND FISH - RECIPES |
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The Orthodox Church diet requires the consumption of great amounts of vegetables, as they are among the products that are allowed during the fasting periods. Thus, as time passed, a special dietary code was created which goes together with the rural as well as the older customs. The consumption of vegetables, almost always coincides with the consumption of olive oil. In Crete, which as mentioned above, is considered to be a peak area for the Mediterranean diet, the consumption of vegetables is almost on an everyday basis. This, of course, doesn’t suggest dietary monotony, but resourcefulness and inventiveness for unlimited food combinations. This happens because the Cretans do not consume only one (or just a few) kinds of vegetables. Their diet includes an incredible variety of vegetables that go very well with other food products. |
VEGETABLES - RECIPES |
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In the traditional diet of Crete, pulses play a leading role, one that is detected in the finds of archaeological and palaeobotanic researches. Since prehistoric times, the inhabitants of Crete but also the Aegean in general have used pulses on a regular basis in their diet. Panspermia, the offering to the gods of a small amount of all the grains, was an important expression of thanks by the ancient Greeks but also a ritual ceremony for vegetation and renewal of life. Greek mythology has documented the importance of pulses as ritual dishes, stating that this was Deucalion and Pyrrha’s first food after the flood that destroyed mankind. When the downpour stopped and the floods ebbed, the two mythological founders of mankind were to be found on earth alone and without food. The only things that had remained were a few seeds of all kinds. They boiled these altogether and ate them with mixed feelings. On the one hand, they felt the joy of being saved and on the other, the great loss of all the other people. It really was a meal of great joy and sorrow all mixed up! If we look again at the symbolism in this myth, then we will see that the circle of joy and sorrow is one and the same with the circle of life as it is with the seed: we bury it but it does not die, instead, it is reborn, growing and producing other seeds in the process! In the nutritional culture, pulses are almost always consumed with olive oil. There are days when the Orthodox Church disallows the consumption of olive oil, but pulses, soaked in water for a few hours, are still eaten. These pulses are eaten with olives! “Vrechtokoukia”, (broad beans which have been left a whole day in water to dampen and soften) are perfect and they are a main dish in Lent foods on Crete and the Aegean islands. In periods of religious fasting, in some monasteries they are used to cooking pulses with olives. The science of nutrition heavily recommends that today, people should not abandon this food which has been so important for both the development of society and the maintenance of good health, as has happened in many western societies. Of course, it is recommended that these dishes should be eaten with olive oil! Olive oil, apart from offering a unique guarantee of health, completes the dishes that are prepared with pulses and produces a harmony of tastes. Traditional cooking offers various suggestions on the making of dishes based on pulses, such as pulses with vegetables or mashed pulses. |
PULSES - RECIPES |
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Extra virgin olive oil, the natural juice of the olive, is the oil that should never be left out of salads. On Crete, an area with a high production of olive oil, salads swim – well almost in olive oil and this seems strange to visitors who are not used to this. Extra virgin olive oil offers the chance of extremely healthy combinations, especially when the salads use fresh vegetables and greens, as is used to the traditional Greek diet. Again, it is Crete that gives a true example for life. The Cretans prefer to eat their own fresh vegetables and the bountiful greens which the earth produces unaided, without being cooked. In nearly all the traditional salads there is the combination of extra virgin olive oil with various greens and vegetables. |
SALADS - RECIPES |
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Das Olivenöl, zusammen mit Zitrone, Essig oder Ei, spielt eine große Rolle in Saucen und Dips. Dips schmecken ausgezeichnet als Vorspeise zu rohem Gemüse, Käse, Brot oder Paximadi (griechischer Zwieback) und können auch zur Hauptmahlzeit gereicht werden. Sie sind nicht nur als Geschmacksverbesserer anzusehen, sondern wenn auf Olivenöl basierend, als gesunde Abwechslung im Speisezettel. Wenn die Dips auch modern erscheinen mögen, sind sie doch in Griechenland schon seit Generationen bekannt und beliebt. Tzatziki, Taramosalata, (Fischereierpaste), Auberginensalat u. v. a. begleiten die griechischen Mahlzeiten schon seit Jahrhunderten. Dips wurden von erfinderischen Hausfrauen eingeführt, die für die lange und strenge Fasten Zeit, einige wirtschaftliche und aufmunternde Häppchen herbeizaubern wollten. Z. B. bereicherte ein Taramosalata den Fastentisch um vieles und hatte erst noch die Eigenschaft, daß sie sich während vieler Tage hielt. Dasselbe gilt auch für Tomatensaucen, Kichererbsenbrei (Humus) treffen wir v. a. auf griechischen Inseln und in arabischen Ländern an. Das Fleisch wurde oft von Tzatzki oder in Essig eingelegten Käsen begleitet. Pürierte Hülsenfrüchte wurden mal als Hauptmahlzeit, mal als Vorspeise serviert. Der begehrteste Begleiter dazu war natürlich das Olivenöl! Es allein konnte einer einfachen und alltäglichen Speise einen speziellen Reiz geben und es so noch schmackhafter machen, v. a. in den Gegenden, in denen es viel und gutes Olivenöl gab. Zu den herkömmlichen Rezepten können wir noch andere hinzufügen, die dem heutigen Geschmack angepaßt wurden. |
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The inventive Greeks have adjusted food products to their dietary needs or maybe they have adjusted those needs to the great variety of products! Nobody is surprised by the way animal fats are substituted by olive oil, which has been so favoured by recent dietary studies! The final taste is the result of the perfect balance of the ingredients used in the preparation of each dish. In this section you will find a few such characteristic examples that prove that the use of olive oil in Greek cooking is a way of life! |
SUBSTITUTING MILK OR CREAM - RECIPES |
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Pies are typical in the cuisine of northern Greece, but as olive oil is neither produced there nor cheap enough to buy, other fat substances are used in their preparation instead of that precious juice from olives. In southern Greece (and especially in the islands) pies are prepared almost exclusively with olive oil. However, the traditional pies of northern areas of Greece can very well be prepared with olive oil. Pies are a staple among the immigrating population of northern Greece, the Sarakatsans, who used to cook them almost everyday. They were the easiest solution for them as they could be prepared with the products they had ready at hand. Olive oil affects the quality of these dishes greatly and this is why the Sarakatsans themselves prefer to buy and use it in their pies. The pies suggested in this chapter are made with many different ingredients. Some of them though, are very interesting, such as the olive oil pie (lathenia), which is traditional in the cuisine of some small islands in the Cyclades. The name alone shows the importance of olive oil in its preparation. |
PIES - RECIPES |
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Even today, visitors to Crete are surprised when they realise that olive oil is used even in the preparation of sweets! Furthermore, in older times, when sugar was imported, therefore expensive, the only sweeteners used by Cretan housewives were grape-juice syrup and honey! Traditional sweets are prepared almost exclusively with olive oil. Some people use refined olive oil to avoid the strong taste. We believe that, in sweets, too, an extra virgin olive oil is required, without a particularly characteristic taste or smell. |
SWEETS - RECIPES |
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Im Altertum bediente man sich sehr einfacher Methoden, um Kräuteröle herzustellen. Entweder wurden die Kräuter, deren Aroma man begehrte, im Öl eingelegt oder es wurden verschiedene Wärmemethoden angewendet. Die Art und Weise, wie man Kräuteröle herstellen kann, ist schon seit Aristoteles 8284 – 322 v. Chr.) bekannt.
Der Philosoph Theophrastos (ca. 372 – 288 v. Chr.) hinterlies viele Informationen über die Herstellungstechnik von Kräuterölen und Essenzen. In seien Büchern erwähnt er etliche Kräuteröle wie z. B. Granatapfelöl. Dem Apfelöl wurden Äpfel beigegeben, die ausgewechselt wurden bevor sie faulen konnten. Es ist bekannt, dass im alten Griechenland jeweils am Ende der Symposien Essenzen unter die Anwesenden verteilt wurden, wobei die Römer ätherische Öle für Massagen benutzten. Kräuteröle sind heut in allen Küchen weit verbreitet. Das Dillöl im Byzanz Mit Lorbeer gewürztes Olivenöl Kräuteröle in neuerer Zeit In Kastelli Pediados (Kreta) und in der weiteren Umgebung wurde bis Anfang dieses Jahrhunderts ein Zweiglein Thymian in das für die Küche bestimmte Olivenöl eingelegt. |
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