Capers

I am mad about capers; I love them in tomato salad, with fava (yellow split peas), with aubergine salad, with octopus and in any combination you can think of. In recent years it has been really hard to find in Greek Supermarkets capers of Greek origin; what you always find is Turkish origin capers packaged in Greece, that seem to be cultivated and for some reason almost tasteless and with minimum fragrance. The prices are quite nomal but quality is missing, like eating tasteless cucumber pickles-not capers.

I managed to find recently 2 products that are available beyond the local markets (it is quite common to find wild capers in cyclades islands - but these are not available in foreign markets or even Greek Supermarkets - at least not in the mainstream ones)

The first one is from Santo Wines - the Union of Santorini cooperatives which I managed to find in Wine Shops (Cellier) and the second one is from ΣΤΑΤΗΡ that I managed to find in Sklavenitis supermarket. Both claim to be wild capers from Cyclades and the superior quality and fragrance in comparison with the imported Turkish capers seems to justify this. The problem  is the price ~ 4 to 5 times higher - which easily explains why you will not easily find them in mainstream shops. But if you are a Capers-addict like me, you would probably go for the highest quality and if I had to choose among the above 2, I would go for ΣΤΑΤΗΡ.

Santo has also a Capers Leaves package which is also very hard to find and is not so common outside Greece. In case you look for a caper recipies this is a long list you could try.

Let's talk about Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The olive tree is native to the Mediterranean basin and the origin of the wild olive tree was probably Asia Minor; nevertheless it was probably in Crete that the olive tree was first cultivated. Olive oil is the de facto cooking oil in Mediterranean and it is one of the key elements of the famous Mediterranean diet.

From http://www.italialiving.com/ portal

Greece has by far the highest per capita consumption of extra virgin olive oil and is 3rd in world production. The tradition of olive oil in Greece goes back to 2500 B.C. and still today the methods of cultivation and oil extraction have not changed dramatically, leading to relatively low yield in comparison with Spain and Italy which are the biggest world producers.

According to the International Olive Council "Virgin olive oils are the oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions, particularly thermal conditions, that do not lead to alterations in the oil, and which have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration." In addition Extra Virgin Oil must have a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams".

The consumption of monounsaturated fats (olive oil) has been linked with various health benefits. Although it is hard to prove these assumptions in a scientific cause and effect pattern, all experts agree that olive oil consumption is not known to cause any health issues and has potentially significant positive effects on one's health. Actually the "European Food Safety Authority" has recently advised that olive oil polyphenol consumtpion can protect the LDL particles from oxidative damage. All recent studies are focusing on the polyphenol content of Extra Virgin Oil, since these antioxidants seem to be the root of its health value. Polyphenols actually exist in many other "health foods" like red wine, coffee, cocoa which have been taking credit during the recent years for their antioxidizing protection.

So how can we tell if extra olive oil is of good quality and rich in polyphenols?

• regarding the acidity this can be only decided by laboratory quantification tests but this is rarely an issue for brand products which must always bear the acidity level on their label.
• the flavor and aroma of extra virgin oil must be evident and this should smell like grass or "smashed" olives.
• polyphenol content can be measured in the lab, but can also be judged by spicy and bitter taste. So do not forget - if the oil is spicy or bitter is not bad, is just rich in polyphenols and this is the taste you should look for. Traditionally this was called "Agoureleo" or "Akago" in Greece which was usually of cloudy appearance and well known for its health benefits. The above names in Greek mean that it was done by green (unripe) olives or processed without hot water. (We now know that both factors - maturity of the olive fruit and heat are critical in extracting the maximum amount of polyphenols from olive oil).
• Olive Oil is very delicate and prone to oxidization so it must be consumed in 6-15 months, so always look for "fresh" extra virgin oil and store avoiding light, heat and contact with air.

Recently several Greek producers are trying to forward their production to international markets. We have noticed a few of them for their distinctive quality and effort:

"Eleia" has recently started its marketing campaign with this impressive design, but is above all a spicy and bitter Agoureleo really worthy of your salads. It is pricy also, but the design and quality of the product make it a fair deal.

Latzimas from Crete is also an exceptional cloudy extra virgin olive oil that can be found in Greece and abroad with certification for most international markets. Really spicy and at an affordable price for ordinary use.

Altis is also one of the 2 major companies in the domestic Greek market. Altis Agoureleo is its flagship product and is really apart from the rest of the Altis products.  Altis Agoureleo is keeping a constant quality for several years now and comes at a price that makes sense for every day use.

I will try to follow up soon with new flavors and labels we taste. In the meantime these are a few interesting sites on olive oil for further reading.

IOC
Wikipedia
Olive oil Source

ERGON - Traditional Greek delicacies

There is a growing movement of Traditional Greek food stores expanding in Greece. Fortunately several of these attempts are finally looking beyond the borders of Greece and offer their products to foreign markets either via local points of presence and in several cases via e-shops. We are going to dig further into this in the months ahead. We are presenting today one of these attempts from 2 young people from Thessaloniki in northern Greece. The company named ERGON (In Greek ΕΡΓΟΝ: means action or project) has ~ 300 points of presence in Greece and abroad. Notably this includes shops in France, UK, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Cyprus, Polland and Serbia. So don't miss to try out products with their label - that are carefully selected directly from the local producers.