It's All Greek To Me

My favorite days in port are usually the ones where I get to learn by doing. The SAS trips are a great way to get those hands on experiences, and there’s no hassle with the logistics! Though I would ‘t recommended overloading on trips, I am glad I signed up for as many cooking classes as possible.

My last day in Greece, I spent the morning at a cooking class. When we arrived we were lead into a room with all the ingredients we would need to assemble our creations. The chef explained to the group that today we would be making five or so dishes, splitting up into 5 different teams for a Top Chef experience. Before I left I watched Top Chef and Sweet Genius with Johnny, so I was familiar with the concept, and excited to try out my culinary skills on this new genre of food.

Normally I am very competitive about things that don’t really matter- for example card games, bowling, putt putt… cooking classes in Greece would probably fall under this category, but because the group was so large, I let someone else take the lead and I had the pleasure of photographing all of my friends. I helped a little, mashing potatoes, and chopping tomatoes here and there, but the group did a great job. Even with the annoying mime who kept coming over to taste our dishes before we were finished and making silly faces at us.

The dishes we completed consisted of Greek Salad, Greek Bruchetta, Tzatziki Sauce, Lentil Salad,  and a “Potato Salad.” I put the last dish in quotations because it was not the potato salad that we in the south have come to know and love. Though it started the same, chopping potatoes, but that was about the only similarity. The next ingredient we added was fish egg paste. Yes, fish eggs are added to the normally scrumptious meal… unfortunately I was not a huge fan. It tasted more like rotten fish than some cultural delicacy, but 1 out of 5 dishes that did not fit my pallet, that was pretty good! Our team chose to skip the fish paste entirely, which made it bearable to eat later, but other groups were scooping massive spoonfulls into the dish which I felt was a sure way to sink themselves in the competition. We tried to distinguish our team by making creative arrangements of food on the plate, which personally I thought added to the allure of our meal.

Our team ended up in 4^th place- probably because we lacked an entire ingredient- but in all honesty, everyone wins because we could keep the apron and we got to learn and enjoy cooking traditional Greek foods. I am including the recipe for Tzatziki sauce, because that was my favorite thing we made.

The Greek food didn’t stop there because Lindsay and I met my parents to have lunch at the yacht club and say our final goodbye to Andreas. I wanted to say again, a huge thank you for everything he did for my family and I. I certainly will be coming back to Greece soon to visit him. He gave a wonderful impression of Greece and it’s culture. And Andreas, if you are reading this, you made Greece my favorite country on this trip. Thank You!

Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 (32 ounce) container plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/2 English cucumber with peel, grated
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Stir together yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil in a bowl. Add lemon zest, dill, salt, and pepper; whisk until smooth. Pour into a serving dish, cover tightly, and refrigerate 8 hours before serving.