Friday, December 14, 2007

Greek Cookbooks: The Cuisine of Kimolos with Recipe for Ladenia – Olive Oil Bread with Tomato-Onion Topping (Λαδένια)


LadeniaLadenia is so good I’ve made it three times in three days.

Ladenia is a specialty of Kimolos, a tiny Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is bread dough topped with fresh tomatoes, onions, and olive oil (from which it gets its name: “ladi” means “oil” in Greek), and baked until the edges are crunchy and the onions caramelized.

Filena Venardou documented the traditional foods of Kimolos in Η Κουζίνα της Κιμώλου (The Cuisine of Kimolos). Venardou says Ladenia is the most “original and characteristic” dish of Kimolos, and is “considered the precursor” of modern pizza. According to Venardou, Ladenia has been made in Kimolos since the time of its domination by the Venetians (1207 – 1566 AD/CE).


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http://www.laurieconstantino.com/ladenia-pizzas-greek-forerunner-from-kimolos/



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20 comments:

Peter M said...

What a fantastically simple and tasty recipe. Eat your heart pizza, Ladenia's here!

test it comm said...

Oven roasted tomatoes and onions aon bread...mmm...

Francesca said...

your bread is very mediterranean and lokks delicioius. Thank you very much for your partecipation!

Francesca

Cakelaw said...

This bread looks delicious, and what a fantastic combination of flavours! A true slice of Greece in Alaska.

Gretchen Noelle said...

This looks delicious! My kind of "pizza!!" I so enjoy all the incredible information you include on all your posts!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I love all the toppings and flavours of this bread. It sounds wonderful. I will have to gice it a try over the holidays when I hope to get into some real baking.

Ivy said...

I love making Ladenia, and yours looks great.

Cheryl said...

Another great recipe for me to try someday! I've been so busy and finally got a chance to catch up with your blog...I just love it. It's so very useful and informative! Keep up the great work and thanks for the wonderful recipes!!

desie said...

looks absolutely wonderful-filling and very flavourful.you have great recipes, will definitely be back as both my husband and i are fans of greek food.

Suganya said...

Sounds more like focaccia and looks like a vegan pizza :)

Laurie Constantino said...

You are exactly right Peter! Go Ladenia!

Kevin, I honestly think oven roasted tomatoes and onion would be great on almost anything.

Thank you for the kind words Francesca and for organizing such a nice event!

Thanks, Cakelaw -- and it's really easy to make.

Gretchen, you should try it! And, thanks, I'm so glad you like the details!

Valli, if you make it, I'd love to hear how it went!

I think any Ladenia would be good, Ivy! It's one of those kind of dishes.

Cheryl, you are so welcome. So glad you stopped by!

Mayhabay, As you can tell, I'm fond of Greek food myself! I'm happy you visited, thanks.

Suganya, yep, vegan pizza of a sort, anyay -- I think it's the amount of oil that distinguishes this from other similar bread/topping combinations.

Sayangku Ayone said...

I love Mediterranean cuisine. Read your blog here like finding a treasure. May I try some of your recipes? Thanks a lot for sharing.

Have a nice Monday,
Sefa - FoodisLove

Mansi said...

wow!! that sure looks very inviting!! I could reach out and eat it if it were possible:)

and thanks for your kind comments on my blog too!!

Laurie Constantino said...

Sefa, I hope you do try some of my recipes -- I'd be honored.

Mansi, you are most welcome, and thank you for visiting my blog.

Maria Verivaki said...

Looks delicious, I definitely want to try this one out!

winedeb said...

Laurie your bread looks marvelous! I really enjoy authentic sea salt as it imparts such a good flavor to dishes, especially your olive oil bread! We enjoy breads of this type at my house so I will be trying this out myself. This was such a great event and what I really enjoyed also is meeting new bloggers around the world! Cheers!

Laurie Constantino said...

Maria, I hope you like it!

Thanks winedeb! I completely agree with you about the taste of sea salt, and this salt is particularly good because it has so many herbs in it.

Katie Zeller said...

That bread looks wonderful! I've done the same with the olive oil...
Pretty salt and jar. And with red pepper flakes... A wonderful finishing salt!

Srivalli said...

Laurie...this is such a fantastic bread!...thank you do much...rachel made this for our meet and it was a super duper hit!...thanks for the lovely recipe!

Laurie Constantino said...

KatieZ, the finishing salt was wonderful and thank you so much for organizing the spice/herb exchange!

Srivalli, I'm so glad you liked the bread! I read all about the Chennai meet. It really sounded fun and all the food looked so very good. Thanks for visiting my blog!