Saganotyri
Saganaki is one of the best Greek mezedes. By now I am sure that you all, my friends, know what mezes (plural mezedes) is.
For other readers who are new to this blog, mezes is an appetizer served with wine, ouzo or tsikoudia.
There is a lot of false information given on the internet and if your read about saganaki in Wikipedia, you will read that it means flaming cheese, sometimes translated as fried cheese. Saganaki has nothing to do with the cheese but it is the cooking “pan” in which it is made and usually served in, called “sagani”. So, if we make shrimps with tomatoes and feta in this pan it’s a shrimp saganaki, or we can make anchovies with wine, mustard, lemon, chilli and some feta and we have Gavros saganaki. That does not mean, of course, that we cannot make saganaki in any other frying or sautéing pan.
Cheese Saganaki is very easy to make but you will need a very good Greek hard cheese. Saganaki can be made with Graviera, Kefalotyri, Kefalograviera, Formaella, Halloumi, Kaskavalli (another very good Cypriot cheese), or the special saganotyri you see in the photo, above. For those who can read Greek, they will see on the label that it says Traditional Greek Cheese, ideal for frying (saganaki) in hot oil (no dredging in flour is necessary) or grilled etc…, ideal for wine, ouzo etc.
Graviera, Kefalotyri and Kefalograviera look like this.
In certain sites you will see that they say that you have to dredge the cheese in flour first and then fry it. That is probably because none of the above cheeses were used. Kaseri or feta may also be used for saganaki but kaseri is a semi hard cheese and feta crumbles, so in both these cases flour will be necessary.
Halloumi
Cheese Saganaki is something I make quite often and I have three different ways I have made saganaki.
Grilled Cheese Saganaki
Ingredients
- Any of the above cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Lemon juice
Directions
Cut the cheese into 1 cm thick slices. Heat the olive oil in a sautéing pan and grill on both sides.
Serve hot with a squeeze of some lemon juice.
Fried Saganotyri with sesame seeds
Ingredients
- Saganotyri or any other of the above cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- 1/2 cup of sesame seeds
- 1 lemon
Directions
Cut the cheese into 1 cm thick slices. Beat the egg and wet the cheese, then dip it in the sesame seeds. Heat the olive oil in a saganaki pan or if you don’t have one in a frying or sautéing pan and fry on both sides.
Serve hot with a squeeze of some lemon juice.
Halloumi and Lountza
Halloumi with orange, fennel seeds and parsley
Ingredients
- 1 halloumi cheese
- 1 cup of green, yellow and red bell peppers cut julien
- 1 teaspoon whole fennel seed, crushed in a mortar and pestle
- a few sprigs of finely chopped parsley
- 1teaspoon orange zest
- ½ cup of orange juice
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oill
Directions
Drain halloumi and cut into 1 cm slices.
Heat a non-stick frying or sautéing pan and brush with olive oil.
Place the slices on the hot pan until they has browned on both sides. Remove to a platter.
Add another spoonful of olive oil and sauté the peppers. When they are soft put halloumi back into the pan.
Add fennel seeds and orange juice and toss the pan so that the juice will wet all pieces of halloumi.
Remove again to the platter and sprinkle with the orange zest and the parsley.
I am sending this over to Loulou, who is hosting La Fête du Fromage.
Another saganaki we make in Cyprus is Lountza.
Lountza is made from the pork tenderloin. After the initial brining and marinading in wine, it is smoked. Although it can be aged, many prefer younger, milder lountza.
It is often cooked over coals or fried with eggs as well as a sandwich filler or part of a meze.
Lountza saganaki is as simple as just frying it.
Tags: Cheese, Cypriot, formaella, graviera, Greek cheese, halloumi, kefalograviera, kefalotyri, Lountza, Saganaki, saganotyri
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Ivy, the cheese looks heavenly. I’d love to try it, with a bottle of wine of course. You are such a lovely cook. So elegant. Thank you for stopping by and saying hello.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:23 pm
these look fantastic! the last one is so very yummy! Have to find out where I can get these cheese varieties here.
That’s a wonderful event for cheese you are taking part in!
I just remembered, while reading your post, as you mentioned about those who understand greek, well i don’t at all, but I have a page with the Greek alphabet hand written on it in small case (the antique one- still used for scientific purposes) for me to memorise on my magnet board. every now and then I look at it and check if I remember it by heart! Reason: as an effort to fight my almost-feeling-like rapid dementia!
If you want to know if I remember, well… I’ll be honest….I have to check in between as i for get some of them. But, it is fun to be able to at least read and understand the name of the cheese
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:47 pm
I really wish I had some of the halloumi in that photo right now. It’s snack time and that would be perfect. I love cheese, I can go without meat for days, even weeks. But cheese is really hard for me to do without.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Oh wow, this is great! So easy to make. I love the cheese saganaki, This is new to me and I will have to try it sometime. Thanks.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:04 am
I’m glad you covered all there is to saganaki Ivy. I especially like your sesame seeds version.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Oh, yummy! really delicious looking! I’m a total cheese fan…
Cheers,
Rosa
November 4th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Wow! You made that with cheese? Looks yum Ivy.
November 4th, 2008 at 2:49 am
All of these cheesy combinations look great Ivy! Love the simple ones with the lemon the best, I think.
November 4th, 2008 at 3:32 am
There is nothing finer than fried Greek cheese. Nice job Ivy.
November 4th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Ivy, your halloumi looks DELIGHTFUL. I would love to try that! I also love the combination of fried halloumi with orange, and when I make my (very fake drunken Canadian) version of saganaki I use some Grand Marnier to drizzle….is that sacrilege? Be honest…..
November 4th, 2008 at 5:10 am
This is our absolute favourite sis. Here we can find Halloumi, Kefalotyri and a cheese called Saganaki cheese (not really sure what it is exactly)…all are delicious:D
November 4th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Oh, yum, yum, yum! That looks amazing!
The only Greek wine I’ve ever had is retsina. Would that go with your cheese dishes?
November 4th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Teresa, thank you as well for being so kind and polite.
P.G. I am sorry you are having memory problems but it’s great that you are doing your exercises with the Greek alphabet and hope that it will help you.
Maria, I don’t mind about not eating meat as well but I can’t imagine how it would be without feta and halloumi.
Bobby, I am sure you will love it.
Peter, thanks. Halloumi, was great as well thanks to your three ingredients!!
Rosa, thanks, so am I.
Anudivya, thanks.
Cake, the original recipes are the simple ones and you are right they are the best but once in a while we like to taste something new.
Lisa, thanks. I wonder, do they fry cheese in other countries? Can someone reply to this question?
Tina, as I said the traditional way is the simple way but why not? I shall give it a try your way. Grand Marnier sounds like a great choice as it has orange flavour as well.
Val, it’s great that you can get all those cheese in Canada and Saganaki cheese it what I have used and called saganotyri. It means the same thing and it is probably made with Graviera or Kefalograviera.
Abigail, absolutely. Retsina would be perfect.
Break time is over. Off, I go to continue with what I am doing…
November 4th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Che buoni !!!
November 4th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I love the one with seasame seeds.
November 4th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
This is a great post, Ivy. Very informative, and the food looks yummy! Thank you for your kind words on my blog. I’m really sorry I didn’t manage to post my pineapple pie for your event - all the entries look amazing, and you did a excellent job with the round-up.
November 4th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I love all your presentations Ivy, it’s one of the most loved mezedes by Greeks and lovers of Greek food alike.
As for the dredging, it’s a personal choice as to the approach. Some find the egg wash adheres better to the cheese when dredged in flour first. No right or wrong, just different approaches.
November 4th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Yum, this looks simple but delicious in all its variations. Have a good couple days blogging break!
November 4th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Looks awesome…loved the one with sesame seeds…
November 5th, 2008 at 5:18 am
I tried the Haloumi cheese and had a hard time with it - a little too salty for me - can this be done with a less salty cheese?
November 5th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Giz, sometimes, depending on the brand halloumi can be very salty but not all the time. Unfortunately I haven’t tried this with any other cheese.
November 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Hi Ivy
All the snacks look delicious..Sadly, we dont get this cheese in India easily…
November 5th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Going to the beach?????? Oh my god! It’s so cold here and it’s been cold for so many days now and rainy… both mediterranean countries and yet so different ;D
You know I’m now a cheese lover Ivy, but I would love to taste halloumi one day… I just have to get the guts to do it ;D
November 5th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I’ve never had cheese like that before, but I love the hard crust it forms on the outside. It looks rough and then smooth and creamy inside. Very cool
November 5th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
All those picts made me hungry! I had grilled cheese in one of Athens taverna. I think my family and I were the only tourists in that room! Thanks Ivy for clarified the meaning of Saganaki. My in-laws love fried cheeses like that called Croquettes fromage de chèvre - goat cheese coated with crumbs.
I definitely will try this dish because recently my local supermarket imported products from Cyprus. Wish me luck…
Take care.
November 6th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Yum. I absolutely love cheese done like this. The last recipe with the orange juice looks particularly yummy. Definitely going to give it a try soon. Thanks so much.
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse
November 10th, 2008 at 8:52 am
A nice overview of Cheese Saganaki, Ivy. Kaseri (Kasseri) cheese is also widely used for cheese saganaki, but my preference is a kefalotiri or kefalograviera cheese.
November 13th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
This is my favorite post so far! When my parents went to Limnos in April (and found my dad’s long lost cousin), they introduced them to the Limnos cheese that you fry like this. They brought back tons of the cheese (we were staying in France for a month) and every day we fried it up and ate…it was SO GOOD. They will go to Limnos again in a few months and bring back more cheese, and at that time, I’m going to try your variations! (It’s too expensive to buy here at my store…$10 for a small chunk).
November 14th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I don’t get the whole Nofollow thing - I mean, people want others to comment on their blog, giving them content, but they’re not prepared to give the commenter something in return. Seems a bit selfish to me
November 14th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
OHHHHHH! I do love this dish.
November 15th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
All those recipes look great (now I am hungry). In Italy, they have tomini that are also pan fried or roasted in the oven.
(In via Loulou)
November 16th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I love Halloumi! I didn’t realize it was part of a whole category of mezes, but pan fried like that, it’s like a grilled cheese sandwich without the bread.
p.s. I think we have the same frying pan.