My first love wasn’t Dutch-Indonesian food, because that was just there, my first love was Greek food.
There was a lovely little ouzerie in Utrecht where I first learned about the pleasures of shared little nibbles. From tapas, to dim sum and sushi, I prefer little nibbles because they invite conversation. Where more formal ‘European’-style dining, with courses, tends to shut people up. “Quiet, for the main has appeared.”
I’d visit the ouzerie at least once a month during my time near and in Utrecht, taking friends, boyfriends, prospective boyfriends and people from work throughout the years.
Later I would visit Crete and fall in love with the food even more. But proper Greek food is hard to replicate in the Netherlands. The quality of the produce is a huge aspect of it (you haven’t tasted a courgette until you’ve had a courgette on Crete) so as far as home cooking’s concerned Greek has been low on my radar.
(Please note I have not been to Eleni since the late 90’s so I do not know if it’s still as lovely as it used to be)
Mushroom fest Y2K
As I’m venturing more and more into vegan and vegetarian cooking however, mushrooms have come onto my radar in a big (BIG) way. Merrily chomping away on some teriyaki king oyster mushrooms courtesy of The Omnivore’s Cookbook it hit me: oyster mushroom gyros! As a foundation I used this recipe from Real Greek Recipes and with a few tweaks a star (or rather an easy weekday lunch or dinner recipe) was born.
Tzatziki and pita bread
I used the tzatziki recipe from Greece the Cookbook for this and store-bought pita bread. I really thought I was going to make my own pita bread but it was not a let’s also make bread sorta of day, energy wise. I’ve been baking things from Dan Lepard’s Short & Sweet and everything has come up a treat so I reckon his pita bread recipe, which you can find here, is also solid if you do have the energy and want to give it a go.
Note: after I posted this photo it was pointed out to me that this is NOT how you slice a pita. What you do is cut off a little cap and then pull open the bread so it becomes an actual pocket rather than this unwielding sloppy mess. Use the caps for dipping.
Greek Mushroom Gyros - Vegan
Equipment
- Strainer, if making your own Greek yogurt
- Cheese cloth, see above
- Bowl, see above
- Bowl
- Frying pan
- Toaster or oven for pita
Ingredients
For the tzatziki, store-bought is fine as well
- 3 c - 750 ml Greek-style yogurt or plain, strained in a cheese cloth for 6 hours
- 1 cucumber peeled and finely chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
- 1/4 t - 1.5 g salt
- 3-4 T - 45-60 ml olive oil
- 3 T - 45 g fresh dill finely chopped
For the oyster mushroom gyros
- 3 T - 45 ml olive oil
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 8 oz - 250 g oyster mushrooms coarsely torn
- 1/4 green bell pepper coarsely chopped, optional
- 1 T - 15 ml red wine vinegar
- 1/2 T - 7.5 ml lemon juice fresh is preferred
- 1/2 T - 7.5 g dried oregano
- pinch salt
- ground black pepper
To serve
- pita bread ready-made
Instructions
Make the tzatziki - again: store-bought is fine too
- Mix together 3 c - 750 ml Greek-style yogurt with 1 peeled and finely chopped cucumber, 3-4 finely chopped cloves of garlic, 1/4 t - 1.5 g of salt, 3-4 T - 45-60 ml olive oil and 3 T - 45 g of finely chopped dill, cover and leave to cool in the fridge.
Make the oyster mushroom gyros
- Heat 3 T - 45 ml of olive oil in a large frying pan. Sauté 1 finely chopped shallot and 3-4 finely chopped cloves of garlic in the oil until they start becoming translucent.
- Add 9 oz - 250 g torn oyster mushrooms and 1/4 coarsely chopped green bell pepper if using. Leave to sit until the vegetables start to get some color on them before giving the pan a toss. Do this until the vegetables have turned soft and start to turn golden brown and the pan is almost dry.
- Now keep stirring the vegetables while you toss in 1 T - 15 ml of red wine vinegar and 1/2 T - 7.5 ml lemon juice. The liquids will sizzle and dry out quickly, imparting a slight tang to the vegetables.
- Once the liquids have evaporated, add 1/2 T - 7.5 g of dried oregano and add salt and pepper to taste. Give it another quick stir before serving the gyros on warm pita bread with a good dollop of tzatziki.
Notes
- You can keep the prepared oyster mushrooms for 1 day in the fridge and reheat until crisp in a hot frying pan but it's best finished fresh.
- The tzatziki keeps for 2-3 days in a closed container in the fridge.
