How Greeks celebrate Easter: the feasting after the fast

No-one who hasn’t experienced a Greek Easter can imagine the scale of the feasting. Wine writer Ted Lelekas tells all about "the most lavish and important meal of the year".

Ted writes: "It may come as a surprise to some, but in Greece, Easter is much more important than Christmas, when it comes to food and drink. This is mostly because the period running up to Easter and up to Easter Sunday itself is full of local and religious traditions and customs, which, invariably, stem from or lead to food.

The main reason why Easter Sunday lunch is so greatly anticipated and celebrated is that it comes as the culmination of a long – and not always easy – period of fasting that can last 7 or 40 days. This is a very old tradition of the Greek Orthodox church that aims to lead people to share the burden of the trials of Christ that lead to his crucifixion, and to cleanse their bodies and souls in time for his resurrection.

Modern Greek society is, of course, far more secular, even agnostic, than in the past. However, the majority of people are still happy to follow the culinary customs of Easter as they are dictated by religious tradition, while many even choose to fast regardless of religious beliefs, seeing it as a good way to de-tox before the Easter feast!

Easter fasting means mainly excluding meat and dairy products from one’s everyday diet for the 40 days of Lent, leading to Easter. During the last 7 days, the Holy Week, the regime becomes even more strict, as it also excludes fish, seafood and even olive oil.

Everything starts to return back to normal after midnight on Holy Saturday, when the church bells toll joyfully and Christ’s resurrection is announced in each neighbourhood, amidst chants and fireworks. A few hours later, on Easter Sunday, the whole family , as well as friends, neighbours, sometimes even strangers who have nowhere to go, gather around the table to enjoy what is possibly the most lavish and important meal of the year.

As one would expect, culinary customs at Easter vary amongst various regions in Greece. Understandably, in the islands or in certain seaside areas, fish and seafood play a key role at the Easter table. In general, however, Easter fare in Greece revolves around meat, and mainly lamb so I will concentrate on Easter eating and drinking as it’s done in most of the mainland.

At midnight on Holy Saturday, once Christ’s resurrection has been officially declared, the cook of the household (traditionally the mother) will rush home from church first, to start the preparations for the Resurrection dinner. This is not exactly a full and heavy meal, but it is very cleverly conceived, in order to line the family members’ stomachs, a few hours before the huge carnivorous feast that is the Easter lunch.

The resurrection table will feature lettuce salad, feta cheese and hard-boiled eggs whose shells are painted red, symbolizing the blood that Christ spilled as he sacrificed himself for humanity. People around the table will choose their own egg, that they will crack against the egg of the person sitting next to them, in order to symbolize the release of life. The person whose egg survives the night intact is the lucky one of the night, and will keep it to use in the same way the following day.

The centerpiece on the Resurrection table is the traditional soup, “Magiritsa”. This is a hot, hearty soup that contains chopped pieces of lamb’s liver, intestines and sweetbreads, scented with essential Mediterranean herbs and greens like endives, spring onion and dill, on a base of egg and lemon juice. The delicious Magiritsa will deliver a first, “gentle shock” to the system of the person who just finished fasting, and will prepare them for Easter lunch which will follow in a few hours.

There can be two main wine pairing suggestions for Resurrection dinner: a cool white wine made from the Moschofilero grape (PDO Mantinia, in the Peloponnese), with crisp acidity that will cut through the soup’s richness and delicate green – even floral – aromas to match the fresh herbs in the soup and the salad; alternatively a fresh, ideally unoaked, red from the Agiorgitiko grape (PDO Nemea, in the Peloponnese), with a fruity character and young yet velvety tannins, to match the first red meat to make an appearance at the table for quite a few days.

The “star of the show” at the Easter Sunday table is one of the most traditional dishes in Greek cuisine: “ovelias”, a whole lamb, slow-roasted on a spit, over an open coal fire. A great deal of effort goes in its preparation, to ensure that it is properly seasoned and fixed onto the spit, as well as in the actual roasting.

On the morning of Easter Sunday, the person tasked with manning the spit-roast station wakes up very early to start the fire and prepare the lamb. Even though the fire can be in the form of a hole in the ground or through a sophisticated barbecue grill with an electrically-powered spit, roasting will take several hours, to ensure that the main dish will be ready at lunchtime for everyone to enjoy.

Roasters have an enviable set of privileges. They get to nibble on all kinds of special treats (“mezedes”) such as cheese, traditional bits of charcuterie, pieces of hard-boiled Easter red eggs seasoned with olive oil, and various dips with bread, while at various points in time they will be enjoying pieces of lamb skin cracklings and other pieces of the roast lamb, pretending to check its state of readiness!

Throughout that time, they will be downing endless glasses of ouzo (traditional Greek anise-flavoured distillate), diluted with cold water over ice, chilled tsipouro (the Greek version of grappa), or cold retsina (traditional Greek white wine flavoured with pine tree resin).

Alongside the lamb, delicacies which will also be spit-roasted over the coal fire include “kontosouvli”, pieces of pork tenderloin, and “kokoretsi”, a salami-shaped delicacy made of the lamb’s liver and wrapped with its intestines.

Other dishes which will eventually make their way to the Easter table include feta cheese, various salads, red Easter eggs, dips such as “tzatziki” (yoghurt with garlic, shredded cucumber and herbs) and “tirokafteri” (spicy white cheese spread), spicy sausages, roast potatoes and a traditional baked cheese pie, made of feta cheese wrapped in filo pastry.

Desserts will include fresh seasonal fruit, and “galaktomboureko” (traditional dessert made of sweet custard-like cream wrapped in filo pastry and covered in syrup).

The wines drunk at the table will range from fresh, fruity rosés, to match with the fresh seasonal flavours, served chilled to go with the traditionally warm weather enjoyed at Easter time, to full-bodied reds based on Xinomavro, a grape native to Northern Greece (PDO Naoussa or Amyntaion), characterized by aromas of dark fruit, sundried tomato and black olive, producing tannic wines that can hold their ground when served with the lamb and all the other carnivorous delights.

A good modern-style Retsina is also a usual suspect at the Easter table, as it has the magic ability to match the wide range of flavours on offer. Desserts will be served with popular sweet wines such as the Muscat-based “stickies” from the islands of Samos or Limnos (both PDO) or the famous Vinsanto, based on the while grape of Assyrtiko (PDO Santorini).

Easter lunch in Greece is a veritable feast, eagerly anticipated by everyone for months. Coming as the climax of a period of fasting and religious devoutness (for some), it is a happy occasion that brings the whole family, relatives, friends, neighbours, even strangers around the same table, to celebrate and rejoice.

As a matter of fact, tradition dictates that no one rushes to leave the table; even after the food is finished, everyone will still be there chatting and making the most of the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company. Anyone who has the option to spend Easter in Greece, is strongly encouraged to do so. They’re in for a culinary treat they will never forget!

Ted Lelekas is an Athens-based wine writer and educator with his own blog (in Greek) www.telegourmet.org. He asked that payment for this piece should be given to the charity Kids Company.

This article is dedicated to the memory of Albert Arouh, esteemed Greek restaurant critic and author, who passed away on Saturday 12 April 2014.

This article was first published in April 2015. Top image of traditional Greek bread by rawf8 at shutterstock.com

Pairing wine with Chinese cuisine

I’ve written before about pairing wine with Chinese food - and so have some of my contributors but here’s a slightly different way of going about it that may help you decide which bottle to choose and make your pairings more successful. It involves deciding which flavours are predominant in a dish or selection of dishes.

Of course dishes of different types tend to be put on the table at the same time but they tend to be grouped together. You rarely find a delicate seafood dish served alongside a stir fry of beef in black bean sauce, for example, so it makes sense, as it does for a Western meal, to open more than one bottle. Be guided by the most intensely flavoured dish you’ve cooked or ordered - this is the one that’s going to dominate any wine that you’re drinking.

Delicate seafood flavours, typical of Cantonese cuisine as in steamed dim sum, scallops, steamed whole fish: Minerally Sauvignon Blanc e.g. Sancerre, young Chablis and other young white burgundy, dry German or Austrian Riesling, Champagne

Deep fried dim sum and other snacks: sparkling wine.

Spicy noodles: Viognier

Sweet and sour dishes: Fruity rosé e.g. Merlot-based Bordeaux, Australian and Chilean rosés, Australian Semillon-Chardonnay blends

Duck dishes such as crispy duck with pancakes: New World Pinot Noir, Merlot and Merlot blends

Dishes in which ginger is a dominant note e.g. crab or lobster with ginger: Gewürztraminer

Black bean sauce: Rich, velvety but not too tannic reds e.g. Chilean or other ripe New World Cabernet, fruity Zinfandel

Barbecued dishes such as spare ribs: As above

Rich braised dishes, hotpots: More tannic reds such as Syrah or blends of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre

Hot, fiery dishes typical of Szechuan cuisine: Wines with a touch of sweetness especially Alsace Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer - even sweet wine - see Margaret Rand’s article on Tokaji

For further reading:

Heavenly Match: wine meets Chinese cuisine by Lau Chin Sun published by Moët Hennessy Diageo Hong Kong. Some interesting insights although all the wines are from the Moet Hennessy portfolio.

Wine with Asian Food: new frontiers in taste. Patricia Guy and Edwin Soon. 2007 Tide-Mark Press . A more comprehensively thought-out Pan-Asian approach with Old World and New World recommendations. Some intriguing suggestions e.g. Rioja Gran Reserva or Grange with stir-fried beef and peppers but an odd bias in favour of Italian wines (Guy lives in Italy)

Image by Elena Eryomenko at shutterstock.com

Chinese New Year is a celebration of feasts and family

In this post from the archives food, drink and travel writer Qin Xie explains what the Chinese drink with the most important feast of the year and what goes down well in her own family.

Like Christmas, missing the familial gatherings during this fifteen-day festival is, in a word, unthinkable. That's why each year, millions of Chinese battle the impossible crowds to return for that reunion.

Typically, a feast on New Year's Eve is a table loaded with dishes and surrounded by multiple generations. It will start at lunch, which might be lighter, with a break for snacks, tea and games like mahjong or cards, before continuing onto dinner. Several members of the family will have invaded the kitchen at some point to lend a hand or to create their signature dishes.

The cold dishes will arrive first at each meal so people can start grazing but soon, a steady stream of hot plates will follow as the ingredients prepared over the course of the day is swiftly assembled into different flavours.

For libation, soft drinks are a staple – not only because they can be enjoyed by everyone but also because they can be drunk immediately unlike, for example, tea. That said, cold-brewed tea has been increasingly popular as a soft drink in China over the last few years.

The most popular choice of alcohol, especially inside restaurants, is beer. A well chilled larger, watery and low in alcohol, is probably one of the best antidotes to some of the more spicy dishes on the Chinese menu. Bottles of red wine, because red is auspicious and 'good for health', might also appear in some homes.

Of course, if the drinking gets serious, it's all about the baijiu – a distilled spirit that's knocking around the region of 50% ABV. As a shot, it packs a serious punch to the back of the throat before warming its way down to your stomach. Slowly sipped, however, fine wisps of the aroma gently floats off the top before the liquid cuts through your palate with surgical precision.

I'm not sure anyone likes it on their first attempt but it's tradition. And like a good single malt or a fine Cognac, you learn to love its nuances.

These aren't necessarily drinks intended to match a Chinese banquet. Indeed, finding the perfect match would be impossible given the number of different dishes on the table at any one time.

As someone who doesn't normally drink beer, I have to say that it works remarkably well in most cases – as long as it doesn't have so much character that it's competing with the food.

In terms of wine, a fruity Pinot Noir and a sweeter Riesling have both worked for me in the past. Basically, you want to steer away from tannin, which can end up tasting bitter – ironic given that a strong red wine is usually the vino of choice in China. Nutty amontillado and oloroso sherries, or even a sweeter cream sherry, also have a good affinity with most dishes.

Our family feast has always been a blend between Sichuan, where I was born, and northern Chinese, where my maternal grandparents were from. It's as diverse as they come.

This year, we had a few gluttonous moments over the space of a weekend so for drinks, it ended up being a mix of what we had to hand and what might theoretically work.

The main feast was a mix of about a dozen different fish, meat, seafood and vegetable dishes. With the meat split between pork and chicken, I decided to try a 2013 Bylines Riesling from Songlines Estate in Eden Valley, South Australia. The tropical notes made the match appreciable but the slight bitterness it left on the palate divided the table.

Crispy bites of pan-fried pork dumplings, laced with garlic chives and dipped into a soy and vinegar sauce with yet more garlic, called for something a bit more palate cleansing like green tea. I've just acquired a new collection of loose-leaf tea from Fujian, in south east China, and among them, the jasmine pearls have been my go-to choice for every-day brews. Light, fragrant and easy drinking, it doesn't fight with the garlic and is just as good on its own.

The most controversial match for the weekend was definitely the one for our Sichuan hotpot. Meat, seafood and vegetables are cooked in a spicy, pungent broth before being cooled, briefly, in a dip of sesame oil and raw garlic. You won't be kissing anyone after this but it's absolutely delicious and unpretentious.

With no beer to hand, I went with a gorgeous 2012 Suri Sandrinet Moscato d'Asti from Cerutti in Piedmont, Italy. Still fresh, light and bursting with peach and floral notes, the wine had the sweetness needed to cope with the spice. But unlike your average sweet wine, at just 5% ABV, it doesn't have the level of alcohol or the concentration to fight the strong flavours in the food. I doubt many Moscato d'Asti producers would be rushing to make that recommendation but it turned out to be the favourite of the weekend.

And in the end, for a celebration that's so rooted in tradition, it's okay to create some new ones too.

Qin Xie is a food, drink and travel writer. You can visit her website here.

Top photograph By Thy Le at shutterstock.com

20 Christmas wine pairings to learn by heart

One of the most popular posts I’ve ever written on this site was one called 20 food and wine pairings to learn by heart - an easy reference guide to commit to memory.

Here’s a special Christmas version to help you through the next few days along with links to longer posts on the site which will give you more options

1. Smoked salmon + champagne or sauvignon blanc

Champagne is the more festive pairing but Sauvignon is the better match IMO.

2. Oysters + Chablis

A French tradition so a French wine. Muscadet and Picpoul de Pinet, both from oyster producing areas are also good options.

3. Duck (or chicken) liver parfait + pinot gris

I've chosen this in preference to foie gras as I don't personally eat it but like foie gras it can also take a wine with a touch of sweetness. You could even go for Sauternes or a similar sweet Bordeaux.

4. Seafood cocktail + Riesling

An off-dry riesling from, say, Washington State or New Zealand

5. Roast turkey + Rhone reds such as Chateauneuf du Pape

There are many other options but it's hard to beat this one.

6. Christmas ham + bright fruity reds such as shiraz or Beaujolais

The sweeter the glaze, the riper and fruitier the wine you need

7. Goose + Barolo or Chianti

Whites like spätlese riesling work too but most people would expect a red

8. Duck + Pinot Noir

Always works

9. Roast beef + Cabernet Sauvignon, red Bordeaux

Or, to tell the truth, almost any medium to full-bodied red you enjoy

10. Roast pork + Côtes du Rhône

Or, if you prefer a white and it's served with apple sauce , German or Alsace riesling

11. Baked salmon + white burgundy

Salmon and chardonnay is always a winner

12. Christmas pudding + muscat

Such as Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise or (a bargain this) Moscatel de Valencia

13. Christmas cake + tawny port

Sweet oloroso sherry is good too

14. Mince pies + cream or oloroso sherry or sweet madeira

Or port if that's what you happen to have open.

15. Chocolate Yule log + black muscat

Or any other sweet red wine

16. Stollen + auslese or other sweet riesling

But do check out the other options which are great too!

17. Panettone + prosecco

Cook's treat!

18. Trifle + Moscato d'Asti

Depending on the trifle and how boozy it is! Check my full post for more options.

19. Stilton + vintage port

THE Christmas pairing. Other types of port like Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) and 10 y.o. tawny are good too

20. Vacherin Mont d’Or + vintage champagne

Not the classic pairing of the region but a great way to end a meal!

You may also find the original 20 food and wine pairings to learn by heart useful.

Is there any other pairing you regard as classic or wouldn't miss over the Christmas period?

Image copyright jasoncoxphotography at fotolia.com