An Evening in the Kitchen with David Tsirekas

It was a privilege to spend an evening in the kitchen at The Greek Club’s Nostimo restaurant on Thursday night with Chef in Residence David Tsirekas. David hosted a small group of us for a masterclass, sharing the recipes and methods of two of his signature dishes, and then sharing a meal, a glass of wine (or three), and stories with us. Plenty of food photos below, my mouth honestly started watering as I was writing this…

When I attended the Nostimo opening my impression of David was that he was a very open and genuine person who had a true passion for authentic Greek food and flavours – and that impression only solidified over Thursday evening as David answered our questions and taught us plenty about ancient Greece, Greek food, and the poisonous history of almonds (look it up! Or, better yet, go to Nostimo for a meal and ask David yourself).

Eight of us sat around the stainless-steel bench as David demonstrated how to make Tarama (fish roe) Dip, and Ancient Glazed Salmon – a modernisation of an ancient Greek dish, uncovered by David in his Greek history studies and transcribed, from ancient Greek poet Archestratus in 332BC. The salmon was preserved in distilled spirits (ouzo) and fermented anchovy sauce, and David served it with blackberries, almonds, and honey. The dish was described by Archestratus, who Wikipedia tells me was known as “the Daedalus of tasty dishes”.  I am a vegetarian, so I didn’t try either of these dishes, but the others said that the flavours were magnificent. Their facial expressions as they ate said it all!

Once the masterclass had concluded and everyone had tasted those dishes, we also had the opportunity to enjoy…

Politiki Salata savoy purple Chinese cabbage, carrot, green apple, graviera, dried currants, spicy roasted corn, toasted almonds, mustard mayonnaise, mixed fresh herbs:

Octopus with pickle vegetables and warmed split pea puree:

Lamb Shoulder Kondosouvli with wilted spinach, herbed yoghurt; Horta, wilted greens with lemon dill and olive oil; Chips Vromiko, chips with fried egg and
mustard mayo with loukaniko crumb:

And, the grand finale, the Nostimo Indulgence – layers of white chocolate ice cream, sesame halva, sour cherry preserve, dark chocolate ice cream:

An enormous thank you to David for sharing your time, expertise, and knowledge with us, and to Brooke and Kath for the invitation!