Beloved taste of the young and the old. There in the Psiloritis foothills, at Zaros with its famous water, I tasted the finest meatballs of a secret Politiki recipe.
The secret of this exquisite creation is that we only use pork minced meat that we flavor with raki and use bottled water for cooking because this way the sauce binds more easily and the taste remains pure.
This tendency is dominant lately in France, the land of gastronomy but I learned that in Crete if the good cooks wanted to distinguish, they were using water from certain springs. I was debating with friends, known chef that assured me that this knowledge reaches even to the ancient times …
Another secret is that instead of using bread or toast they use brioche or sweet bread …
Politika fragrant meatballs
By Nana Chalkiadaki-Stefanakis owner of Pension Nana’s Apartements, in Zaros, Heraklion
The materials for meatballs
Ingredients for 4 people
For the minced meat
1 kg minced pork
1 piece large brioche or sweet bread moistened with raki
1 small coffee cup vinegar
1 small coffee cup olive oil
1 shot of raki aromatic of Zaros
1 tsp cumin
4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
Sea salt
Mixture of freshly ground pepper
Water from Zaros
1-2 fresh eggs
For the sauce
2-3 fresh grated tomatoes
Tomato paste for the sauce to “bind”
1 onion, sliced
Whole cumin grains
Cinnamon
A pinch of brown sugar
Sea salt
Some water from Zaros
For frying
Olive oil (keep it for the sauce)
Method of preparation
In a bowl put the brioche after we have squeezed it with our hands.
Add the salt, pepper mixture, cumin, our refreshing water and knead vigorously with your hands until the mixture is homogenous.
Add the minced meat, vinegar, olive oil, eggs, raki and garlic. Knead putting our fingers deep in the minced meat to “get” air, turning the meat also on the other side.
Put the meat in the refrigerator by covering the bowl with food transparency.
Leave to “rest” in the refrigerator for 3 hours for the aromas to emerge. Put some olive oil in your hands and mold the meatballs.
Fry the meatballs for a couple of minutes on each side in hot olive oil and put them in a pan pouring the sauce
For the sauce
In a saucepan pour the tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, cumin, salt, cinnamon, sugar and water.
Boil until we have almost cooked onions.
Drain the oil that we fried the meatballs and add it little by little to the sauce.
Cook the meatballs in a well preheated oven at 180 °C for 30 minutes. Serve with rice, fried potatoes cut by hand, or vegetable puree.
