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Ivari restaurant

Nidri lefkada 

“Estufado” For thousands of years Greece has been a crossroads for both people and cultures. The civilization, customs and food of this region developed by combining new ideas with existing ones – in culture, language and philosophy.

And so a thread links ancient Greek cooking (which used wine vinegar and lots of fruit to create sweet and sour combinations), through the Romans, the Franks, the Venetians and the British to today’s modern Greek cooking. 

This creative process worked to create the Greek “stifado”. The name comes from the word “suffocate” or “suffusion” which came to us from the Venetians. This dish is “suffocated” by being cooked in a pot with the lid tightly shut. The shallots, which are characteristic of this dish, are slowly caramelized over a low heat without losing their shape or firmness. The beef cooks to a delicious tenderness without losing any of its flavour. “Stifado” must be eaten soon after cooking because the flavours are lost if the food is kept for any length of time. This whole cooking process means that our “stifado” is one of our most successful and popular dishes. Try it and see. 

Kefalonian Meat Pie Kefalonian Meat Pie is a dish which probably came into being under the influence of the many English meat pies, during the time that the British governed Kefalonia. It has changed since then and become part of the traditional local cuisine.

Originally, it was made only with goat meat but today it is made with pork, beef and lamb, as well as rice. It also contains herbs, a kind of Greek hard cheese called kefalotiri and boiled egg. The pastry is home-made too, and made with robola wine. Our authentic Kefalonian Meat Pie is made by our chef, Gerasimos Katsaitis, whose family come from Lixouri, in Kefalonia, who uses his grandmother’s recipe to create this delicious dish. 

The story of “kleftiko” or the thieves’ dinner ” 

Roughly five hundred years ago, a large number of poor farmers were forced to take refuge in the mountains, fleeing from the authorities because they refused to bow to a foreign occupation or to the whims of wealthy landowners. They couldn’t pay their taxes or their debts and in order to survive, they would steal a goat or else rely on the hospitality of their fellow countrymen, who gave them food. These hunted men, whose numbers were huge at times, were known as “kleftes” or thieves, by the authorities. In order to cook their food without being detected by the patrols, they had to hide the smoke from their cooking fire and the aroma of roasting meat. Nor did their fugitive existence allow them to remain in the same place for the six or seven hours necessary to oversee the cooking of their meal. So they used to dig a hollow in the ground, light a fire in the bottom of it and then cover the embers with branches and soil. Then they placed the lamb or goat’s meat on top and covered it with more branches and soil. They slowly roasted the meat in this earth-oven for several hours with chunks of hard, spicy cheese and the roasted meat gradually took on the aroma of its covering of bay leaves and carob leaves, as well as the flavours of oregano and thyme, lemon and wild garlic. Hours later they returned, uncovered the roast meat and enjoyed their “thieves’ dinner” or “kleftiko”. In our restaurant, five hundred years later, we serve kleftiko wrapped in dark brown grease-proof paper. We have added mustard seeds, carrots, green peppers, potatoes and onions for a touch of luxury and voila … ladies and gentlemen, your kleftiko – succulent, aromatic and delicious. Enjoy it!