Orzo

Kritharaki means little barley, after the grain the pasta is shaped to resemble, though it is made from wheat like any other pasta. In northern Greece the same shape is called manestra, and the word orzo, which is Italian for barley, describes exactly the same thing on an imported packet. It sits somewhere between pasta and rice in how Greek cooks actually use it.

Youvetsi is its defining dish, and the name belongs to the wide earthenware dish rather than to the food: lamb or beef is browned and baked in tomato until nearly done, the orzo is stirred in with hot stock for the last stretch, and grated kefalotyri or mizithra goes over the top. Orzo also carries plain tomato pilafs and thickens chicken and vegetable soups.

The mistake almost everyone makes is liquid. Orzo absorbs a great deal more than pasta boiled in a pan of water, and a youvetsi that looks soupy going into the oven is usually about right coming out. It also goes from firm to gluey quickly, so it is added late, and any liquid poured over it should be hot rather than cold.