Kotopita, Limni style

I've been sending a few emails but thought this would be easier to keep as a blog post.  Since we used to have a blog in Cambodia, I thought our Greek blogs could come from here.  

What a fantastic day!  We started the morning doing my typical rounds in Limni, where George (my Dad's cousin) and I usually spend 30 minutes gesturing to each other and I find out I have some commitment previously unknown.  Today I learned the lawyer for our olive trees (another story) is coming tonight, and he wanted to have dinner.  They are en route and our 9 pm plans have moved to 1030, so a few minutes to write up a great recipe for Kotopita, a la Sophie's cousin Maria.

Kotopita was my favorite recipe growing up, made by my Yaya (grandmother in Greek) and then passed down to my Mom.  We were never sure we got it correctly from my Yaya so I was keen to hear Sophie's cousin said it is her speciality and that she wanted to show me how she makes it.  Kotopita basically means kota - chicken and pita - pita or phyllo.

Kotopita - Limni-Style
When I arrived at Maria's, she had already started by...

Boiling 3/4 of a whole chicken in lightly salted water (I asked how long and she said until it was done! Maybe 1 hour - 1.5 hours).

She had also diced 5 onions, a mix of red and yellow, and had them ready to go in a pot.

You can see the boiled chicken to the left, and the onions in a pot on the right.  The pot the chicken was boiled in is in the top right corner.
 
"The success of kotopita is the onions" Maria told me, and indeed they were the focus of our preparations.  The quantity could vary depending on how large a pan you have to prepare Kotopita.  Greek onions are about the size of an American medium onion (one large American would be two Greek).   I asked if we carmelize, and she said "No!'  They were already sweet enough.

Add 1/2 - 3/4 cup (I just approximated) of olive oil to the diced onions and start to saute over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.  Now it gets interesting! Maria started to ladle in chicken stock (3-5 ladles) from the boiled chicken and continued cooking the onions.  In all, the onions were cooked another 30-40 minutes after the initial saute.  It's very important that the onions are well done, and there is not too much excess stock (so add more stock but not too much). 

While the onions are cooking, we began to cut up the chicken (cooled slightly).  One very cool thing about Greek cooking is that I noticed they cut food into their hand (see photo) instead of on a cutting board.

This moving a small knife towards the hang with the chicken in the left hand is how we cut the chicken (into very small pieces).   Cut only the chicken meat, not the skin or other extremities.  I hope you can figure this out. 

Maria had a few little secret tips that probably make her Kotopita even more delicious.  She told me yesterday in Athens she went to a stall and had Kotopita, and it was not very good at all, so she said she would return and teach the shop owner how to make great Kotopita.  This reassured me that she is indeed a Kotopita master!  (I know I use too many ! but it is hard to resist here).  

One of Maria's secrets is to add a little bit of thin skin to the mix for texture.  

Everything is somewhat variable in a Kotopita recipe, including the pan size.  Maria says she varies the pan size based on how much filling she finds herself making, and will vary her filling based on the pan size.  I'm not quite sure how to work it out, but as long as the filling is not thicker than to the first line on your finger (not sure what this is), you should be fine. 

Now we checked the onions again, and found they were close to ready.  Maria said her husband had added more stock without her knowing, so it was a little more liquid than she would choose.  She adapted by boiling the onions on high heat for a short time and it seemed to work.  

Next she added the diced chicken to the onions and stirred well.  

Now we entered a whole new world of Kotopita-making:  Cheese!  Our family recipe never called for Cheese, and we surmised that afternoon that perhaps they did not have the money to add cheese, and it is only a modern addition.  Our family Kotopita recipe has remained the same as it was in the 1920s in Limni, and Maria's had been updated.  

After the chicken is added be sure to turn off the heat.

There are three cheeses to be added, one at a time, each being fully blended in before adding the next.   Did you turn off the heat?

Cheese #1:  Regato - some type of European cheese but not Gouda.  It's a hard, bright yellow cheese that to me tasted like parmesan.  It was bright yellow.  We added about 1/2 - 3/4 cup.  Here's a link to what I think is Regato.

Cheese #2:  Anthotiro - a well-known Greek cheese unknown to me.  It tasted like Manouri mixed with ricotta - more crumbly.  It's made from sheep and goat's milk and is considered a traditional farmhouse cheese.

We crumbled in about 300 grams.   (3/4 of this package).

Cheese #3:  Feta (1/2-3/4 cup) again added using the knife upwards motion.   Feta is harder to mix in so may need to further crumble pieces with the wooden mixing spoon. 

Spices - Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Pepper (and Salt if needed):  Now for the yummy additions of cinnamon (1/2 - 1 tsp) 

and nutmeg (fresh ground is a must!) about 1/2 tsp - or 1/3rd of a nutmeg.   Nutmeg is so essential that Maria had Stavros stop by the store to get some when we could not find any on the shelves.  My family's recipe only calls for Cinnamon, perhaps Nutmeg is also an addition as Limni life has become more affluent. 

For final touches, add pepper and then taste to see if salt is needed.  The cheese is fairly salty so you may not need any.  We did not.  I wish I could transmit the delicious taste of each step, but you will have to try it for yourself.  

The final, final step is to beat well and add 4 eggs.  Make sure the mixture is well-cooled (we added the eggs after we started assembling the base of the kotopita) and add very very slowly so the egg does not cook. 

Assembling our kotopita.   I am not sure how this will work with the phyllo/filo we can get in the United States, which tends to be extremely thin.  Maria used a phyllo of medium thickness.  You can get a sense of the size of our pan (probably larger than what most of us have but you can do it in a smaller pan.)  

Here's the brand she used.  I show the photo here in case you can bring this to a Greek or Middle Eastern store and find it.   Sorry for the odd shape but when I try to move the pictures in Picasa they still don't display correctly here.

Step 1:  Oil the bottom & sides of the pan.  Assess pan size relative to the amount of filling you have (if less filling use smaller pan.)

Step 2:  Add 3 sheets of phyllo, one at a time, covering each layer with oil.  You place the phyllo sheets down one longways, one across, so you cover the whole pan.   Our family recipe calls for 5 sheets of phyllo, so if you can only find very thin phyllo maybe do more. 

Can you tell that this second layer is laid out in the opposite direction of the last piece?  

Step 3:  Add the chicken mixture and smooth evenly.  

Maria added 3/4 of the mixture and then the rest.  Do the 'index finger' test (dip your finger and see if it comes close to the first ridge).   It doesn't have to be exact.  Maria did caution against making Kotopita with too thick of a filling, so try not to go above the ridge.  This way the subtle flavors come out.

After the mixture is added, you can fold over any phyllo over the sides, again oiling it. 

Step 4:  Add 3 more sheets of phyllo, one on one side and one on the other, oiling each layer.  I love how Maria makes a beautiful pattern with the olive oil.  Greeks all have a small glass olive oil container with which to pour.  If not, maybe use a measuring cup with a lip.

Make sure to brush the oil across all the phyllo so it is evenly spread.  Oil is particularly important with phyllo of medium thickness such as used here. 

Step 5:  Cut the Kotopita.  Here is where I learned something very interesting from Limni historian Dimitri, who is also gathering the recipes of Limni.   There are very special ways of cutting food in Limni (and Greece), and each family may have their own special style of cutting their baklava or other dishes. 

Maria was very precise about how to cut the Kotopita, first lengthwise, and then very carefully, one piece at a time, sideways.  You can see her doing a sideways slide here. 

Now, another Greek secret is about to be revealed:  splash a little bit of water over the Kotopita (or any phyllo recipe) at the end so that the phyllo does not puff up.

And put into the oven, 180 celsius which is about 350 farenheit, for about an hour until it becomes crispy and lightly browned.

 In the meantime, Maria asked if I wanted to go for a 'banos' or swim, an essential element of Limni life.  (Maria, as many people here, work in Athens and are from Limni so they are in vacation mode themselves when they are here).   So I went for a banos while the Kotopita cooked! 

I didn't have a photo handy of myself in the Mediterranean sea so here's one of Derek to give you the idea.

And voila!   Kotopita for lunch.

Maria and her lovely family (Stavros, her daughter Katerina, and Katerina's son) hosted us for a delicious lunch after that, which included.....

Greek salad (tomatoes, red onion)
Chicken (chicken pieces boiled with mustard, olives, capers, white wine and yum!) by Katerina.
Rice put into a bundt pan and flipped over so it held a nice shape
Kotopita on a small dish where we also put our salad...
Bread

Afghatisto Maria and family!

The ducks of Phnom Penh

"Quack, quack. Quack, quack." That's the sound of the recyclers of Phnom Penh, who walk the streets looking to buy plastic and metal from residents. To attract their attention, the recyclers call out or honk horns. If only they bought paper too!

Or is it Dispatches from Street 97?

At first glance, the Phnom Penh street grid seems logical: north/south streets are odd numbered, starting from the east, and east/west streets are even numbered, starting from the north. However, the system is not completely logical, as 1) occasionally, the same street will have different numbers (as is the case with our street, which is street 95 where we are but street 97 up the block and both from the house in the photo) and 2) house numbers are not unique--house numbers will restart at 1 every so often, so different houses will have the same number.

I wouldn't find this so bad if I could just explain that I was on Street X between Streets Y and Z. However, the concept of cross-streets seems to be foreign to Phnom Penhites. Instead, they pinpoint a location by reference to the closest temple or commune, which is smallest unit of municipal organization in Cambodia. So, in the end, it takes a village to find your place in the city.

En Route to SFO

First, let me apologize for not writing sooner. I have had serious internet troubles over the last few days since I arrived in Bangkok (Tuesday) and I wanted to hold off making comments on the election until the NGOs presented their feedback.

I am about to board my flight to SFO, waiting in the Phnom Penh airport. Derek left a few days ago from Bangkok, and I just enjoyed 2 amazing days there of mostly R&R before starting this long journey. I will fly 4 hours to Taipei, and then 12 hours to SFO.

A brief update on the election: Derek and I were very impressed by the voting process itself, but we were quite disturbed by what we saw outside the voting booths. The voting went quite smoothly, with the one strange fact for me being there were five party observers in the room, and each person had to dip their finger in indelible ink after they voted to ensure there was no double counting.

The disturbing findings, echoed around Phnom Penh, were the large number of people who were not on the voting lists at all. It is hard to know how severe this problem was...but when you are bombarded with people (we met over 100 people between us in just a few hours) upset because they voted for years and now cannot vote, it seems large enough worth investigating. Almost every family seemed to have a few members who could not vote. We took names and sent them to our observer organization. They reported their concerns to UNDP ultimately, but on the whole, according to another observer I met in the airport who attended the UNDP briefing, people felt it was a fairly smooth election. The European Union Election Observation Mission called the 2008 election "showing some progress but falling short of key international standards."

I wonder if the UN staff feel like I did on Sunday - impotent, and wondering what was the value in my recording the problems when it was unlikely anything would be done about them. I am glad I participated in the process, but I hope, for the US elections, whoever observes will also speak up loudly and attempt to rectify any irregularities that occur during the day.

Packing up with Project Runway (and election countdown)

I am packing up my bags right now getting ready to head back to the US (next Friday) and watching a bootlegged copy of Project Runway from the market.

I am reviewing my materials in preparation for being a foreign observer tomorrow. I need to be mindful of any opinions I share about the political process on this blog because we are not supposed to come across as supporting or against a particular party. We met our translator today for coffee, and we will be meeting him at the NICFEC headquarters tomorrow at 6 am. Today is much quieter than yesterday in Phnom Penh. Last night was the close of the campaigning period.

One thing for those of you following the Preah Vihear dispute over where the border is surrounding a UNESCO site between Thailand and Cambodia: I read in the Phnom Penh Post today that most of the soldiers on the Cambodia side are former Khmer Rouge soldiers, one of whom said, "I spent years listening to American bombs drop near me and being shot at by Vietnamese, who were the best trained, so why should I be afraid of these Thai soldiers?" Seems history continues to haunt us.

Derek and Mary Jane Sign up to Observe

This morning I investigated the possibility of being a foreign observer of the elections this Sunday. The US Embassy referred me to the local NGO NICFEC (partly funded by the National Demoncratic Institute which is chaired by Madeleine Albright). NICFEC is responsible for managing the local observers and accepts foreign observers. We were too late to be one of the formal poll observers registered with the National Election Commission, but we can still participate. We will be doing mobile observation of polling stations, including noting whether political parties have signage within 100 meters of the polling station, and interviewing NICFEC Cambodian observers as part of their own monitoring process. We will be doing things like verifying whether the NICFEC observers were trained, have their manuals and whether the monitor seemed competent. Tomorrow morning we meet the translator who will be joining us (and we will pay him) because most Cambodian observers do not speak English. We will write each day for the next several days to keep you informed.

Why don't foreigners count the ballots?

Sunday is the election, the 4th since the UNTAC peacekeeping forces repatriated Cambodians from Thailand and monitored the first election in 1993.Tthe person installed by the Vietnamese in 1979 after they expelled the Khmer Rouge from (parts of) Cambodia is still in power, and this is after four elections. A few weeks ago, a journalist Khem Sambo who worked for the opposition's newspaper was mysteriously killed (along with his 21 year old son).

A Cambodian I know here asked me "why don't foreigners count the ballots?" He says people are afraid to speak out about the current situation and the only option he sees is foreign monitoring. I am looking into being a monitor, and will let you know what happens.

A few details about the election (from UNDP):
Total number of voters: 8.1 million (53% female)
Total number of polling stations: 15, 254
Total number of international observers - 256 so far (US Embassy - 95, EU - 80...)
Total number of national observers: 15,642 (In 2007 there were 19,121)
Official results announcement: Aug 13 - Sept 7

Please pay close attention to this election, and hope that my Cambodian friend will no longer feel he "was born at the wrong time."