Making Spanakopita
Learning Intention:To use puff pastry and create a culturally significant dish.
Success Criteria:I have successfully created a traditional cheese and spinach pie.
I can successfully defrost the pastry and keep it moist. I can use water to help the pastry stick together. I can glaze with milk to help the pastry brown. |
Spanakopita (/ˌspænəˈkɒpɪtə/; Modern Greek: σπανακόπιτα, from σπανάκι, spanáki, spinach, and πίτα, píta, pie) orspinach pie is a Greek savory pastry.It is in the burek family of pastries with a filling of chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions or scallions, egg, and seasoning. The filling is wrapped or layered in phyllo (filo) pastry with butter and/or olive oil, either in a large pan from which individual servings are cut, or rolled into individual triangular servings (see burek). While the filo-dough recipe is most common, many recipes from the Greek islands call for a crust made of flour and water to form a crunchier, calzone-like exterior in place of the flaky filo dough. The pastry is golden in color when baked, the color often enhanced by butter and egg yolk. Other white, fresh, preferably salted cheeses may also be mixed with, or substituted for, the feta cheese.
It is mostly eaten as a snack in Greece, and it can be an alternative to tyropita. It can be served straight from the oven or at room temperature. There is a "fasting", or vegan, version of spanakopita, eaten during the Great Lent and other religious fasts, and composed of spinach, onions or green onions, other green herbs like dill, parsley or celery, olive oiland a little wheat flour, but without eggs or dairy products; the mixture is oven-baked until crisp. Non-traditional vegan versions are available that typically use tofu instead of cheese. In rural Greece, smaller amounts of spinach are used, with the missing part substituted with leeks, chard, and sorrel. It can also be made with puff pastry. Greek Cultures & Traditions:The Australian Greek community is one of many minority immigrant communities in Australia today, the second largest after the Italian community. While it now has second and third generation members — for whom Greek and Anglo-Australian cultures have to some degree intermingled — for elders Greek culture remains the central reference point in their lives.
Greek elders in Australia today almost certainly grew up in rural or regional Greece, usually in villages in an extended family context, where culture and religion were vital forces in shaping them as individuals and as Greeks. This website is dedicated to the idea that elders who come from this context need to have culturally appropriate care — care that honours their distinctive cultural and linguistic background and thus makes their later life and final years as comfortable and meaningful as possible. Elderly Greeks subjectively want culturally appropriate care, while research has also shown that it also has significant health benefits. (Refer to the work of Dr. Susannah Runci) Greek culture and tradition is understood as a framework of Values and Beliefs and a way of life. As a way of life, culture includes behaviours and social roles, including Family and Gender Roles, social activities, such as Food and Cooking, and special events that mark important national and religious occasions. See National Days and Celebrations. Greek Language and Communication, which is also a crucial aspect of culture, is a separate section in this website. |