Tastes Like Home
“I recommend placing yourself in front of a Greek person and watching their eyes light up when they find out you’re serving kokkinisto. ” – Conor Curran
Connor Curran says…
I recommend placing yourself in front of a Greek person and watching their eyes light up when they find out you’re serving kokkinisto. This is the most popular stew across the islands and mainland, and, depending on where you go, it’s always a bit different: each family has their own version passed down from generation to generation.
Not known as much to the world but deeply loved by Greeks, this red stew is a staple that was one of my first food memories as I grew up in my yiayia’s house. The protein changes from chicken to beef to rooster (more common in Greece), but the spice-rich red sauce stays the same and is unique to each family’s recipe. My yiayia Maria would make it and place it onto the white doily-and-plastic adorned table along with blocks of feta, kalamata olives and, of course, homemade psomi (or village-style bread) to soak the red sauce up. You would drag the mixture through makaronia or hilopites (Greek pasta) and allow the sauce to give you a smeared lipstick look across your mouth.
My kokkinisto now comes from my mum, which really came from Mum’s mum and so on. Our version is heavy on allspice and includes paprika and cinnamon, as well as chilli flakes – which is very un-Greek, but my mum added it in years ago. It just gives the kokkinisto this light spice that helps bring out all the other spices.
Still to this day, there is nothing that feels more like home to me than putting the lid on the pot and walking away for a couple of hours as the house becomes scented with the oregano, allspice and cinnamon slowly sneaking out of the pot. This is my family’s kokkinisto recipe, and it’s best cooked for guests visiting your home and enjoyed around a table together (hopefully, one that’s doily and plastic free).
Ingredients
Serves 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
800g gravy beef
1 large brown onion
1 large red onion
1 carrot
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground paprika
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
70g tomato paste (concentrated puree)
1 cup red wine
400g tin diced tomatoes
3 fresh bay leaves
Salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
Steamed rice or cooked pasta, to serve (optional)
Method
Place a heavy-based saucepan over high heat, then add half the oil. While the pan gets hot enough to sear, cut the beef into thick cubes. Add half the beef to the hot pan and brown on one side, then turn and brown on the other side. You will know the beef is seared when it easily pulls away from the base of the pan. Transfer the beef to a plate, then repeat with the remaining oil and beef.
While the beef sears, finely dice the brown and red onions and carrot. Reduce heat to low. Add the onion and carrot to the pan. Sauté with a big pinch of salt for 8–10 minutes, adding a dash of water if it starts to burn. While the vegetables sauté, thinly slice the garlic and measure out the spices.
Add the garlic, spices and tomato paste and mix for a minute to cook out any bitterness. Increase heat to high. Add the wine to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape its base. Cook until reduced by three-quarters. Add the tomatoes, along with 400ml of water. Add the beef and bay leaves. Mix everything in.
Season with salt and pepper and bring up to a gentle simmer. Once simmering, reduce the heat to very low, cover with the lid and bubble away for 2 hours.
Remove the lid, season with salt and let it gently simmer and bubble away, uncovered, for a further 45 minutes, stirring a couple of times as it reduces to make sure it doesn’t get stuck on the base of the pan.
Season with salt if it needs it and remove the bay leaves. Serve with rice or pasta, if you like.
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Published in ed#772