MARIA LOI: Yassou!
Naxos.
What can I say?
It's paradise.
This Greek island is the largest in the Cyclades.
It has grand history, ancient archaeological sites, golden beaches, majestic mountains, and a deep blue sea.
But what I want you to see is the part of the island where tourists usually don't go.
I will show you the amazing Naxian cuisine made with the best local ingredients.
Come with me.
It's all happening 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: Can you imagine a long table on a white sandy beach, by the peaceful blue waters, surrounded by friends, old and new, and the freshest seafood?
This is Paradisos Taverna in Naxos, a true paradise.
Come with me-- you're invited.
Páme!
♪ ♪ I came here two years ago and I ate at this taverna.
"Paradisos," it means paradise, and I said, "I have to go back there-- they have amazing food."
And you know what else they have here?
They are so friendly.
I go left, "Can I help you?"
I go right, "Can I help you?"
You know, this is what it means, the Greek hospitality.
And when it comes to food, my friend Antonis, he's the heart of this place-- so, Antoni... (speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): LOI (speaking Greek) We have great calamari.
Every day, they get fresh fish that comes from this beautiful sea.
(both speaking Greek) LOI: Olive oil.
We're in Greece.
(sizzling) (speaking Greek): LOI: This is the real barbecue here.
You see it, right?
(both singing in Greek) (singing in Greek) (continues) LOI (laughs): Bravo!
(speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): LOI (speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): LOI: He has never left Naxos.
That's why we have someone who is a real Naxian.
(speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): LOI: Wow-- 1977.
(speaking Greek): LOI: For 45 years now, he has same customers.
Yes.
LOI: He has built a community.
(both chuckle) (speaking Greek): (responds in Greek) LOI: When the calamari doesn't have the water running, it's going to be perfectly cooked.
See, just a touch now.
I will make calamari for you so I can explain everything, every tip that I get from Antonis, to you.
♪ ♪ (speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): (Loi exhales) LOI (speaking Greek): Tsipouro.
(speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): (both speaking Greek) (glasses clink) LOI: I am going to sit down with my friends to have an amazing time.
Come with me.
Isn't it a paradise here?
It is paradise-- it is paradise.
LOI: Okay, welcome.
And I hope you like the calamari that I made with Antonis today.
♪ ♪ You know, because I like the whole thing, I'm sorry, I'm going to take the whole thing.
Someone has to cut the calamari.
Oh, that's exactly right.
(murmurs) Here's to Naxos, yeah.
LOI: Oh!
Yeah, here's to Naxos!
Here's to Naxos.
Okay, yassou, yassou.
This is the governor.
Yassou.
Yassou.
Hello, everybody, welcome to our island.
You are in paradise.
We are in paradise.
LOI: Actually, literally, we're in paradise.
(all laughing) Paradisos Taverna.
The island's very big.
It's the biggest in Cyclades, the most fertile, and hopefully, it's an unspoiled and authentic island.
LOI: And you know what?
Hopefully, will stay like this.
To Ioannis.
To Ioannis.
LOI: And to Naxos, of course.
Yamas!
Yamas!
LOI: To all of you people, thank you for coming to Greece.
Thank you very much-- now we can eat.
Enjoy.
Everything is amazing, right?
It's so fresh.
In the morning, were swimming here, the calamari.
We are missing something.
Music!
Right?
Yes, let's bring some music!
(music playing, guests clapping along) LOI: Opa!
(music continues) (laughs) (music continues, Loi laughing) LOI: Dancing on the beach with my friends all around me was amazing.
They called me the daughter of Zorba, and that's exactly how I felt.
A table filled with everything I love about Greece: clean, bright, simple flavors, beautiful seafood.
That calamari was so crispy and tender.
I want to bring those flavors to you with one of the greatest artists in the world.
♪ ♪ Recently, I was lucky enough to spend time with Gavin on the island of Naxos.
(speaking Greek) (speaking Greek) LOI: I can't believe we are here after so many years, eh?
I love it here-- it's so great to see you.
LOI: How many years it's been?
How many years has it been?
LOI: Yeah.
(whispers): 25.
LOI: That's okay, 25.
Mm-hmm.
LOI: It was, like, three years ago.
Yesterday.
LOI: (chuckles) Why you came to Greece?
I love it here.
I think it's the most interesting place in the entire world.
I think that the weather, the people, the food, everything-- the architecture, the history.
Everything about it is fabulous.
And when you're painting, you don't just want pretty sights.
We want to have something with more substance to it, and there's no more substance than Greece.
LOI: Can you tell me something about your art?
Well, I've always been interested not just in the way things look, but in the history of wherever I am, in trying to learn as much as possible about the culture.
And for me, painting is an exploration, a learning experience-- it's the way that I try and learn about the world around me, through the act of painting.
I love to paint portraits, but also as a way to explore humanity, a way to learn about the people that I paint.
I'm not sure if you remember, but I painted your portrait about 25 years ago.
LOI: (laughs) And it was a fascinating way to learn about a woman who grew up in a village and became so successful.
Portraits for me are an investigation of humanity, but landscapes are also an investigation of humanity.
So that's why I'm so interested in them.
LOI: And now you're teaching also all these nice people, and I love that they are ladies.
Hi, ladies.
Hi!
LOI: Yassou!
Yassou.
(Loi laughs) They are great artists and they're making me look good.
And we've been here for the last few days, and we absolutely love it.
LOI: I love them.
Now I have to leave today and I feel, no.
(chuckles): Do I have to leave, you know?
That's the point.
We want you to stay with us, and we've been having such a great time with you.
LOI: You have create a community.
That's what I saw with all of you.
That's what part of this is, is all just getting to know each other and going through this learning experience together, and enjoying all of the food and the wine and the coffee and everything all together.
♪ ♪ LOI: Gavin Glakas.
Yassou, Maria.
LOI: Let me give you a kiss.
(kisses): I love you.
I love you.
S'agapo.
LOI (laughs): Oh, you see?
I can tell him, "I love you," because I feel like he's, like, my kid.
He was my intern when I was in Greece and I was a lobbyist.
Forget that-- I am a chef now.
You used to order calamari everywhere where we were going, for dinner, for lunch or anything.
We used to call him "Mr.
Calamari."
(both laugh) And that's why I chose him today to make calamari just for him.
This calamari recipe, it's so easy to make.
And it's different, and you can eat it any time, and it's not fried.
Fried and me, we got a divorce.
(both laugh) So we need calamari, but cut in strips.
Felipe cut it, huh?
We use garlic, we sauté it a bit, then almonds.
Put it just a minute, you know, in the oven, and they got this and they're crispy.
You can eat it if you want, you can try.
Parsley, arugula, lemon juice, of course, olive oil, and a bit of white wine.
I know you use fresh calamari.
Can I use frozen?
LOI: Of course.
Oh, great.
LOI: Yeah, but you know, you can find those... (speaking Greek) How you call it?
Rings?
Yeah, okay?
The rings?
Uh-huh.
LOI: But make sure that you defrost them.
Okay.
LOI: And then pat it dry.
Okay.
LOI: Because if you put those with water in there, it's not good.
You know what we need for the pesto?
Put almonds here and I will keep some for the end.
Parsley.
Arugula, is taste.
Some...
Some garlic.
Mm, that looks good.
LOI: Then we have just a bit of lemon here.
And then olive oil.
Salt.
Pepper.
(chuckles) Let's give it to Felipe.
Smell this.
Mm.
LOI (chuckles): Felipe.
Yes, chef?
LOI: Could you please blend it?
You know, like, creamy.
All right, chef.
Okay, all right.
LOI: And let's do the calamari.
(sizzling) Oh, wow.
LOI: Yeah, lemon.
Make bubbles and dance.
(sizzling) So we leave it, like, for three, four minutes, because you don't want to cook calamari a lot.
Okay.
LOI: Because it becomes rubbery.
You see now?
Starting when it's becoming curly... Hm.
LOI: ...it starts cooking.
So I add some olive oil.
Okay.
LOI: Of course.
You know?
(speaking Greek): LOI: We are almost there.
Some beautiful wine.
Okay.
If you don't want to put wine, you can just put lemon juice.
Felipe, did you... Yes, chef.
(pan popping loudly) LOI: Good.
Let me see it.
You blend it?
Thank you.
Yes, it's ready.
Look at that.
LOI: Yeah, blended together, and I will just add it here.
(popping continues) (chuckles and murmurs) Can I have some salt and pepper?
Certainly.
LOI: Bravo-- not too much.
Just a touch.
Can I have the plate?
My gosh, this looks good.
LOI: And it tastes good.
I will add some more arugula, and then I will add some lemon zest.
I'm going to add some almonds for crunchiness.
You like almonds.
I remember that.
I love almonds.
Mm... Mm!
LOI: It brings you back to Greece?
(speaking Greek): LOI: Wow.
This is magnificent.
The texture, it is so tender.
And the pesto is just, it's the best I've ever had.
LOI: Different.
I love the little crunch with the almonds-- I would never have thought to put almonds in here.
Just the slightest little crunch is just beautiful.
LOI: That's what makes a difference.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ This is the life.
(laughs) Beautiful life.
Next to the sea.
LOI: Yeah-- cooking.
(speaking Greek) LOI (speaking Greek) Stefanos, eh?
Yes, my son.
The fisherman.
LOI: He doesn't leave you?
No-- why not?
LOI: He's next to you.
That's nice.
LOI: Family.
(speaking Greek): What did you put in there?
(speaking Greek) LOI: Water.
(speaking Greek) LOI: Vegetables, potatoes, carrots, and onions.
Onions, yes.
Olive oil.
LOI: Mm-hmm.
Full of vitamins.
It is, yes.
LOI: That's why you're strong, eh?
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
LOI: You can cook this dish everywhere in the Mediterranean.
But the Naxians, they make it better.
And I will tell you why-- I saw before what he did.
He put salted water, but from the sea.
It takes all the flavor of the sea.
And now we are going to put the fishes.
LOI: Excellent.
(speaking Greek): Calamari, barbouni.
(speaking Greek) LOI: Cod.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ LOI (speaking Greek) I think it's ready.
Let's see.
(speaking Greek): Yeah.
(speaking Greek) LOI (singing in Greek): (laughs) I'm having good time!
This is Greece.
I wish you were here.
LOI (speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): LOI: Takes only one minute to taste.
(speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): LOI (speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): LOI (speaking Greek): (speaking Greek): LOI (speaking Greek): (speaking Greek) (speaking Greek): LOI: Oh, thank you.
Ladies first.
Wow.
(speaking Greek): LOI: Okay.
Stefanos.
(speaking Greek): LOI (speaking Greek): It's like just the sea, the aroma of the sea.
(speaking Greek): Páme, yamas.
BOTH: Yamas!
And yassou.
Gavin is the best.
He's so talented.
And so is Stefanos, that Greek god.
He's like a young Poseidon, pulling the fish right from the sea.
The kakavia we made on the beach-- amazing.
I am going to show Gavin how to make my version of kakavia, Loi psarosoupa-- fish soup.
Did you ever have psarosoupa in Greece?
I don't think so.
LOI: It's so easy to make psarosoupa.
Is it?
LOI: Yes, very easy.
And what we need?
Any fish you have in your house.
And in order to have extra flavor, I added only shrimp.
It's my favorite shellfish and the only one I can eat.
Before you serve your friends or your family, ask them if they have shellfish allergy.
In order to make our life easier, we put in cheesecloth all the fish.
We turn it like this, we put it together, we tie it.
We need carrots.
Okay?
Now we have onion.
You just cut it like this.
I use now white onion here.
Mm-hmm.
LOI: I like red onion, but I don't want to overpower, because the fish has great flavor.
Absolutely.
LOI: We do celery.
And then the rest, we leave it for later to eat.
Great.
LOI: I love to eat the raw celery.
It has a lot of vitamins.
We have potatoes here, and you can cut the potatoes any way you want it.
Small pieces of potatoes gives the soup body.
Olive oil.
(chuckles): You're kidding.
LOI: A little pepper, please.
You can add as much as you want.
Oh, great.
LOI: They used to add a lot of pepper.
More than that?
LOI: Yes.
Okay.
There we go.
LOI: And we add lemon.
When you add lemon, it becomes saltier.
Oh, interesting.
LOI: Yeah.
So add first lemon to your food, and then add salt.
Okay.
LOI: You will see the difference.
Lemon.
And that's enough.
We don't cover everything with the water, because the vegetables, they have their own water.
The fish has its own water.
And we cover it.
I will take it into the oven.
Usually, when you cook it on the stove, you need 15, 20 minutes.
In the oven, you need at least 45 minutes.
But it makes your life easier, and you can have a drink with your friends while you are cooking it.
Right?
Right.
LOI: So, Felipe.
Yes, chef.
LOI: Do we have the other one ready, please?
Yes, it's in the oven.
LOI: Thank you.
Don't you like this pot?
I love it.
LOI: You can take it from the kitchen to your table.
That's right.
LOI: Yeah.
So, be careful, it's hot.
LOI: Okay, doesn't matter, Felipe, it's okay.
Felipe, could I have a bowl, please?
Yes, chef.
LOI (laughs): Thank you, thanks a lot.
Oh, that's a nice bowl-- goes perfect.
It does.
LOI: (gasps) Here the fish, right?
Yeah, looks great.
LOI: (humming) Let me put it here.
And everything, all the goodies together.
This is hot.
(laughs) It's steaming.
LOI: Yeah.
No bones in the vegetables.
Oh.
LOI: So you don't have to be afraid.
Yeah.
LOI: The fish.
Look at this beautiful fish.
Oh, delicious.
LOI: May I have those cups?
Let me put the fish.
Okay.
One shrimp?
Absolutely.
LOI: And one for me.
Let me put some from the fish stock here.
This is great.
Looks great.
LOI: With olive oil.
Only makes it better.
LOI: It's my signature.
Yassou.
Yassou.
Oh, delicious.
Delicious.
LOI: Thank you.
And can I have those glasses, please?
Certainly.
Oh, excellent.
LOI: Here, we don't cheers with alcohol.
We say yassou with the real drink for health, olive oil.
I love it.
Yassou.
LOI: Yassou.
And yassou to you, too.
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: ♪ ♪
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