I 'stole' these recipes from a recent email blast sent out by the Patronis family at Capt. Anderson's restaurant in Panama City Beach. While I love to eat, I'm really not much of a cook - I just research recipes for my husband, who is AWESOME. Anyway, when I saw this, I thought it was so cool, and I wanted to share. I included the entire story because it makes the recipes even more interesting:
Spring is Here!
To celebrate, we thought we'd share a few rare recipes with you... and I do mean RARE! Celebrating the arrival of Spring is an ancient ritual, and while it is almost impossible to recreate exactly what our forefathers cooked 1800 years ago, scholars have been able to recreate some of the recipes with surprising accuracy! We've sent you many recipes over the past 15 years or so, but none our big Greek family enjoyed more than these! We had a great time testing in the kitchen with our kids - everyone enjoyed learning a little and experiencing the fascinating flavors of Ancient Greece. As the Philosopher, Epicurus said, "Origin and roots, all kinds of riches and the pot a delight"
We start with an appetizer (We suspect Uncle Johnny enjoyed this dish when he was just a little boy 1500 years ago! Maybe this is what gave him the idea for our famous Grilled Bay Shrimp!)
Ancient Greek Shrimps in a glace of Honey (Arxaies garides me glaso meliou)
INGREDIENTS
1 cup (225 grams) FRESH shrimp
1 spoon olive oil
2 spoons garos*
1 spoon honey
2 spoons fresh oregano
Black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Cook the Shrimp (boil or grill) - do not overcook. Place the oil, garos and honey in the bottom of a baking pan and add the shrimp on top. Saute/Sizzle the shrimp on this juice for 2-3 minutes until they soften. Remove the shrimps, and keep them warm. Boil the juice until half of it remains. Add the oregano and pour the sauce over the shrimps. Dredge black pepper over them and serve
* Garos (Γάρος - liquamen): Liquid that is produced when straining fish that has been kept in salt for 3 months. The fish was put in salt without been cleaned. The smell of the fish that was mixed with salt was often very bad. This is the main reason why the production of Garos in big cities was often forbidden. Garos was used in large quantities in Greek and Roman dishes. If you don't want to make your own Garos, the modern Thai sauce, Nam Pla, and Vietnamese sauce, Nwok Mam, are the sauces that best resemble the taste of garos. The Nwok Mam sauce can be easily found in any oriental foodmarket.
The Main Course... fresh fish, naturally!
Ancient Greek Fish with Coriander (Arxaio psari me coliandro)
INGREDIENTS
2 spoons of coriander seeds
1 tea spoon salt
2 FRESH Flounder Filets (ancient recipes call for Cod, but it is endangered these days and our local Flounder is even better, if you ask our family cooks!)
Vinegar, made from white wine.
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 190 C. Place the coriander seeds in a baking pan and bake them for 10 minutes. Let them cool, then mash them with a mortar and pestle together with the salt. Drain the fish steaks and remove any tiny bones. Dredge the steaks in the coriander mixture and place them in an oiled baking pan. Cover the pan and place it in the oven. Bake the fish for 20 – 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with vinegar and serve hot. Note: Do not forget to sprinkle with vinegar!
And for Dessert...
Ancient Greek Honey and Sesame Fritters (Arxaies Tiganites me meli kai sousami)
This is one of our favorites to cook with the kids, and it has changed very little in 1800 years. The Roman Physician, Galinos (129 - 99 AC), describes this sweet in his book, with many details. Source: greek-recipe.com
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup (120 gr) flour
1 cup (225 ml) water
2 spoons honey
Oil for frying
1 spoon (15 gr) baked sesame seeds
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix the flour, the water and one spoon of honey to make a dough. Cover the bottom of a frying pan with oil (2 spoons or so) and heat. Pour ¼ of the mixture into the sizzling oil. When it thickens, turn it over 2 -3 times to fry it golden brown on both sides. Prepare 3 more fritters following the given instructions. Serve them hot, pour over the rest of the honey and sprinkle the baked sesame seeds over them.
Enjoy!
The Patronis Family


