Yiorgos Hatziparaskos: Filo Pastry Chef (last of the Mohicans!)

Keep Me From Parm: Yiorgos Hatziparaskos....say that 5 times, but not fast. Do it now!

Yiorgos Haziparaskos

... And on a small side street in Rethymnon, on the northern coast of Crete, Yiorgos Hatziparaskos is consistently proving that, turning out handmade filo dough with the belief that quality is better than quantity, and that patience and skill are two more ingredients that help define such a quality product.


... Off to the side, Yiorgos’s wife silently cuts small pieces of baklava, crunchy pastries of her husband’s product layered with pistachios and dripping with honey; you can’t leave without trying something that showcases his hard work in its intended form. Her quiet sales pitch works, and the product speaks for itself. The flaky pastry crackles and breaks cleanly, without the usual cascading shards sputtering out of your mouth. This means it’s hasn’t lost its texture, but it’s still moist enough to stay together. It’s everything you could want from filo dough.


... And Yiorgos clearly enjoys his work. He plays the showman for groups who come to see him work, but you can see in the way that he handles the dough and from the aura he exudes while he putters around in a cloud of flour that it’s not a chore for him, but a pleasure. When someone is so excited about what they’re doing, it makes you all the more excited to be a part of it. And with Yiorgos’s excitement, flour, water, oil and salt became a simply complex wonder.

http://keepmefromparm.blogspot.gr/2008/05/yiorgos-hatziparaskossay-that-5-times.html


For over half a century Yiorgos Haziparaskos has been busy in his workshop on Manouil Bernardou Street in the Old Town of Rethymno, making Kadaifi in the traditional way, just as he did when he started: syrup, nuts, lot's of love and passion and ofcourse with the handmade filo pastry made in the traditional way.

Half a century and still going strong! (picture taken from www.icookgreek.com)

He has been doing this job since 1946, when he was 25 years old, first as an apprentice and from 1958 till today in his own shop, in the same place in the Old Town. If you by chance should meet him when he opens his shop, don't be surprised if he arrives with his bicycle, defying the Doctors who have on many occasions advised him to retire.

A passionate love for his job

Workshop of Yiorgos Hatziparaskos
Manouil Bernardou 30
Telephone: +30 2831029488

Εργαστήρι Γιώργος Χατζηπαράσχος 
Μανουήλ Βερνάρδου 30 
Τηλ. 2831029488

The article is in Greek and can be found here: www.icookgreek.com

Traditional Filo Master of all Greece! (picture taken from: themindlesseye.blogspot.gr)

... is one of the last traditional Filo Masters in all of Greece. He makes super-fine pastry by hand in his traditional workshop. He has been doing this for over 60 years, ably assisted by his wife Katerina for the last 50. The Baklava and Kataifi is by far the best I have ever eaten. If you are ever in Rethymno, Crete, indulge yourself.

http://themindlesseye.blogspot.gr/2010/10/yiorgos-hatziparaskos.html


I think you'll really get a good idea after watching this video, enjoy! :-)

I hope that you've enjoyed this small intoduction of this unique, gifted and humble man. If you're ever in the vicinity, go and greet the man, I'm sure that it will be worth your while. We all wish him a long and healthy life and to carry on doing what he loves most! Thank you and that's all for now, we'll see what happens in the next post. Giasas! :-)

Cooking Lessons in Crete

Visitors of the traditional village of Vamos http://www.vamossa.gr that are interested in Cretan cuisine or 'Cretan Diet' can participate in our Cretan traditional cooking lessons and prepare local delicious dishes with the guidance of the cooking advisor and the assistance of a local lady. All ingredients are fresh and local. Detailed instructions and full recipes are provided. In addition, useful information about the herbs, olive oil and other ingredients used, is given together with explanations about their nutritional quality and ways of usage.

Vamos Traditional Village is a small local company specialising in holidays with a difference that focus on the cultural aspects of the Vamos area and which promote ethical sustainable ecotourism and agro-tourism.
Our many guests range from individual travelers, families and small groups of friends, who share similar values to our own and who enjoy the benefits that responsible low-impact tourism can bring to the area and the local community.

We are located in the old quarter of Vamos, the heart of the Apokoronou region of Crete, surrounded by many historically-rich buildings that were once the dwellings and houses of earlier inhabitants. Many of these traditional homes have been restored and are now offered as holiday rental accommodation. Vamos Traditional Village tourist agency has an exclusive selection of traditional guest houses, villas and cottages available for your holiday in Crete.

You can view our selection of traditional guest houses here.

If you wish to find out about the availability for any particular house, or make a more general enquiry about the traditional activites that we organise, please get in touch with us.

http://www.vamossa.gr/en

Supreme standard olive oil from organic cultivation in Crete, Greece

Supreme standard olive oil from organic cultivation in Crete, Greece

 CRETA OIL

Crete - Greece

 The island of

Crete is frequently designated as the origin of the olive tree. It is however uncertain whether this is true as the tree is biogenetically very ancient - probably much older than the geologically rather young Greek archipelago. But for sure oil has been made from olives in Crete since the dawn of history, and today's olive trees are the result of thousands of years of cultivation. Therefore Crete can at least be estimated as the origin of olive oil.

On Crete, olive oil is staple food. It is of considerable calorific value so it provides energy to the body. The so-called "Cretan diet" is simply the traditional composition of the island's menu which is based upon olive oil as the primary source of energy.

Among all oils which suit as foodstuff, olive oil has the highest quota of unsaturated fatty acids. It therefore lowers the blood cholesterol level and this way prevents heart and circulation diseases effectively. So the Cretans' outstanding life expectancy just results from the fact that their most important foodstuff accidentally is especially advantageous to heart and circulation.

In former times the ripe olives were crushed, and the oil was pressed from the mash with levers. Later on mills from stone and screw squeezers were used which in some villages partly are in practical operation up to the present day. 

 The edible oil produced this way was called "cold pressed" (though daytime temperature can quite possible rise to

30 ° centigrade) as from the left-over material they afterwards extracted the remaining oil by cooking. Cooked oil however does not suit as edible oil but only for manufacturing soap, and for use as lamp oil, because several etheric components which work as natural preservatives decompose at temperatures above 36 ° centigrade: The oil then looses it's stability.

Since some decades there are attempts to install a permanent power supply in Crete. The demand for lamp oil declines, and fossil fuel (paraffin) is predominantly used today. The old presses are simultaneously replaced by modern cream separators, and the mash is heated before centrifuging to some degrees above

30 ° centigrade. This way the oil in the mash is brought to it's maximum malleability, and more edible oil can be extracted as by the old methods.

It is still named "cold pressed", in contrast to the remaining part which subsequently is extracted by cooking and nowadays with few exceptions used for soap production only.
The most significant quality criterion of edible oil is it's acid ratio. The lower the acid ratio, the higher the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids and etheric components. Oil with a particularly low acid level is coincidently particularly preserved and healthful.

The Cretans are lucky to have olive trees on their island which deliver oil of particularly low acidity, due to cultivation of species, the soil and the climate. In fact only the oil of highest quality produced here is sold as "Cretan oil": Minor sorts are delivered to other Mediterranean countries where they blend it with their own production, in order to improve stability.

During the last decades, organic cultivation methods are used increasingly. Single-crop farming is replaced stepwise as they today know about interaction between different plants. So since several years, some responsibly thinking farmers leave room between their olive trees for so-called weeds again as they reduce the total production of a healthy olive grove negligibly.

Use of pesticides however becomes completely unnecessary. Former expenses for chemicals can be saved, and once again it comes to light that ecological measures support economy also.

 http://www.oil.cretanet.com/home/