He comes from an
island in Greece which has a moniker, Megalónisos, the ‘Great Island’. He now
lives and works half the year in Goa. If Goa was in Crete, Greece’s largest island,
it would have been just a dot.
In a little rear courtyard, of the Radisson Blu hotel in
Cavelossim, draped in shades of blue and white, with the freshness of the sea
Chef Stelios Theodorakis, has been bringing Crete to Cavelossim for the past
two years, running Greco, the Greek restaurant at the hotel.
And in those 100 odd square metres, the aroma of the sea,
the vividness of blue that drapes Greece, and the olive infused cuisine are all
wrapped up and served by Chef Stelios, who actually thinks Crete and
Cavelossim, are not really worlds apart.
But before we begin, salutations are due to the charming
woman from Greece Mariketti, who has served as one of her country’s finest
culinary and social ambassadors, who has adopted Goa and Goa has adopted her.
She came here, when her cuisine was truly Greek to many Goans. Her restaurant,
Thalassa, has become a place of pilgrimage for so many Goa lovers, whose
kleftiko dishes are as popular as the breathtaking sunsets from her restaurant
in Little Vagator. Though Mariketti now spends a bit of time in Mumbai, the
charm of Thalassa still lingers, though to be fair, the food isn’t all Greek
anymore with other influences dominating the traditional food.
Greco is all too real. From Crete to Santorini to Corfu, take
your pick and there’s a bit of it at Greco. In his food though Chef Stelios
brings in the abundance of Crete, where his home is. It is Crete which supplies
the bounty of fruit vegetables and even the meats to other islands, so he knows
a thing or two about movement of produce. At Greco though barring a few
ingredients, a lot of the fresh food comes from the local markets of Margao and
nearby areas, At times Chef Stelios darts in on his bike from his home, not far
from Varca, to pick up stuff. Clearly he is at home in Goa, and for folks who
drop into Greco, they get transported to his home in Greece.
On a recent weekend night, every morsel we ordered seemed
off the coasts of Greece. (We need a rider here: The moussaka wasn’t ordered
since unlike the Greek original the moussaka at Greco is vegetarian keeping in
mind the sensibilities of a large number of vegetarian Indian hotel guests who
are in love with the dish- which is casserole of mainly fried aubergine, potato
and spiced meat, but here it is without the spiced meat and substituted with
eggplant), but didn’t stop us from ordering and eating one of the best meals
east of the Mediterranean.
Perhaps after ages, a chicken combination, “Bouti kotopoulo
sxaras” was ordered- a chicken leg grilled reduced in wine with lime and basil
dressing. Digging further, one learnt that the marination, naturally in olive
oil, had onion, white wine, rosemary, thyme and mustard. And the next pick was
Arni Kokkinisto- a lamb stew slow cooked in tomato red wine sauce with mashed
potatoes. Here the lamb is cooked in wine and tomato with garlic and rosemary.
These are obviously some of the jewels in the Chef's crown
replete with other jewels like souvlaki (chicken and pork cooked in lime sauce)
or bifteki (beef patties served with potato or rice, yogurt sauce and veggies)
and Mosxari Stifado (beef stew infused with wine and caramelised onion glaze).
Meanwhile, there’s one thing that still remains Greek to us.
Why don’t we give Greek desserts their due? Yoghurt with honey, walnut and
fruit, orange pie with ice cream and perhaps their signature Baklava Pistachio,
a filo pastry and pistachios baked in light syrup, should settle any doubts
about the Greek and their desserts.
After all Chef Stelios doesn’t come from just any other land. He brings with him a slice of a civilisation of culinary supremacy, from his home in Crete to one corner of our Cavelossim.