Hi,
I am Dina and this is my food blog. Kalosorisate- which means welcome in Greek. I am welcoming you to my blog which aims to introduce you to Greek and Cypriot food cooked at home by you (yes, you I promise!) I am not yet another Greek cook who will pass the recipe without any guidance on where to find the ingredients or what to substitute it with if you can’t find something. No, I’m not like that pinky promise!
You see, I was born and raised in Cyprus-my beautiful, small ,warm Cyprus-in a house where food had centre stage. My yiayia Milia- grandmother whose name Milia translates into apple tree-had the important role of feeding my siblings and I, when our mum was working. So, from a very young age, I was introduced to traditional, home cooked Cypriot food. Growing up, my mum always included me in her cooking and baking (as a second child I had to), so it was unavoidable to learn to cook from a young age.
It was only when I left Cyprus to move to England when I actually started cooking and baking on my own re-inventing traditional recipes with what produce I could source in England. Between you and me, my first student year diet included fish fingers with tomato rice or pasta with ketchup as the student halls kitchen wasn’t a really inspiring place! Thankfully, that changed when I met my then Greek boyfriend, now husband Kostas. KK as I call him introduced me to Greek food and wanting to show my love to him I learned how to cook it for him.
Being away from home, and having lived in England, Abu Dhabi and Qatar I adapted my cooking to the ingredients I could source. For instance, if I can’t find pita bread I make my own or use plain nan bread which is quite similar.
I also love exploring other cuisines and recipes so I will be sharing with you all my attempts to cook delicious, healthy, family friendly food with all the tips to help you succeed (by not spending millions of hours on one recipe)!
So if you are interested in cooking healthy, traditional yummy Greek and Cypriot food but also fusion recipes in your own home with ingredients you can easily find, tag along and I promise we will have a great time. Oh, and ask as many questions. It would be a pleasure to help in any way that I can.
Happy reading and cooking
Kisses
Dina x