Lemon gin & tonic sundaes
Each month we explore a restaurant trend, highlighting the key dishes and ingredients. Here, Costas Spiliadis, chef owner of Milos, London (milos.ca/ restaurants/london) guides us through the elements that make Greek food so special. Horiatiki A traditional
Greek salad. A staple at Milos, this dish is simple, but good quality ingredients are essential. Our tomatoes are flown from Greece then mixed with cucumber, white and red onion, green peppers, Kalamata olives and barrel-aged feta from Kalavrita. It’s dressed with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt, and finished with fresh parsley.
Fava A unique bean purée made with Santorini yellow split peas. This accompanies our caramelised grilled octopus served with onion, capers and seasoning. A light yet earthy dish.
Scorpena Scorpion fish. Scorpena has a luxurious texture, like a cross between lobster and white fish. We showcase ours as part of ‘ahnisto’ – a delicious stew made with sideritis,
a rare Greek wine, basil, tomatoes, courgette and potatoes.
Tyrokafteri A simple but punchy spread made from roasted hot peppers, feta, yogurt, olive oil and lemon juice. We add our own imported Romano peppers, a hint of chilli and roasted garlic to give the spread just the right amount of kick. Every bite offers amazing layers of salty, yet sweet flavours. Mastiha A resin from the mastic tree found on the Greek island of Chios. It has a slightly resinous texture (it can even be chewed as gum) and pine-like flavour. It’s used to flavour liqueurs, enhance sweet breads and even flavour ice cream. Barbouni Red mullet. A small fish with a unique and distinctive flavour, the barbouni is one of the best delicacies from the Mediterranean waters. We lightly pan-fry it and season it with our special Kythira sea salt.
Avgotaraho This Greek ‘caviar’ is an ancient gourmet treat. It’s the pressed, salted, sun-dried roe of the grey mullet. We serve it thinly sliced with our seafood tasting plate.
Horta or ‘wild greens’ We fly in our horta from the mountains of Crete and serve it lightly steamed with meat or fish, dressed simply with olive oil and lemon juiced.