Ancient Greek Recipes from Orestis Davias (Taste magazine)

These recipes are from Orestis Davias, the "Taste" Greek Magazine. You should note that the ancient Greeks did not yet have lemons, which are used in these recipes. Lemons, apricots and cherries were introduced to Rome around the A.D. 1st century.

Ancient Greek Mullet

6 small or 3 large red mullets, cleaned
2 handfuls of fresh herbs finely chopped (thyme, spearmint, coriander, marjoram, parsley, rosemary). If you do not have fresh herbs use one soupspoon of each.
3 soupspoons olive oil
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper

Mix the herbs together with the oil, the lemon juice, the salt and pepper. Spread the mixture on the belly and the outside of the mullets. Line a pan with aluminum foil and put the fish on top. Put it on the grill and grill the fish 4-10 minutes on each side, according to the size of the fish. Sprinkle continuously with lemon juice. Grill until the flesh easily comes away from the bone. Serve immediately with bread and green salad.

Ancient cooked tuna - (Fileta tonou sti katsarola)

8 tablespoons olive oil
8 leek cut in rounds
8 celery sticks finely chopped
1 full teaspoon rosemary
1 full teaspoon thyme salt and pepper half of a medium sized cucumber cut in rounds
2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups dry white wine
6 pieces of tuna

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the leeks and the celery until soft. Add the herbs, the cucumber, the water, and the wine. Mix well and put the tuna slices on top of the vegetables. Cover the pan and boil on a low heat for 30 - 45 minutes, according to the thickness of the tuna. Serve with rice and a green tossed salad.

Ancient Bean soup - (Fasolada)

2 cups white beans
1/2 liter water
200 gr. lard
3 onions finely chopped
1/2 liter beef broth
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 bunch parsley
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper

Soak the beans in water over night. Then boil them in a little water for 5 minutes. Take the pressure cooker off the heat and cover for 1 hour. Pour the beans and bay leaf into the beef broth and slowly boil for 2 hours. Sauti the onion in the lard and then add the parsley, the coriander, the salt and pepper. Add this to the beans. Add the honey and allow to boil slowly for a few more minutes. Before serving, add the garlic cloves that have been passed through a garlic press and mixed with the oil.

Ancient Fruit Salad - (Froutosalata)

1 melon
2 peaches
2 pears
1 bunch of grapes
2 glasses Mosxato wine
1/2 cup peeled and chopped almonds
1/2 cup golden grapes
1/2 cup honey

Cut the melon in half and carefully remove the flesh and cut into small pieces. Mix the melon with the rest of the cut fruit, the almonds and the grapes and fill the melon skins with this mixture. On a low heat, warm the wine with the honey mixing well. Pour this mixture over the fruit. Before serving, the fruit should be put in the refrigerator for an hour.

Ancient sweet with honey

200gr white flour
50gr peeled almonds
50gr walnuts
50gr sesame
150gr honey (thyme fed)
3 eggs

Crush the almonds and walnuts well. Grind the sesame. Preheat the oven to 200oC. Beat the eggs with the honey and slowly add the flour and all the other ingredients, beating constantly. Grease a cake pan and sprinkle with the ground sesame and add the batter. Bake for 45 minutes, leaving the oven door open a bit for the first 10 minutes. When done remove from the oven and take the cake out of the pan. Cover with a towel until cool.