3 Greek restaurants in Dubai share authentic recipes to try at home

Life’s better with a little feta…

Dubai has seen a wave of Greek restaurant openings over the past few years, delighting us with their authentic Mediterranean fare.

If you find yourself missing your favourite Greek meal during the current lockdown restrictions, we’ve got you covered.

The talented chefs over at Mythos, Nammos and GAIA (our 2019 What’s On award-winning Restaurant of the Year) have shared recipes that you can prepare in the safety of your own homes.

Let’s chop to it then.

Here are recipes shared by chefs from three top Greek restaurants in Dubai for you to try.

Zucchini salad by GAIA

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the zucchini salad

• 440g zucchini (about 12 medium zucchini)
• 16 black grapes (preferably without seeds)
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 2 green apples
• 12g chives
• 20 mint leaves
• 15 basil leaves
• 40g roasted pistachio
• 24 parsley leaves
• 8 pinches of salt
• Olive oil
• 1 lemon
• 20g white balsamic vinegar

For the tirokafteri (spicy feta dip)

• 800g feta cheese
• 800g Greek Yoghurt
• 20g jalapeno pepper
• 8g black pepper
• 80g olive oil
• 40 small long green peppers (non-spicy)
• 40 small long red peppers (non-spicy)
• 20g white balsamic vinegar

Method:

For the zucchini salad

• With a mandoline slicer, cut the zucchini lengthwise (the aim is to obtain a spaghetti shape). Use only the outer part of the zucchini, stopping before the seeded area.
• In a bowl filled with very cold water, plunge the thin slices of zucchini for 5 minutes then drain. Lay the zucchini spaghetti flat on a tray covered with a paper towel to dry.
• Cut the grapes in half and the cherry tomatoes in quarters.
• Cut the green apples into thin slices.
• Roast the pistachios for 10 minutes at 175°C and then let them cool in a dry place.
• Chop the chives and let them dry on a paper towel.
• Chop the mint, basil and parsley and dry them on on a paper towel and then place them in a bowl.

 For the tirokafteri

• Blend the feta, jalapeno pepper and black pepper in a blender until smooth while gradually adding in the olive oil.
• In a large bowl, put the Greek yogurt, white balsamic vinegar and mix gently.
• Add the prepared feta cheese mixture to the bowl.
• Cut the small green and red peppers into brunoise (basically, first julienne and then a quarter turn and dice it again).
• Add this brunoise with the remaining ingredients.
• Mix everything together until smooth.

Put it all together

• In a large bowl, place the zucchini, grapes, cherry tomatoes, apples, pistachios and herbs.
• Season with homemade dressing (lemon, salt, white balsamic vinegar and olive oil) and toss.
• Arrange the salad on a long flat plate.
• Arrange 4 dumplings of the Tirokafteri mixture on top of the salad.
• To finish, sprinkle with a little chives, ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Fish soup by Nammos

 Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 carrots
• 3 potatoes
• 1 celery stick
• 1 leek (pale part only)
• 100ml olive oil
• 1.5kg whole white fish, such as grouper, cleaned and descaled

Method:

• Slice and chop all your vegetables into small cubes.
• Sweat all the vegetables in a pan on medium heat with some olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.
• Add the fish, the add enough water to cover the fish and vegetables.
• Simmer until the fish is cooked and the vegetables are soft.
• Gently remove the fish from the stock. Remove the flesh from the fish, discarding any skin and bones.
• Blend the stock and vegetables until smooth.
• Divide soup among bowls, then top with the flaked fish and a drizzle of olive oil.

Gemista by Mythos Kouzina & Grill

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 4 green bell peppers
• 4 tomatoes
• 200g Calrose or Egyptian rice
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 zucchini, grated
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 fresh mint bunch, chopped
• 100ml olive oil
• Cinnamon to sprinkle
• Sugar to sprinkle
• 100ml olive oil
• 4 potatoes, cut into wedges
• Feta cheese, cubes

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Cut the top off the bell peppers and set aside. Remove the seeds.
• Cut the tomatoes top off and set aside. Remove the flesh of the tomato and create a pulp by blending.
• In a bowl, mix the raw rice, onion, carrot, zucchini, tomato paste, garlic, mint, olive oil, seasoning and the tomato pulp.
• Season the hollowed-out tomatoes and bell peppers.
• Stuff the hollow tomatoes and bell peppers with the rice mixture and cover with their “hats” (the top cut parts we set aside at the beginning).
• Place upright in a baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar and some olive oil.
• Arrange the potatoes around the vegetables. Sprinkle with sea salt and olive oil.
• Sprinkle on top any remaining sauce from the rice mixture.
• Cover with foil and bakef or 55 minutes.
• Remove the foil and bake until the vegetables get coloured on top.
• Serve with cubes of feta cheese.

Alternatively, the potatoes can be baked alone with the olive oil, 2 tbsp of tomato paste and sauce from the rice mixture (without the rice). Mix all the ingredients together and bake at 180℃ for around 45 minutes or until the potatoes get a nice golden colour.

Kali orexi!

Images: provided