Greek cuisine is one of the great Mediterranean cuisines and, like French or Italian, it is easy to emulate in Spain. In the end, the same ingredients are used.
The book Vefa’s kitchen –Reissued as Greece Gastronomy and, nowadays, out of print – it is the Greek equivalent of Simone Ortega’s 1080 cooking recipes in Spain, the cookbook that everyone has on hand to know how to prepare the classics. The book was published for the first time in Spain in 2011 and has been for many, including myself, the first contact with Greek cuisine.
There are many recipes in this book that we have published over the last decade in Direct to the Palate, but the one I prepare most often was missing: cuttlefish with wine, an exquisite seafood stew super tasty and very easy to prepare.
At the fish shop, we ask that the cuttlefish be cleaned and cut in hoops. The stew can also be made with squid following the same instructions.
At home, we heat a good drizzle of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a lid. Add the chopped onion and garlic and we cook them for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until they are tender and translucent.
We put the cuttlefish in, cover the saucepan, and cook it until the liquid evaporates. While in a bowl we mix the wine with the concentrated tomato and, once the water from the cuttlefish evaporates, we add it to the stew. With the medium strong game we add a bay leaf, a teaspoon of sugar and freshly ground black pepper. Stir, cover the saucepan and cook the stew over low heat for an hour and a half, until the cuttlefish is tender and the sauce is reduced almost completely.
With what to accompany the cuttlefish to the wine
In Greece, cuttlefish in wine served as an aperitif, but to me it seems more like a first course, that if we accompany it with white rice it becomes a excellent single dish. And, of course, we must not forget a good bread, which calls out for the sauce.
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