Greek Meze Extraordinaire

A few years back I catered a tapas/meze party for my parents. As someone who is inordinately fond of tapas (Spain), meze (Greece), apertivos/antipasti (Italy), and hors d’Oeuvres (France) I had a ball coming up with a menu. I have. I didn’t stick to a particular cuisine but instead came up with a smorgasbord of bite-sized munchies.

I served Mushrooms Stuffed with Pancetta and Sun-dried Tomatoes, Spanish Chorizo baked in Wine and Herbs, Artichoke Bruschetta, Pinchos Morinos (I did these as small cubes of meat), Spanokopitas, Lemon-Chicken Strips, Keftedes, Feta-Stuffed Peppers, Tuna-stuffed Eggs, and Saganaki. I’d made all of these dishes before — at least in some form — except the saganaki.

Saganaki is a Greek fried cheese dish and can be made with a number of different cheeses: kefalograviera, kasseri, haloumi, or graviera. Kasseri and haloumi are the easiest to find here in Knoxville. Kasseri is a dry cheese similar to Parmigiano and haloumi is sort of a cross between feta and mozzarella. I prefer the milder flavor and chewier texture of haloumi. Note, you can fry the cheese in butter, but I prefer using olive oil.

Along the lines of saganaki, I once had a Lebanese friend who would fry Lebanese feta in butter for breakfast. He would stuff the fried cheese on pita and drizzle it with honey. It was a great breakfast, but I’ve had difficulty finding a feta that works.

Saganaki
Serves 8.

16 oz cheese — kefalograviera, kasseri, haloumi, or graviera at room temperature
1/2 c flour
2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tbsp olive oil
2 lemons — cut into quarters

Combine flour, pepper, and nutmeg in a small pie plate. Cut cheese into 2 x 1 x 1/2 inch slices and dredge in flour, shaking off excess, then lay on a sheet of wax paper.

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, dredge cheese in flour again, shaking off excess, and fry in batches until browned – 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side.

Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over cheese.

Of all the things I served at that party, the saganaki got the most comments, and no wonder, it’s not only good to eat, but is also fun to eat. Not sure why, but it is fun.

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