Ingredient
30 Greek Recipes with Seafood
A country with more coastline than continental France eats fish simply: grilled whole, dressed with oil and lemon, and never over-handled.
A country with more coastline than continental France eats its fish plainly: grilled whole, dressed with oil and lemon, and never over-handled.
Small fish are fried: whitebait, red mullet, bogue, fresh anchovies. Sardines and swordfish go on the grill. A sea bream is baked whole. Octopus is simmered first and then grilled, or braised in wine.
The cooked dishes are the exceptions, and good ones. Prawns or mussels with tomato and feta. Lobster with pasta. The two fish stews of Corfu. Salt cod, fried and served with garlic dip on March 25th, or baked in tomato sauce. Buy the fish first and choose the recipe second.
Every recipe on Kalliopi's Kitchen carries the dish's Greek name and a pronunciation, its region where that is meaningful, ingredient quantities in both metric and imperial, and an honest note on what commonly goes wrong. Nutrition figures are calculated estimates and are labelled as such.
1. Grilled Octopus
Htapodi sta karvouna · Χταπόδι στα κάρβουνα · htah-POH-thee stah KAR-voo-nah
Octopus on a line outside a taverna is the picture everyone knows, and the drying does help. What makes it tender is a long, gentle simmer in the liquid the octopus gives up, with no water added. The grill only finishes it, in about four minutes. Raw on the fire, it turns to rubber.
Yiayia’s tip: Frozen is better than fresh here. One of the few cases where this is true. Freezing does the tenderising work that would otherwise take beating or luck.
Make Grilled Octopus2. Prawns with Feta and Tomato
Garides saganaki · Γαρίδες σαγανάκι · ghah-REE-des sah-ghah-NAH-kee
Prawns in sharp tomato sauce with feta on top, finished under the grill or in the oven. Saganaki is the pan, not a cheese. Timing is the only way to spoil it: the sauce needs twenty minutes and the prawns three or four. A splash of ouzo flamed in the pan gives the taverna taste.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not let the feta fully melt. Feta softens and browns rather than melting smoothly. Pull it out while there are still distinct pieces, which is the texture you want against the sauce.
Make Prawns with Feta and Tomato3. Fish Roe Dip
Taramosalata · Ταραμοσαλάτα · tah-rah-moh-sah-LAH-tah
The bright pink tub from the supermarket is dyed and tastes mainly of mayonnaise. The real one is pale, from beige to the softest pink. Tarama, the cured roe of cod or carp, is fiercely salty, so it is whipped with olive oil and bread or potato. No egg comes into it.
Yiayia’s tip: Squeeze the bread bone dry. Any leftover water thins the dip and stops it whipping up fluffy. Squeeze harder than feels necessary.
Make Fish Roe Dip4. Fried Salt Cod with Garlic Dip
Bakaliaros skordalia · Μπακαλιάρος σκορδαλιά · bah-kah-lee-AH-ros skor-dah-lee-AH
The dish of Greek Independence Day, March 25th, a date inside Lent. Salted, dried fish is allowed under the stricter fasting rules where fresh is not, which is how salt cod became the fish of the day. The skordalia is no side dish. It is half of the plate and deserves equal care.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not rush the soak. Twenty four to forty eight hours with regular water changes is what draws out the curing salt properly. Taste a piece before frying to check.
Make Fried Salt Cod with Garlic Dip5. Corfu Spicy Fish Stew
Bourdeto · Μπουρδέτο · boor-DEH-toh
The hottest of Corfu's spiced dishes, and red from paprika, not tomato. A generous amount of sweet paprika and a careful amount of hot are cooked into the onions first. Scorpionfish is traditional, and any firm white fish works. Paprika scorches and turns bitter in a very hot pan, so lower the heat first.
Yiayia’s tip: Cook the onions properly. A full fifteen minutes over low heat is what builds the sweetness that stands in for the tomato most other Greek fish stews rely on.
Make Corfu Spicy Fish Stew6. Grilled Sardines with Lemon Oil
Sardeles ladolemono · Σαρδέλες λαδολέμονο · sar-THEH-les lah-thoh-LEH-moh-noh
Outside Greece the sardine mostly comes in a tin. Along the Greek coast it is grilled fresh, a few minutes on hot coals, then dressed with olive oil, lemon and oregano. The dressing goes on at the end, never as a marinade. On a lukewarm grill the fish steams instead of searing.
Yiayia’s tip: Freshness is not negotiable here. This dish has almost nowhere to hide a fish that is past its best. Buy from a source you trust and cook the same day.
Make Grilled Sardines with Lemon Oil7. Fried Baby Squid
Kalamarakia tiganita · Καλαμαράκια τηγανητά · kah-lah-mah-RAH-kyah tee-gah-nee-TAH
Squid can be cooked well two ways: for a minute or two, or for an hour or more. Anything in between turns it to rubber. Frying is the fast way, so sixty to ninety seconds in hot oil is enough. Few plates are ordered more at a Greek seaside taverna.
Yiayia’s tip: Flour it only right before frying. Squid releases moisture as it sits, and a coating applied too early turns gluey rather than staying light.
Make Fried Baby Squid8. Gavros Marinatos
Γαύρος μαρινάτος · GAHV-ros mah-ree-NAH-tos
No heat touches these anchovies. The fillets sit in vinegar until the flesh goes from translucent to opaque white, the same idea as ceviche, then get olive oil, garlic and parsley. Left in the vinegar too long they turn hard and harsh. A small, sharp plate for ouzo or cold white wine.
Yiayia’s tip: Freeze the fish before you cure it. Vinegar firms raw anchovies but it does not kill parasites. Seven days at -20C (-4F) or colder does. Thaw them in the fridge before you fillet and cure them.
Make Gavros Marinatos9. Fish Soup
Psarosoupa · Ψαρόσουπα · psah-ROH-soo-pah
Two courses out of one pot. The fish and vegetables come out first and are eaten on their own, with olive oil and lemon. The broth is then strained, finished with avgolemono and served afterwards as a soup. Much of Greece eats it this way, and the fish does not overcook in a bowl.
Yiayia’s tip: Use a whole fish if you can. The bones and head contribute real depth to the broth that fillets alone cannot replicate.
Make Fish Soup10. Corfu White Fish Stew
Bianco · Μπιάνκο · bee-AHN-koh
The name is Italian for white, a trace of Corfu's Venetian past, and it tells you what is missing: tomato. Where bourdeto and pastitsada are bold and spiced, this is firm white fish braised gently with garlic, olive oil and potato in a pale broth. The lemon at the end wakes it up.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not let the garlic brown. Cooked too hot or too long, it turns bitter, which this pale, delicate stew has nowhere to hide.
Make Corfu White Fish Stew11. Fried Whitebait
Marides tiganites · Μαρίδες τηγανητές · mah-REE-thes tee-gah-nee-TES
Tiny fish, fried whole and eaten whole: head, tail and bones in one bite. Nothing to fillet, and nothing to clean beyond a rinse. The oil must be hot enough to crisp them in a couple of minutes, or they sit and drink it. Tavernas sell them constantly, with ouzo or cold white wine.
Yiayia’s tip: Dry the fish thoroughly before flouring. Any surface moisture stops the flour sticking properly and causes dangerous spitting in the hot oil.
Make Fried Whitebait12. Fried Red Mullet
Barbouni tiganito · Μπαρμπούνι τηγανητό · bar-BOO-nee tee-gah-nee-TOH
Often the most expensive fish on a taverna menu, and one that needs very little done to it. Whole red mullet is floured lightly and fried in a hot pan, and that is the classic preparation. The flesh is delicate and slightly sweet, nothing like common white fish. Turn it gently or it breaks.
Yiayia’s tip: Freshness is essential. Red mullet's delicate flavour and texture do not forgive a fish that has been sitting for days. Buy from a source you trust.
Make Fried Red Mullet13. Fried Dogfish with Garlic Potato Dip
Galeos skordalia · Γαλέος σκορδαλιά · gah-LEH-os skor-dah-lee-AH
Fried shark, in plain terms. Dogfish is a small one, with firm, meaty flesh and no small bones, which makes it forgiving. It is fried and served with skordalia exactly as salt cod is, without the long desalting, because it is used fresh. This is Lenten food across Greece, and a full meal.
Yiayia’s tip: Dry the fish before battering. Any surface moisture stops the batter adhering properly and can cause spitting in the hot oil.
Make Fried Dogfish with Garlic Potato Dip14. Lobster with Pasta
Astakomakaronada · Αστακομακαρονάδα · ah-stah-koh-mah-kah-roh-NAH-thah
The showpiece of the Cyclades, and of Mykonos above all, where the taverna price follows what lobster costs that season. The name joins astakos, lobster, to makaronada, pasta. At home a smaller lobster, frozen tails or langoustines will do. The lobster needs eight to ten minutes in the sauce, no more, or it turns rubbery.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not rush the tomato sauce. A full twenty-five to thirty minutes is what gives it the rich, concentrated depth this showpiece dish needs.
Make Lobster with Pasta15. Mussels in Tomato and Feta Sauce
Mydia saganaki · Μύδια σαγανάκι · MEE-thyah sah-gah-NAH-kee
Saganaki here is a way of cooking, not the fried cheese: a fast tomato sauce with garlic, and feta melted in at the end. Prawns are the familiar version on taverna menus, and mussels take the same sauce without any change. They need only minutes in the pan, and longer turns them tough and rubbery.
Yiayia’s tip: Discard any mussels that do not open. A mussel that stays firmly shut after cooking was not alive before cooking and should not be eaten.
Make Mussels in Tomato and Feta Sauce16. Whole Baked Sea Bream
Tsipoura psiti · Τσιπούρα ψητή · tsee-POO-rah psee-TEE
Few fish are eaten more often in Greece than sea bream, and this is how coastal tavernas serve it: whole, baked with little more than oil, lemon, garlic and herbs. The plainness is deliberate, since good fresh fish wants no sauce on top. Timing is the only skill: overcooked, it turns dry.
Yiayia’s tip: Score the skin before baking. This helps the fish cook evenly and lets the oil and lemon flavour the flesh a little more than an unscored fish would allow.
Make Whole Baked Sea Bream17. Stuffed Whole Squid
Kalamari gemisto · Καλαμάρι γεμιστό · kah-lah-MAH-ree yeh-mee-STOH
The opposite of fried calamari rings. Each squid tube is kept whole, filled with herbs, rice and its own chopped tentacles, then braised in tomato and wine until tender. It is a main course, not a starter, and patient work. The sauce picks up sweetness from the squid as it simmers.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not overfill the tubes. Rice expands considerably as it finishes cooking inside the squid. Filling two-thirds full leaves room for this, avoiding splitting.
Make Stuffed Whole Squid18. Corfu Fried Fish in Vinegar and Rosemary
Savoro · Σαβόρο · sah-VOH-roh
Corfu's answer to keeping a catch edible in August with no ice. The fish is fried, then covered in hot red wine vinegar with garlic, rosemary and currants. Saor, the Venetian word, gave it its name. The currants are there to sweeten the vinegar. Eat it cold, a day or two later.
Yiayia’s tip: Dry the fish before flouring. Any surface water turns the flour to paste and the fish steams instead of crisping. A crisp crust is what holds the fish together once the vinegar goes over.
Make Corfu Fried Fish in Vinegar and Rosemary19. Lakerda
Λακέρδα · lah-KER-thah
Constantinople's Greeks salted the bonito that passed the Bosphorus each autumn, and brought the method to Greece in 1922. Nothing is cooked or smoked. Salt firms thick steaks over four to six days until dense and silky. Timing is the hard part: cut short it tastes raw, left long it turns dry and salty.
Yiayia’s tip: Use coarse salt only. Fine salt penetrates far too quickly and gives a harsh, over-cured result. Coarse sea salt draws water out gradually, which is the whole mechanism of the cure.
Make Lakerda20. Cycladic Octopus Braised in Wine
Htapodi krasato · Χταπόδι κρασάτο · htah-POH-thee krah-SAH-toh
The opposite of grilled octopus, and in the Cyclades an alternative to it, not a lesser version. Red wine, bay and tomato, a long gentle braise, and a dark sauce that wants bread. It forgives more than the grill, because there is no sear to time. Judge it by the thick end of a tentacle.
Yiayia’s tip: Simmer the octopus alone first. This releases some of its liquid before the sauce is built, keeping the final dish from being watered down.
Make Cycladic Octopus Braised in Wine21. Baked Fish with Vegetables
Psari plaki · Ψάρι πλακί · PSAH-ree plah-KEE
Plaki means anything baked slowly on a bed of vegetables. Here it is a whole fish laid over onion, garlic, tomato and potato, taking up their juices. This is how Greeks cook a whole fish on a Sunday without a grill. Sea bream or sea bass, something firm, is the choice.
Yiayia’s tip: Give the vegetables a head start. Potato and onion need considerably longer to cook through than the fish. Baking them alone first lets everything finish together.
Make Baked Fish with Vegetables22. Fisherman's Soup
Kakavia · Κακαβιά · kah-kah-vee-AH
Named after the pot it was cooked in, at sea. Fishermen put in the fish that went unsold or were too small for market, with onion, tomato, potato and the oil on board. Several food historians count it an ancestor of bouillabaisse. It takes a lot of olive oil and is never thin.
Yiayia’s tip: Use a genuine mix of seafood. Several different kinds of fish and shellfish give a richer, more complex broth than any single variety used alone.
Make Fisherman's Soup23. Northern Greek Cod with Leeks
Bakaliaros me prasa · Μπακαλιάρος με πράσα · bah-kah-lee-AH-ros meh PRAH-sah
Not the fried, battered salt cod that comes with skordalia. This is the northern way, from Macedonia: the same cod braised in a light tomato sauce with so many leeks that they are nearly an equal partner. A winter dish, closer to a stew. The cod needs a day or two of soaking.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not rush the leek soften. A genuine fifteen minutes over low heat turns them sweet enough to carry half the dish. Rushed leeks stay sharp and slightly bitter.
Make Northern Greek Cod with Leeks24. Cuttlefish Braised in Wine
Soupies krasates · Σουπιές κρασάτες · soo-pee-ES krah-SAH-tes
Octopus gets the attention outside Greece, but cuttlefish takes to a slow braise just as well. It cooks in red wine with bay and onion until completely tender. The method closely follows htapodi krasato. Have the fishmonger clean it: the job is fiddly.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not rush the braise. Cuttlefish needs real time, close to an hour, to move past chewy and become genuinely tender. This is not a quick-cooking cephalopod.
Make Cuttlefish Braised in Wine25. Fried Bogue
Gopes tiganites · Γόπες τηγανητές · GOH-pes tee-gah-nee-TES
A cheap, everyday fish of the Greek coast. Bogue is bigger than marides or anchovies, smaller than an ordinary eating fish, and no prize the way barbouni is. Fishing communities have long eaten it as a staple. Scaled, lightly floured and fried whole, it costs a fraction of the sought-after fish at a seaside taverna.
Yiayia’s tip: Dry the fish thoroughly before flouring. Any surface moisture stops the flour sticking and causes dangerous spitting in the hot oil.
Make Fried Bogue26. Fried Fresh Anchovies
Gavros tiganitos · Γαύρος τηγανιτός · GAHV-rohs tee-gah-nee-TOHS
Greek anchovy cooking has two opposite ends, and this is the hot one: a light dusting of flour, a couple of minutes in hot oil, lemon at the table. The other, gavros marinatos, cures them raw in vinegar. No batter, because the anchovies should taste of themselves. Fry in batches and eat at once.
Yiayia’s tip: Pat the anchovies completely dry first. Excess moisture stops the flour coating from crisping properly, giving a soggier result.
Make Fried Fresh Anchovies27. Baked Salt Cod in Tomato Sauce
Bakaliaros plaki · Μπακαλιάρος πλακί · bah-kah-LYAH-rohs plah-KEE
Salt cod without the frying pan. Most people picture bakaliaros battered, fried and served with skordalia. Plaki is the other way: the fish bakes in a tomato sauce with onion, celery and herbs, and the two flavour each other as they cook. It earns its place in Lent, when salt cod comes round often.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not shortcut the desalting. A full 24 hours, with several changes of water, is genuinely necessary. Skipping this leaves the dish far too salty.
Make Baked Salt Cod in Tomato Sauce28. Grilled Swordfish Skewers
Xifias souvlaki · Ξιφίας σουβλάκι · ksee-FEE-ahs soov-LAH-kee
Few fish can take a skewer over direct heat. Swordfish can, because the flesh is dense and meaty, and it has become the common summer alternative to meat souvlaki. Pepper and onion go on the skewer with it. There is very little fat, so it is grilled hot and fast or it dries out.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not marinate for too long. Swordfish has a delicate flavour despite its firm texture. Thirty minutes is genuinely enough; longer can make the flesh slightly mushy from the lemon's acidity.
Make Grilled Swordfish Skewers29. Octopus with Small Pasta
Htapodi makaronaki · Χταπόδι μακαρονάκι · hta-POH-thee mah-kah-roh-NAH-kee
Braised octopus made into a full meal. The octopus cooks slowly in red wine and tomato until tender, then small pasta, hilopites or kritharaki, goes into the same pot and drinks the sauce. That second stage is the point. Keep hot water nearby, because the pasta takes up liquid faster than expected.
Yiayia’s tip: Let the octopus release its own liquid first. Starting it dry over heat before adding anything else draws out its natural moisture, which is the base the rest of the sauce builds on.
Make Octopus with Small Pasta30. Symi Shrimp Fried Whole
Garides Symis · Γαρίδες Σύμης · gha-REE-thes SEE-mees
Caught in deep, cold water that separates Symi from the Turkish coast, and small enough that thirty fill a hand. They go whole into very hot oil for a count of sixty: no flour, no batter. Nothing is peeled or removed. The shell fries crisp, and most of the flavour is in the head.
Yiayia’s tip: Dry them properly. Wet shrimp make hot oil spit violently and drop its temperature. Five minutes on a tea towel is the difference between crisp shells and a soggy plate.
Make Symi Shrimp Fried Whole
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