I decided to make two old traditional recipes of olive bread and cheese bread. This is the “χωριάτικο” style, or village style how they used to make them in the old days. In fact, many people still make it this way. Whenever I think of these breads, I remember my grandma in Cyprus. Every time anyone is coming over, she bakes them, makes some of the dark traditional (and mind you extremely bitter) Greek coffee and cuts fruit to serve to them. It’s the traditional food to serve when you are having guests over. I absolutely love them, especially when they are hot out of the oven – the whole house smells wonderful whenever she makes them. These breads are salty and moist, and perfect for really any occasion. And most importantly, they are extremely easy to make. I really wanted to make them, just to bring back some of the memories. I miss Cyprus and Greece since I haven’t gone in almost two years and I really miss spending time with all of my wonderful family. My family is truly a big fat Greek family, perfectly depicted in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding (maybe not as humiliating). I remember I would always help my grandma in the kitchen, we made homemade ravioli, these fried desserts called “daxtila” (ladies fingers), pastitsio (a Greek version of lasagna) and many many more recipes. A few times I helped her make the eliopita and tiropita and I loved it.
Ingredients (for the eliopita - olive bread):
Normal bread dough (you can make your own or buy some from the dairy case at your grocery store – a pizza dough would work)
1 medium onion
Around 2 cups of chopped kalamata olives
1 T dry mint (or fresh if you have that - fresh mint would probably be the better option)
Around 3 tablespoons sesame seeds (for the top)
Procedure: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Cut the dough into 5 sections and set two aside for the tiropita. Take the three and spread them out evenly.
Mix the olives onions and mint together in a bowl. Then spoon on some of the mixture onto one side of the eliopita.
Roll the dough until you reach the end then lightly slit the top diagonally with a sharp knife.
Continue this for the other two sections of dough. Then, take the sesame seeds, rinse them under warm water and pat them down on the top of the three rolls of dough. This will allow them to stick better and it will also help the crust to become crispier.
Place the rolls on a baking tray and put them in the oven for about 30 minutes or until light brown. Now you’re done. You can slice the dough into small rolls and serve with some coffee or tea as an afternoon snack. Now it’s time for the tiropita.
Ingredients (for the tiropita):
Dough (the other 2 sections of the dough that you cut for the eliopita)
About 2 lbs crumbled haloumi cheese (this is a goat cheese that you can find at any Greek store or Middle-eastern store)
A handful of raisins (this really doesn’t matter, however many you like)
1 egg
About 1 T of dry mint (again, it’s better if you have fresh)
About 2 T of sesame seeds (on top)
Procedure: Take the other two sections of dough you cut and roll them out flat. Mix the haloumi cheese, the raisins, the egg, and the mint and spoon on some of it into the dough.
Roll it until you reach the end and slit the top diagonally in small slits with a sharp knife. Take the rest of the sesame seeds and pat them on top of the rolls.
Do the same for the second roll. Place the tiropites into the oven for about 30 minutes and then slice. Here are all of the tiropita and eliopita together.
I hope you try these two recipes out and tell me which you like best! I personally think I like the tiropita better, because it has the salty cheese with the sweet raisins. But I also love the eliopites. Enjoy!
