OH! Magazine - Australian Version February 2016 | Page 14

( OH YUM )

PHOODIE’S TIPS FOR CREATING THE
PERFECT GREEK MEDITERRANEAN
ENTERTAINING PLATTER
Phoodie celebrates her Greek roots by sharing her top tips to creating a
Greek entertaining platter that your guests will rave about!
Summer is well and truly upon us, so too are sunset
BBQs and social celebrations. ‘Entertaining platters’ and
in particular Greek-style ones, are the ideal option to
serve to your guests, either as a light lunch or dinner with
drinks, or as the starter to a fabulous long meal. So here
are my top tips for creating the perfect Greek
Mediterranean Entertaining Platter.
Make sure you have a VEHICLE for the feta and for the
dips. Traditionally this is bread, but if you prefer it can be
crackers or a mix of bread and crackers. Whilst only a
limited amount can fit on the plate, make sure you have
plenty in the kitchen ready to top up as needed.
TEXTURE! TEXTURE! TEXTURE! Ensure that a range of
textures appear on the plate. For example, dips,
dolmades, and octopus all have very different textures so
work well together.
VARIETY is key. Both in terms of texture (as discussed
above) but also in terms of a mix of vegetarian and nonvegetarian options (Greek meatballs or ‘keftethes’ also
work well on an entertaining platter!).
The PLATTER that the mezze are served on needs to shout
‘communal!’ And the bigger it is the better. Wooden
boards give a rustic, traditional feel to the meal so they
definitely work best. If you are after a more modern twist,
large tiles and marble slabs can also be effective. Whilst
smaller dishes will be used on the main platter, placing
all of those small dishes on the ONE main board reinforces
the share element.
Create VISUAL INTEREST. We all know that we eat with our
eyes, so not only do you want a variety of colours when
selecting the actual foods that you will serve, you also
want to use a mix and match of small plates, making sure

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FEBRUARY 2016 ( OH! MAGAZINE )

that the overall look coordinates. Of course, ALTERNATIVES
to what I have shown on my platter are fine, as there are
so many things that work well on a Greek Mediterranean
Entertaining Platter.
Other suggestions, not shown on my board that also work
really well include Spinach Pie (‘Spanakopita’), Greek
meat balls (‘Keftethes’), any variety of olives, prawn
saganaki (click for recipe), chargrilled zucchini and
eggplant, feta stuffed mini capsicums, hummus, mini
grilled lamb or chicken skewers and more!
Use AUTHENTIC products where possible, such as Minerva
Kalamata P.D.O Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the authentic
Minerva Feta P.D.O cheese from Greece, which are
available to buy in Australia at Coles Supermarkets.

Elements
• Kalamata olives
• Green olives stuffed with Minerva Greek Feta {P.D.O}
cheese
• Bread – Greeks typically serve their mezze with fresh
bread but you can replace with crackers if you prefer
• Chargrilled capsicum
• Trio of dips, such as eggplant dip (melitzana), fish
roe dip (taramasalata), yoghurt and cucumber dip
(tzatziki)
• Vine leaves with rice (dolmades)
• Minerva Greek Feta {P.D.O} cheese with Oregano and
Minerva Kalamata PDO Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Octopus Meze with Chilli, Oregano and Minerva
Kalamata P.D.O Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
This recipe is sourced from Minerva.