Saganaki martini
- 200g kalamata black olives
- 1 tbsp castor sugar
- 200g haloumi cheese
- 50g tomato
- 20g cucumber
- 1 tbsp chives
- ¾ cup tomato gin tea (see recipe)
- chervil or tarragon to garnish
The perception of saganaki is that it's the name given to the fried cheese. But it really comes from the name of the special frying pan that fish is cooked in. Once cooked, the Greeks would remove the fish and cook the cheese and bread to soak up the fishy flavours left in the pan. Be warned that the olives take a long time in the oven. You can make them weeks in advance and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator until needed.
Method
Remove seeds from olives and finely dice. Place on a flat tray lined with greaseproof paper. Lightly dust with the sugar and place in a very low oven, 80C for 12 hours.
· Cut haloumi into 1cm squares and thread three cubes onto each skewer.
· Blanch tomatoes in boiling water for 10 seconds, remove, then immediately refresh in iced water. Peel them with a small knife. Quarter the tomatoes then remove seeds and cut flesh into 2mm x 2mm squares. Set aside.
· Peel cucumber then cut in quarters lengthways, remove seeds then dice into 2mm x 2mm squares. Set aside.
· Finely slice chives.
· Place tomato, cucumber, candied olives and chopped chives into a bowl, mix well and divide evenly into the bottom of four martini glasses.
· Fill each martini glass three-quarters full with tomato gin tea and garnish with chervil or tarragon.
· In a frying pan, fry haloumi skewers until golden brown on each side.
· Place one skewer over each glass and serve.
Serves four
