Our cookbook of the week is Aegean by London-based chef Marianna Leivaditaki. Over the next three days, we’ll feature more recipes from the book and an interview with the author.
Marianna Leivaditaki’s late mother Nancy caused a bit of a stir when she added stuffed baked potatoes to the menu at their seafood restaurant on the Greek island of Crete.
Whole potatoes cooked in ash — maybe drizzled with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, sprinkled with oregano and salt — is a standard winter dish. “You have it as a little meze around the table with friends sipping on some raki,” says Leivaditaki.
Stuffing them, however, was a new proposition — one that most of their guests had never seen before.
From a young age, Leivaditaki would help prepare and cook the potatoes in smouldering ashes, which her Scottish mother would serve with shrimp, mayonnaise and plenty of crisp baby gem lettuce.
“At the beginning, when she put this dish out, everyone was like, ‘Hmmm, Nancy, we’re not really sure,'” recalls Leivaditaki. “And the customers were like, ‘What is this? It’s very English.'”
After the initial skepticism wore off, Nancy’s creation became the most popular menu item: On busy nights, they served as many as 40 baked potatoes. Leivaditaki’s version, stuffed with shrimp and smoked salmon mayonnaise, is an homage to her mother’s creation.
“I love the fact that my mom’s not here anymore but I’m truly celebrating her dish,” she says. “And it’s just delicious. It’s the best lunch dish ever.”
BAKED POTATOES STUFFED WITH SHRIMP AND SMOKED SALMON MAYONNAISE
4 medium potatoes, washed and stabbed with a sharp-pointed knife
200 g (7 oz) raw shrimp, peeled
2 baby gem lettuce, thinly sliced
1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped tarragon
4 tbsp (60 mL) lemony aioli (see below)
1 tbsp (15 mL) very finely chopped smoked salmon
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the lemony aioli:
4 tbsp (60 mL) mayonnaise
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp (5 mL) Dijon mustard
1 tsp (5 mL) white wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, crushed with a touch of oil into a paste
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Wrap the potatoes in foil and place in the oven for about 1 hour or until they are soft and ready.
Step 2
Quickly make the lemony aioli by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until needed.
Step 3
Blanch the shrimp in salted water for 1–2 minutes depending on their size, remove them from the pot and peel them. Put the shrimp in a bowl with all the remaining ingredients, give them a stir, and add salt and pepper as necessary. Cut the potatoes open lengthways and add the filling to the middle. Eat straight away.
Serves: 4
Recipe and image excerpted from Aegean by Marianna Leivaditaki. Published in 2020 by Interlink Books. Used with permission from the publisher.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2021
