The Life of Loi: Mediterranean Secrets

MARIA LOI: Yassou!

I want to take you with me to an area known worldwide as a must-see: a breathtaking, eco-friendly, sustainable destination called Costa Navarino.

Costa Navarino is located in a remote corner of the Peloponnese, sitting on the Ionian Sea in Southern Greece.

The area is known for serving the Greek cuisine from the heart of the Mediterranean diet.

Are we going to cook them or not?

Of course, Maria.

LOI: As you will see, the chefs use fresh, seasonal, and organic ingredients.

(rings) Here we are.

LOI: I love this.

Which always includes olive oil from the famous Koroneiki olives sourced from the olive trees found throughout the countryside.

Join me now on The Life of Loi.

♪ ♪ I am Maria Loi, executive chef of Loi Estiatorio in Manhattan.

When I was growing up in Thermo, a small village in Greece, food was a way of life.

Good for your body, good for your soul.

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest in the world, and I have seen how it can truly change people's lives, like it changed mine.

And since then, my life has been all about the Mediterranean diet.

Today, we are going to share some of the delicious secrets that you can make part of your own lives at home.

So come with me right now on The Life of Loi.

♪ ♪ Funding for this program is provided by the Behrakis Family, the Greek National Tourism Organization, Enterprise Greece.

Additional funding is provided by: LOI: We are going to Costa Navarino in the Peloponnese.

People think the Peloponnese is part of the mainland of Greece, and yes, it was, until Honorius cut it and made it into a kind of island.

Usually, I don't thank the Romans.

They copy everything Greek and say it's theirs.

But for this, I really thank him.

It's like the best of both worlds.

I am going to be cooking with chef Panagiotis Tziourtzioumis.

He promised to come specially to cook with me in the most beautiful place, at Navarino Dunes, and he kept his promise.

Come with me so you can see what we made together.

Páme!

♪ ♪ (in Greek): (laughs) Sorry, Maria.

I couldn't wait!

LOI: (laughing) Well, I'm here with the executive chef.

Today, we're going to do barbounia in Barbouni!

(laughs) It's a bit funny, but I love it.

Barbouni comes from here, from the sea.

I love this fish.

So are we going to cook them or not?

Of course, Maria.

LOI: Oh, well.

Here we go.

LOI: Okay.

It's one of the best fish.

And actually they used to say, why the cats don't eat the barbouni heads?

(chuckles): Because all of us, we eat the heads of barbouni!

That's why there's nothing on the plate!

True, true, true.

LOI: So how long this barbouni has to, to be cooked?

Five minutes each side.

LOI: Yeah?

It is a very delicate fish.

LOI: And full of omega.

Full.

LOI: You have only salt-- do you put a lot of salt?

Actually, in general, fish needs salt, and this salt is from... > LOI: Yes, it's my favorite.

The sea salt plant, yes.

And we have here the amazing stamnagathi.

Yeah.

LOI: I thought that stamnagathi was only in Crete.

It's very famous in Crete, but here, the area around is full of stamnagathi.

Best quality.

LOI: So just put some olive oil, okay?

Sure.

LOI: That's it?

Yeah.

LOI: So you don't have to move from this area.

You have everything.

Yeah.

We're blessed.

LOI: You are blessed.

Olive oil for the feta, here at the top, but also olive oil for the horiatiki salad.

People, they ask me, how much olive oil?

And I say, "As much as you want."

You need good fat to fight bad fat.

And this is what they're doing here in this area, because they have a lot of olive oil and very good olive oil.

♪ ♪ (laughing) It's raining-- raining olives!

Where can you see that?

Only in Greece, and only here, in my favorite paradise, Costa Navarino.

Evelina!

(speaks Greek) Thank you.

LOI: Tell me, how many years do you think these trees are here?

Centuries-old, the olive trees.

The olive oil is so unique, because the olive trees in Peloponnese are caressed by a light sea breeze and gusts of the wind from the mountains, which save the unique aroma and flavor of Navarino Icons olive oil.

LOI: So the sea comes into the olive, and that's why we have the best.

Also, the traditional hand-picking safeguards not only the health of the trees, but also prevents the injury to the olives.

LOI: That's great.

You know why?

Because if they're injured, they don't make good olive oil, right?

Correct.

LOI: I love the olive trees.

I love it, I love olives, I love olive oil.

And look at how hard they work in order for us to have the best olive oil.

(sizzling softly) (chortles): That's it.

You see?

(speaks Greek): It's almost ready.

Yeah.

LOI: Are you adding any more olive oil?

No.

LOI: Today you're going to.

Okay, I will, Maria.

LOI: Come on.

Olive oil, it's in me like that, olive oil.

It's in your blood.

LOI: Yes.

So, let's see, let me tell you, my father used to say you know the fish is ready if you turn it like this and see the clear water comes out.

Huh, hello!

Hello!

LOI: My father knew, even that he was not by the seaside, you know, he knew exactly.

These are ready, right?

Oh, yes, it is.

You know why they don't smell fishy?

Because they're fresh.

When the fish smells fishy, don't eat it.

It's not fresh.

(chuckles) LOI: Bravo.

Lemon only?

No, no.

That's it, and we need the stamnagathi, a Greek delicacy, as well.

Maybe I'll put here.

I can't, I have to dig in here.

No.

No?

LOI: Mm-mm.

I'm going to eat it all.

(laughs) Okay.

Maria, let me pour some aged tsipouro.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

Oh, aged.

Aged, yes.

LOI: I'm going to get drunk today.

No worries, no worries.

Just enjoy it.

LOI: But first, let me, let me eat the barbouni.

Do you mind if I go like this?

Oh, no, no, no.

LOI: Go ahead, go ahead.

I'll do like this, Greek way.

LOI: Good.

(laughs) It's like fruit.

Hm.

LOI: I can't thank you enough.

Thank you very much.

(speaks Greek) (speaks Greek) LOI: (speaks Greek) ♪ ♪ I can still taste how moist and flaky those barbouni were, but I couldn't find them here.

And since it's not always easy to find this kind of fish from your fishmonger, I thought it would be fun for us to make a tasty, healthy, easy recipe with ingredients you can find everywhere today: Sardeles me Lahanosalata.

Sardines with a cabbage and kale salad.

Joining me now is my friend Dr. Orlando Gonzalez, who shares my passion for the Mediterranean diet and way of life, even that he is Mexican.

(both laugh) Thank you for coming.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you-- absolutely.

LOI: So we have kale.

Kale has folic acid and magnesium.

It's got a little bit of protein, as well, believe it or not.

LOI: Protein?

Yeah, a little bit of protein.

So it's very high in anti-carcinogenic activity.

That's decrease in chance of cancer.

Not too many people know that.

LOI: That's what I wanted to hear.

Yeah.

LOI: Well, he knows what he's saying, so I believe you.

Always, I believe him.

Let's do now the cabbage.

It has a lot of the properties kale has.

These are very beautiful ingredients to decrease your chance of cancer.

These are great for the eyes, as well.

Selenium is in there-- really good stuff.

LOI: We'll add some olive oil, of course.

Of course.

LOI: Without olive oil, I cannot live.

No.

And you know the properties of olive oil.

Oleic acid decreases heart disease.

Great for the brain-- wonderful.

LOI: Some salt and pepper.

Okay.

LOI: That's enough.

Not too much.

Not too much, either.

So beautiful.

Yeah, that looks delicious.

LOI: We're going to add lemon.

You're going to soften it a little bit first?

LOI: Yes.

All right, yes.

Lemons are full of citric acid.

They are a huge immune booster.

It's a great ingredient to add to any food.

LOI: And you know I always say that, put it on your face.

Right, it does-- yeah.

That's why you look so pretty.

LOI: (laughs) We have sardeles, sardines.

They're super-healthy, and it's so easy to find them today.

Yeah, a lot of people don't realize that these tinned fish, they're actually very healthy, and they've come a long way from before.

Sardines are completely filled with omega-3 fatty acids, and they also have selenium, which is very good.

But the omega-3 is a cardiovascular booster, so that people who eat these kinds of omega-3 fish tend to have low incidence of heart attack and stroke.

LOI: Oh, it's so beautiful, isn't it?

It is beautiful.

I'll put some on the top here.

You like it?

Beautiful, I love it.

LOI: More olive oil-- and now let's try it.

The moment of truth.

I've got to get everything in here.

A little bit of kale.

Mm.

The kale is perfectly moist.

The tastes are beautiful.

I'm going to take this home to my mom.

LOI: Anything for Celia.

(chuckles) LOI: And I have to tell you something, guys.

When you buy the sardines in the can, make sure that they're in olive oil.

Right.

The actual vehicle where the tinned fish is is very important.

LOI: I'm not going to eat, okay?

Because this is for Celia.

Celia, this is for you.

Don't let him eat even one small sardine.

We love you.

We love you.

LOI: And you should make this dish.

It's good for the whole family.

Now I want to take us back to Costa Navarino, to a beautiful restaurant called Flame at the Westin, where chef Kiriakos Plevritis and I make a delicious trahanoto me arnaki, braised lamb with trahana, a traditional peasant pasta.

Páme.

♪ ♪ Yassas, hello!

I'm in paradise at Costa Navarino.

You have to see how beautiful it is.

(chuckles): I'm with a handsome chef, Kiriakos.

Welcome.

LOI (speaks Greek): (speaks Greek): LOI: Kiriakos speaks English better than me.

You know why?

Because he grew up in Australia, and then he came here.

And then I came back.

LOI: And why you came back?

Well, I came back to do my military duties, and then I stayed and I followed my dream to become a, to go into the culinary industry.

LOI: What are we doing today?

Well, today we're going to cook one of our signature dishes, it's braised lamb leg with our traditional trahana.

We use local lamb.

Our vegetables are from local producers.

LOI: Excellent.

What do you need now?

The olive oil.

LOI: Of course.

You want more or no?

I think we're fine.

LOI: You sure?

Yes.

LOI (laughs): You sure?

(chuckles): Just a little bit more, maybe.

So we'll put up the heat.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

And we're going to start sautéing our lamb to give it a nice color.

LOI: Good.

So we're going to put it in our traditional gastra, which, we will cook it off slowly in the oven.

LOI: What is a gastra?

It's a ceramic pot that cooks the meat with a good temperature.

It's going to make it nice and tender for us.

(sizzling) So we'll give it a little bit of color, and then we'll start off with the vegetables.

LOI: We have to use a lot of vegetables.

We always call it Plant Forward.

Exactly.

LOI: One-fourth of your plate, you have to have meat, and the rest vegetables, or anything else you like, but not meat.

(sizzling) It doesn't smell gamey.

It's local.

With natural foods, it's all perfect.

We're going to put our onions inside.

LOI: I love onions, you can add as much as you want.

It's the base of all Greek food.

So a lot of onion goes inside.

LOI: Carrots?

Yes.

LOI: And then... Some leek.

And then a little bit of celery, as well.

And we'll also add a couple of cloves of garlic.

(sizzling) Of course.

LOI: (chuckles) I love garlic.

It's never enough.

And I think it's fine to add a little bit of wine.

(sizzling softens) It gives a full flavor to the lamb dish.

So now that the alcohol has evaporated, we can add some of our stock.

LOI: Chef.

Thank you.

LOI: I can be your sous-chef, huh?

I think I'll be your sous-chef, it'll be... LOI: No, no, no, no, no, no.

It'll be a little bit better.

I think that's enough.

LOI: Okay.

Thank you.

LOI: It's going to be amazing.

Now that this is ready... LOI: Okay.

...we're going to put it straight onto our meat.

There we are.

A little bit of thyme.

LOI (laughs): That's not a little bit!

And that's not enough.

Aromatics are never enough for me.

LOI: Okay, then two more here.

So, salt-- not a lot, because lamb doesn't go with a lot of salt.

We'll put the magic lid on.

LOI: Yes.

And I'm going to put it in the oven to slowly cook for, oh, two or three hours.

LOI: Good.

(bell rings) LOI (laughs): I love this.

Here we are.

LOI: Wow.

There we go.

So our lamb is ready.

We'll take some out.

It's falling, as you can see... LOI: Oh, yeah.

...from the bone straight away.

So now we'll go to our trahanoto.

LOI: Oh, I know what you want.

Always.

More or no?

Excellent.

Onion, finely chopped.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

Some carrots.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

And our zucchini.

LOI: And I like them crunchy, I don't want them very cooked.

You know, like, this cooked, it's mushy.

It's always really nice to have a little bit of crunch, to actually feel and taste the vegetable.

LOI: Yes.

So now we're going to add some of our trahana.

Sauté it a little bit.

LOI: Okay, how many spoons do you want of this?

I think three or four.

LOI: Let's see.

Or maybe a little bit more.

LOI: Yeah.

Trahanas is trahanas.

Everybody loves trahana.

LOI: Yeah.

I grew up like this-- I used to make trahana in my village.

And then we're going to add some of that beautiful stock from our lamb.

(sizzling) LOI: I think it's, it's going to be ready now.

You see when it bubbles, right?

It has absorbed all the flavor from our lamb.

LOI: Now the cheese, right?

Yes.

And that, they're all set-- oh!

Even better.

LOI: (laughs) So we'll let the cheese melt a little bit, and we'll bring everything together.

LOI (inhales): Wow.

So here we are.

LOI: It smells so good.

Right on top.

LOI: Good.

That's enough of the meat.

I was in the kitchen before.

Yes?

LOI: And the chef said, "Chef Loi, finish it with this."

(chuckles) Ah, our secret.

LOI: Yes, it's your secret, okay.

I'm not going to tell them your secret, but about, how did you make this?

So we took all the juices from the lamb.

LOI: Yes?

We reduced it, we make it into a thick sauce, and then we're just going to put a little bit on top to give it an extra taste.

LOI: I have something else.

Do you mind?

I think I told you all my secrets.

LOI: (laughs) So we have some Greek yogurt.

LOI: Yes.

Just to freshen up.

LOI: It's so beautiful, this plate.

I'll do something else, as well.

Purslane.

Yes.

LOI: Glystrida.

Glystrida, just for freshness-- so here we are.

LOI: You know what I need now?

Just a touch, okay?

We finish everything with a little bit of fresh, extra virgin olive oil.

LOI: Me and olive oil?

We're like that.

And now I have to try this.

You like it?

LOI: Thank you.

Thank you.

(blows kiss): Yassou.

♪ ♪ That lamb was so tender.

Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Let's make an easy version that you can make at home.

By now, you know me.

I don't eat meat very often, but when I do, this is what I crave: Arnaki Kokkinisto me Couscoussaki.

Lamb stew with couscoussaki pasta.

You'll love it.

Let's start.

Lamb is high in monosaturated fat.

It's actually the good fat.

It is full of C.L.A., conjugated linoleic acid.

It's good for the heart and for the eyes and for the brain.

LOI: That's why the Greeks are super-smart.

(chuckles) LOI: They eat lamb.

I will add some olive oil, of course.

Of course, olive oil.

LOI: To caress the lamb.

Then my onion.

I'm doing exactly how I used to cook it in my village.

You know, the onion is full of antioxidants, so it's just adding more ingredients that are healthful to our dish.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

Tomato paste.

You just put it here.

This tomato paste is full of lycopene-- lykopenia.

LOI (laughs): I was going to tell you this.

You were going to say that word?

LOI: Yeah.

It's Greek, I know Greek.

LOI: Dafni.

Bay leaf.

LOI: Bay leaf, good!

Yes.

LOI: You make fun of me, right?

Yeah, I'm trying to make fun.

LOI: That's okay.

Pepper.

We'll put it here, on the meat.

Salt.

A little bit, okay.

I need some celery and carrots.

Carrots are full of beta-carotene, alpha-carotene.

Great for the eyes, you've heard this.

But they're not only good for the eyes, they're good for the ears, and hearing, yes.

And they're an antioxidant.

Beta-carotene gives it that color.

LOI: Enough carrots.

Okay.

LOI: And celery.

Celery.

It's really mostly water, but it also has fiber.

And of course, it has some antioxidants.

We're cooking for long life.

LOI: Living longer.

Living longer.

LOI: I'll take the potatoes.

You don't have to add potatoes if you don't like it.

For me, they're good because some people like potatoes, some people like pasta.

More olive oil.

Of course.

Why not?

Yes.

LOI: Okay, you know what?

We used to add some wine.

Always, my grandfather wanted the lamb with a bit of wine in there.

It gives a different flavor.

Red wine is an antioxidant, as well.

It's got resveratrol, which is good for living longer.

Heart health.

LOI: And some water-- not too much water.

We are going to put it in the oven almost for two hours.

Felipe.

Yes, chef.

LOI (laughs): Thank you.

Okay.

LOI: I'm going to show you how to make the best couscoussaki.

You have to have a very hot pan.

You just add some water.

(sizzling) Oh, there you go.

LOI: And it's going like this, dances.

All right.

LOI: We add the couscoussaki.

Okay.

LOI: And we mix it here a bit.

You know, couscoussaki has selenium, which is a good ingredient for weight loss, but you'll want to do small portion with other food, like we're going to have it today.

LOI: See?

Now it changes the color.

Felipe?

Yes, chef.

LOI: Can you please bring me the arnaki?

Yes.

LOI: Arnaki is the lamb.

Felipe has it ready for us.

Here you go, chef.

LOI: Thank you.

Gracias, Felipe, gracias.

I will add some olive oil.

Not too much, because we're going to have the sauce from the lamb.

That has olive oil already, as well.

LOI: Oh, yes.

Yeah, that looks delicious already.

LOI: And it's enough.

(humming) Wow.

LOI: It smells really good.

So let's remove the, how did you call it?

Bay-- bay leaves.

(both laugh) LOI: Get some lamb.

(sizzling) Oh, wow.

LOI: Isn't it?

Huh?

Amazing-- nice.

LOI: Nice?

(sizzling) Oh, my gosh.

Wow.

LOI: That's it.

Okay.

LOI: So let's serve it now.

Okay.

Oh, that looks absolutely delicious.

And healthy, believe it or not.

I would recommend this for my patients.

LOI (laughs): That's why your patients love you.

(laughs) LOI: And we can add some cheese on this.

What kind of cheese would you add?

LOI: : Feta!

Of course.

LOI: Yeah.

Because you know what I say?

LOI: What?

Everything is "betta with feta."

LOI: Who told you this?

You did.

It's not original.

LOI: Okay, let's put this plate here, okay?

You want to eat it from here?

Yeah, sure.

Let's eat it from the pot.

LOI: I want to remember my childhood.

Throwback to your childhood.

LOI: Yep.

Thank you.

LOI: Some meat, some potato, some carrot.

A little bit of this, there you go.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

Be careful, because it's hot-- cheers.

LOI: See?

Mm, mm-mm.

LOI: The couscoussaki gives you another layer of flavor.

Mm!

LOI: And crunchiness.

The meat is tender.

You can taste the olive oil.

This is phenomenal.

LOI: Let's get some antioxidants now.

All right.

LOI: Our olive oil.

You know this dish is full of antioxidants, also.

LOI: (laughs) And you know something?

You are full of information, also.

(laughing): Thank you.

LOI: Yassou.

Yassou.

And remember, metron ariston.

Everything in moderation except love, olive oil, and good deeds!

♪ ♪ Closed captioning provided by Genetic Networks.

Funding for this program is provided by the Behrakis Family, the Greek National Tourism Organization, Enterprise Greece.

Additional funding is provided by: ♪ ♪