Anatolian Greek Cuisine and recipe for Artichokes a la polita

Anatolian Greek cooking: Greeks lived in Anatolia, and especially Asia Minor since ancient times and their cuisine was heavily influenced by the eastern spice trade during the Byzantine (circa 400AD-1453) and Ottoman (1453-1922) Empires. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the exchange of populations in 1922, Anatolian Greek refugees emigrated en masse into Greece, bringing most notably their cooking and rembetika music to the mainland, thus adding much flavor, aromatic spices and eastern rhythms and feeling to Modern Greece. Many dishes they brought were eggplant based–and can also be found in Turkish cuisine (as they lived together for almost 500 years). Imam Bayildi, Hunkar Begendi, moussaka, etc. Meat dishes are characterized by the addition of aromatics, such as cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg, such as in many “kokkinsto” dishes–any type of meat braised in tomato, as well as the famous: Soutzoukakia Smynaika (meatballs in aromatic red sauce) and Artichokes a la Polita–see recipe below!

Recipe: I am sharing a delicious and flavorful dish from Constantinople. “Anginares or Artichokes a la Polita”. A la Polita means from the City with a capital C–and for the Greeks, there is ONLY ONE CITY! And that is, of course, Constantinople. The great city of Constantine and the capital of the Byzantine empire, which the Greeks treasure as part of their heritage, regardless of the fact that it has been Turkish for since May 30, 1453. The name Istanbul is actually an adulteration of Eis Stin Poli, which the Greeks defending the City would shout, meaning “to or towards the City”. To this day, I have never ever heard a Greek call that city anything other than Constantinoupoli, even on the evening news! The Greeks from the City are called Polites–the word for citizens, but without a defining adjective i.e. American, Greek, German, etc., it always means someone from Constantinople. And thus, Artichokes a la Polita is a recipe brought from Polites of Constantinople–and is a delicious addition to the very large array of olive oil based vegetarian entrees called “ladera”, which make up the bulk of the Greek Mediterranean diet–made with plenty of high quality EVOO, like EVGE, eaten with a chunk of feta and bread as a main course, either room temperature, warm or in the heat or summer, cold.

Artichokes a la Polita (for 2)
1 red onion chopped
6 fresh green onions, chopped
2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced  1″
1 potato, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
8-10 Artichoke hearts 
Zest and juice of 1 lemon 

fresh dill
1tbsp flour
about 1/2 cup EVGE EVOO–or just generously coat the bottom of the pan as I always do!

Salt and saute onions in EVOO until soft (about 5 minutes). Add carrots and fresh onions–salt, stir & cover to braise with onions over medium heat (add some water if you are afraid it might stick to the saucepan) for about 10 minutes. Add potatoes along with lemon zest, and a shake of salt, cover and braise for 15 minutes (add a bit of water if needed). Finally add the artichoke hearts, lemon juice and dill–salt and stir. Then add the flour and stir. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes. Taste for salt and to make sure carrots and potatoes are done–and serve with feta and bread.