BUTTERY KOURABIEDES
Winter in Greece is undoubtedly our second favourite season after summer!
The weather is perfect for visiting new regions or exploring the narrow streets of Athens: trying new restaurants and markets, meeting artisans, or simply staying in and experimenting with new-found ingredients or traditional local recipes.
Today we would like to share with you a taste of kourabiedes - melt-in-your-mouth cookies made exclusively for us by Vanessa Miles - Mèlisses’ guest, friend and talented home cook from Australia.
These almond-scented butter cookies are a trusted staple in most Greek households throughout the year, but especially during Christmas and New Year. Traditionally piled high on large plates, they’re so easy to make and can last for weeks (which never happens anyway)!
Vanessa’s love-affair with the food of Greece started long before she visited, while working in a Greek café.
“My first job was at an exceptionally popular Greek café on Rundle Street, Adelaide. Early every morning, before chairs were unstacked, and shutters opened, I watered the olive trees along the street, as trays heaving with baklava, creme kataifi, galaktoboureko, bourgatsa and melomakaronas arrived and were slid behind a glass cabinet at the counter. My favourites were the kourabiedes, buttery and short; the perfect accompaniment to the several Greek coffees I drank every day.
It goes without saying that as with any recipe with so few ingredients, their quality is paramount. The nuts in Greece are incomparable; buy the best almonds you can find.”
KOURABIEDES – Greek almond shortbreads
For approx 25 biscuits you’ll need:
125 g whole almonds
250 g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
60 g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
1 organic egg yolk
15 ml (1 tablespoon) mastiha or ouzo, plus extra for brushing (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
sea salt
Pre-heat oven to 160 C fan. Line two large oven trays with baking paper.
Toast almonds in the oven on a small tray for 10 minutes.
In a stand mixer, or with a hand-held beater, beat the butter until pale and creamy (about five minutes). Add icing sugar and beat for a further minute or two.
Chop or briefly blitz the almonds in a food processor.
Add the egg yolk, mastiha and vanilla extract to the butter, and mix briefly. Sift in flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, and add the almonds. Mix briefly to form a soft but firm dough. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Shape into crescents or slightly flattened balls (about 30 g each), and place on the trays, leaving space for them to spread. On a hot day, you may like to return the shaped biscuits to the fridge for 20 minutes to chill. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until very lightly golden, then remove and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
At this stage, you can brush the kourabiedes with a little diluted mastiha, before sitting them on a tray and dusting with a very generous amount of icing sugar.
The kourabiedes should keep for several days if not weeks in a sealed container.
Vanessa notes: “Mastiha or mastika is a liqueur of distilled resin from the mastiha (mastic) trees on the Greek island Chios. Last year, on my way from Mèlisses to Italy, I stopped at a deli in Athens and picked up a precious bottle to bring home... but you can use ouzo, brandy, or cognac.”
Give these little beauties a try and feel free to share with us your experience. We would love to know how you find them!
Kali Orexi!
Words by Vanessa Miles, curated by Veronika Krizova and Allegra Pomilio
Photos by Vanessa Miles