Turkey and Greek Islands

Cruising the Aegean

Rhodes

Old harbor and city walls, Rhodes

Without doubt Sunday June 16 was one of the best days we’ve ever had on a cruise, all because of the off-ship excursion we enjoyed. The leader of our group was Lori Powell, the chef-instructor in the Culinary Arts Kitchen on this cruise. Judy and I had each taken one of her classes, so we were ready to enjoy the day before we even started. Manuela, a local tour guide was also with us to assist, direct and translate for us, so we were not entirely at sea (pun intended) as we moved along.

Taverna Sign

We were in a small group of 17 people who walked along the sea from the ship, entering the old town through one of the gates in the city wall. Right in front of us were the remains of a fourteenth-century church—very Gothic arches standing around the apse, remains of columns in the nave, and traces of more. We walked on through the ruins (really–we did) and entered Hatzekelis Fish Taverna. This was a family-owned and operated restaurant that has been in this location for decades. The Mama was our teacher and guide as we participated in the preparation of a midday meal. The whole experience was a winner from beginning to end.

Jim making phyllo dough

After introductions were done, and a glass of ouzo enjoyed, we started in on the work of the day. Our menu included spanakopita, steamed mussels, stuffed tomatoes and peppers, fire-roasted eggplant, octopus fritters, and baklava, so this was not going to be a quickie pick-up meal. My first surprise came when we were told we’d start with making the phyllo for the spanakopita. What!? Don’t you just buy that at the store? Our leader did use pre-made phyllo for the baklava later in the meal, but for this first course (that needed some time in the oven), we made the whole thing from scratch. I volunteered to be part of making the phyllo, so I got my hands in the process right away. Others chopped and diced greens, onions, feta and who knows what else to get that cooking for the filling. I kneaded the dough for what felt like almost enough time, then started rolling out half of it. I rolled and rolled, getting instruction along the way from the other half of the family, who didn’t do a lot else with us.

Fire-roasted eggplant

Once the whole dish was assembled and sent off to the oven, anyone in the group who wanted to do so helped out with prepping the tomatoes and peppers for stuffing. The meat had already been ground and prepped, so that was done for us, but more onions were chopped and grated, feta, olive oil, water-soaked bread and rice added, and those peppers were also sent off to the ovens. Meanwhile people were roasting eggplants, steaming mussels, making the octopus fritters and frying them, and getting the tzatziki going.

Judy and the cucumbers

That’s where Judy got in the act. The yoghurt was already being strained through cheesecloth and the garlic chopped, but the cucumbers had to be grated and dried as well. Judy had the task of getting the water out of the grated cucumber, so she squeezed and leaned on the grated green stuff for several minutes, getting things to the correct and approved consistency. Since she was right there on hand–literally—she scooped up the yoghurt and started mixing. Garlic, olive oil and feta were added and more mixing commenced. When Judy and the owner both approved, the meal could commence.

The local “Chef”

Not that we hadn’t been tasting everything as we went along. Even spoonfuls of the raw meat mixtures needed their seasoning checked. And some of the extra phyllo we made had been fried, dusted with either feta and honey or cinnamon and honey just to stave off starvation while we worked. The tomato sauce for the mussels had been enjoyed along the way as well. Julia Child would have loved it, I’m sure. We did, I know!

About three hours after we left the ship we had enjoyed the fruits of our labors, accompanied with glasses of a local white wine, and were about done with the experience. Then the baklava was served with ice cream and a side of thick Greek coffee if we wanted it.

J&J

Judy and I had worn our “Forward ever, always” shirts, so on the way out one of our fellow passengers took our photographs to post on Facebook. We then walked back through the church ruins and wandered through Old Town a little longer. One or two shopping moments were followed by a return to the ship, quick clean-ups, trivia (we didn’t win anything), and dinner.

Altogether this was a most satisfactory day. Richard Ward would have approved!