Almost every year, blogs, upscale magazines, and food critics define trends that restaurants and home chefs enjoy in their daily cuisine. I am always interested in how they come up with their assumptions, especially since spotlights on international food seem to be focused on discovering unknown ingredients – difficult as travel to far corners of the world has made us blasé.

Let’s face it, how many times can one bake, broil, grill, pan-fry, poach, or steam a salmon and pretend to be innovative? But seasonings and spices give any dish the hip flair that society thrives on, all the while the chef claims to have reinvented one of Auguste Escoffier’s legendary dishes.

Themed ingredients are de rigueur. Case in point, even basic ingredients such as salt have metamorphosed from table salt (i.e., iodized salt) to sea, Brittany, Provençale, Celtic Gray, kosher, pretzel, celery, and truffle to the latest trends such as Himalayan pink salt; all a new twist for our discriminating palette. Even our appetite for what was once considered an exotic spice has expanded from conventional garlic and ginger, to include modern staples such as curry and lime leaves, lemon grass, turmeric, saffron, fenugreek and now the latest trend, the Berbere pre-mixed blend. Each of these have been popularized to such an extent that the spice business has exploded due to unprecedented demand.

Not to mention the luxury side, with items such as mushrooms. These have gone from canned button mushrooms to fresh Portobello, Cremini, Morel, Porcini, Lobster, Shiitake and Enoki mushrooms. Remember the bygone times when restaurants would highlight their specials with unpronounceable and strange names of mushrooms, these are now served in the home.

In the past these ingredients were outlandish and special because they were harvested from distant countries. Now most of these specialty items are part of household cooking repertoires. Yes, we do cook more at home, especially during the current pandemic, but more so because of the availability of products and the appreciation for finer and healthier cooking that has developed in America. This is notwithstanding the increased desire of consumers to become health conscious and socially conscious. They seek seasonal products and the highest-quality ingredients for each dish, along with community-supported ecological food systems (farm to table). The 1971 Berkeley Chez Panisse restaurant and café owned by Alice Waters was an inspiration for many and popularized the Farmers Market in the United States.

Yet, overall what remains in our minds is the freshness, texture, flavors, smells, colors and ingredients which, far more than techniques, define cooking, and have an impact on the appeal of the dish.

Phyllo (Filo) dough

Image 1: Phyllo dough final dish after baking

Beyond trends, there are staples that come to mind, especially when I think of national cuisines. One of them is phyllo dough, synonymous with Mediterranean cuisine. Specialties range from the Ottoman world (baklava), to Greece (spanakopita), and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (strudel)—the latter linked to the Siege of Vienna (1683) by the Turks, and as legend claims, led to the creation of the croissant shaped in the form of the crescent featured on the Ottoman flag. This same creation is called Viennoiserie in France. The Turks were also responsible for the endless varieties of coffee appreciated in the newly created Viennese coffee houses (c. 1685).

While used in a variety of pies, pastries and desserts, the iconic phyllo dough was not always readily available for purchase. At home, and with much dexterity, one had to progressively roll and stretch the raw dough into one single large thin sheet and layer it to create the magical taste. When I was a kid living in Vienna, I remember seeing this done, and marveling at the ease and elegance of the process. Now, I could never duplicate those gestures. Happily, today, one can find various brands in the frozen section of the grocer, each box filled with ample sheets to make delectable, crunchy, flaky dishes.

Anyone who has ventured to use phyllo dough knows the rules: thaw the phyllo in the refrigerator overnight and unroll the sheets horizontally when ready to use, leaving them neatly stacked. Carefully and rapidly peel off individual sheets, brushing each with butter or oil before stacking them carefully according to the recipe, always remembering to cover the remaining phyllo with a slightly damp dish towel. Without this precaution, the pastry will quickly dry, become brittle and tear into pieces, which is annoying and disastrous when you are not left with enough full sheets as you near the completion of your recipe.

Conclusion

I do enjoy making spanakopita from scratch but how many sheets have I lost in haste, often crushing them with the guilt of my failure. The other day, I stumbled on a recipe that solved my dilemma. Instead of making the little cute triangles for individual spanakopita hors d’oeuvres filled with spinach, garlic, nutmeg, feta, ricotta cheese, and eggs, the phyllo dough was used in an innovative way.

This time, no complicated layering and folding. Simply prepare and set the filling ingredients in a skillet, and working with one sheet of phyllo at the time spray liberally with oil. Crumple the oiled phyllo into two-inch balls and place one by one on top of the spinach mixture in the skillet. Then pop in the oven.

Wow, that is an easy and idiot proof way of using this delicate pastry. When baked and golden brown, the dish is beautiful, crispy and makes a show stopper for any dinner with friends and loved ones.

Bon Appetit