In my kitchen August: Fried Barbounia (Μπαρμπούνια τηγανητά)


In my kitchen this month is a lovely aqua picnic basket, filled with delicious treats sourced from around my local area. Although it is still winter, constant clear blue skies combined with a big warm jacket have made the most perfect conditions for seaside picnicking.









The first essential for my picnic basket was a large rustic loaf of bread. I bought the bread from our local baker, Yanni's Bakery. There were a range of delicious breads on sale including an olive bread, lagana bread and large round loaves of Horiatiki psomi (Χωριάτικη Ψωμί). It was a hard decision to make, but I settled on the Horiatiki and it was delicious sliced into large wedges and spread thickly with lemon filled taramasalata. Some thick, sweet Thassos olives from the local deli, all crinkly and glossy from being dried in the sun provided a salty contrast. You have to get in early Yanni's. Too late and all of their delicious breads have been snapped up by discerning yiayias.




From the local grocer, there were beautifully fresh cucumbers with their bright yellow flowers still attached, which were perfect for a classic Horiatiki (or Greek) salad. To the picnic basket, I also added some roma tomatoes, that had been slow roasted with rigani and garlic, along with a few red onions.



Mr K's contribution to the picnic basket were some plump juicy Barbounia (μπαρμπούνια), which had been carefully cleaned and then very lightly dusted with flour and quickly fried in olive oil.

Fried Barbounia (Μπαρμπούνια τηγανητά)

Ingredients:

1 kg red mullet, cleaned
olive oil
Salt
Flour for coating
lemons

Method:

1. Salt the fish, roll it in flour and fry it in oil. Fry until both sides are brown.

2. Serve with lemon wedges.




To finish, there were warming cups of coffee, fresh sweet oranges picked that morning from my father in law's garden and slices of semolina cake and walnut cake, called karithopita (Καρυδόπιτα) from Christopher's Cakes.

So lovely friends, have you been on any picnics recently, or are you planning to enjoy a picnic during August? If so, I would love to know what is in your picnic basket. As always, big thanks go to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for hosting this great monthly feature. Be sure to stop by her blog to see lots more wonderful kitchens from around the world!!

Ps. If you would like the address for Yanni's Bakery and some of my other favourite Greek shops, please see my Greek Sydney page.

29 comments

  1. Such a lovely Greek post- making me look forward to sunnier days.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a gorgeous picnic...you had me at that beautiful Greek bread.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alas I haven't been on a picnic in a while but I'm just waiting for the weather to warm up because I love them. Both your contributions sound delicious-no wonder you're a perfect match! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the postcard photographs! Great shots!

    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such gorgeous photos - there is so much sublime colour in your life! Your picnic sounds wonderful - one of the upsides of picnicking out of season is having such beauty spots all to yourselves. My most recent post included a description of a picnic we had in a private garden square in Belgravia, London - it was quite something! I have yet to get my IMK post up - too busy reading everyone else's!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much. Wow, Belgravia would have been spectacular!!

      Delete
  6. What a lovely picnic and yes, winter is tolerable if you have a very warm jacket. I love the sound of enjoying freshly picked oranges from your FILs garden as well as the semolina cakes. The setting is stunning xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The semolina cake is a big favourite in our house!!

      Delete
  7. What a nice way to spend a weekend, with such a yummy picnic! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, YUM! Lovely photos of lovely food. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fabulous picnic - a far cry from the rather basic picnics I'm packing up at the moment for harvest workers. Your scenery looks rather more enticing too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Anne. I hope the harvest was a success ; )

      Delete
  10. G'day! What a relaxing view! Great photos for you IMK view too!
    Cheers! Joanne

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a delightful post. I haven't been on a picnic in ages but we will go next week on the Brisbane Ekka Show Day. We'll head down to Manly by the water and lie on a rug, reading, eating and enjoying the day off. I love semolina cake so perhpas I will make some to take. Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Fiona, hope you have a lovely picnic ; )

      Delete
  12. Honestly Ella, you take the most stunning photos! Now I want tarama and bread for breakfast! Thanks for all the fabulous links on your Greek page - out of all of them, I've only ever visited the Hellenic Bakery and the Corinthian (how fabulous is that place! We order a mixed cold platter whenever we go and share it). Will have to check out the other places you've recommended, thank you! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Celia. I hope you make some good finds from the list xx

      Delete
  13. Beautiful pictures of delicious food! What more could a girl want? :) Thanks for sharing! Liz x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lovely post Ella! Our local Greek market also has a lovely bakery but you do have to be careful with those Yiayias; they are determined to get there wares and they have really pointy elbows! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ella, your post is a visual and verbal delight and your picnic makes me want to pack one very soon. I favor a similar repast... olives and cheese being at the top of the picnic basket list.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments, I really appreciate every single one!

© Mulberry and Pomegranate
Maira Gall