Greek Fried Bread with Feta (Tiganopsomo)

Tiganopsomo is exactly what its name says: pan bread. In the villages of Epirus and the Pindos it was what you made when there was no oven lit, no time, and a hungry table, which between them describe most mornings.

The dough is deliberately soft and slack, closer to a batter than to a bread dough, because a stiff dough fries into something hard and biscuit-like. Handled with oiled hands and flattened rather than rolled, it puffs and blisters in the pan and stays tender inside.

The classic filling is feta and nothing else, though many households add a pinch of dried mint or a scattering of spring onion. It is eaten straight from the pan, torn rather than cut, and it is best with a coffee at eight in the morning or a glass of tsipouro at eight at night.

Key preparation steps

1. Mix a soft yeasted dough and rest it briefly.
2. Flatten pieces by hand and fill with crumbled feta.
3. Seal into flat rounds with oiled fingers.
4. Fry in shallow olive oil until blistered on both sides.

How soft should the dough be?

Soft enough to be slightly sticky and awkward. It should just about hold together when you lift it, and it should never be firm enough to roll with a rolling pin.

Work it with oiled hands rather than adding more flour. Every extra spoonful of flour tightens the crumb, and the difference between a tender tiganopsomo and a tough one is almost entirely how much flour got added at this stage.

Does the dough need a long rise?

No. Thirty minutes in a warm place is enough, and in the villages it was often less. The frying does most of the lifting, since the sudden heat turns the moisture in the dough to steam and puffs the round from inside.

A long slow rise actually works against you here. Over-proved dough is full of large bubbles that burst in the pan and let the cheese escape.

How hot should the oil be, and how much?

Shallow, about half a centimetre, and hot enough that a scrap of dough sizzles the moment it goes in without browning in ten seconds. Medium heat on most hobs is right.

Too hot and the outside colours before the middle cooks, leaving raw dough around the cheese. Too cool and the round drinks oil and turns heavy. Adjust between batches rather than powering through.

How do I stop the feta leaking out?

Leave a clear two-centimetre border when you put the cheese on, gather the edges up over it like a purse and pinch them properly closed, then turn the parcel seam side down and flatten it gently with your palm.

Do not overfill. About fifty grams of feta per round is right. More than that stretches the dough thin at the seam and the cheese finds its way into the oil, where it burns and makes a mess of the pan.

What matters in this dish