♪ ♪ [Host] One of the greatest things about life in Athens is its incredibly vibrant art scene.

I have a personal connection to that.

My own daughter, Kyveli, who's a painter.

In this episode, some of the city's top gallerists and international young artists gather in her project space, for a meal cooked by Mama.

I'll start with Kyveli's favorite giant bean Greek salad.

This looks like a really substantial Greek salad, almost a meal in itself.

And then, a phyllo pie with zucchini, feta, and mint.

That looks really luscious for a pie that just has a few ingredients.

And finally, octopus with oranges and olives.

This is an explosion of land and sea.

Join us on My Greek Table for a celebration of the cultural hub that is Athens.

♪ ♪ [Announcer] My Greek Table with Diane Kochilas is made possible in part by...

The Fillo Factory.

Grecian Delight Kronos, A family committed to better eating.

Dodoni, tradition in taste.

Celestyal Cruises.

Meltemi Greek Yogurt.

The National Hellenic Society And by the following... ♪ ♪ [Diane] Athens is a city of so many layers.

History is evident on every street.

Architecture in the Greek capital is a fascinating juxtaposition of 3,000 years of urban life.

Food is traditional and modern all at once.

And art is everywhere, from the exquisite remains of classical antiquity to street art.

Athens has always had an art scene, focused mostly locally.

But this past decade has seen a remarkable transformation, born in large part out of the ruins of the country, after years of economic crisis and austerity.

Under duress, art flourishes and Athens is a living example of that.

Greek artists, hard hit by the country's dire economic situation, were forced to reinvent themselves.

A whole generation of young artists had to find not only the voice of their generation, but their own survival guide in terra incognita.

Independence, self-reliance, and creativity, all combined, and gave birth to a modern Greek renaissance in the arts.

Downtown neighborhoods like Kypseli, Exarcheia, and Metaxourgeio, some of the oldest parts of Athens, are now brimming with creative energy as artists from many different parts of the world have moved in, and on their heels, so have more than a few cutting-edge galleries, that attract an international clientele.

My daughter, Kyveli, herself a painter, has invited a handful of young international artists and gallerists for a meal and conversation in her project space, KYAN, with dinner cooked by yours truly.

[Group] Yamas.

Cheers.

♪ ♪ [Diane] Today, I'm helping my daughter, Kyveli.

She is one of those young artists, part of the international art scene in Athens, and I have to say, I'm very proud of her.

And she asked me to do her a favor, which is to help her with a dinner party she's having.

And I decided to make one of her favorite dishes, which is a giant bean dish with a little bit of a twist.

It's actually, a salad.

The first thing I'm doing is getting this beautiful arugula into the bowl because that's gonna be the green part of the salad.

And I just want to prep the rest of the vegetables.

Cucumber first.

You'll see all the ingredients of a classic Greek salad are in this dish.

Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, feta cheese, oregano.

Those are always part of a Greek salad.

And Kalamata olives.

Everything else is kind of an addition or a variation.

So, I'm just getting the cukes sliced on the diagonal.

Even in something as simple as a salad, you have to think about the way it's gonna look, about the contrasting textures and colors.

Next up, I'm getting the pepper prepped.

And now, I'm basically, gonna add everything together.

The giant beans are kind of a special ingredient in Greece.

We call them "gigantes."

They're very similar to butter beans.

And I start out with dried beans.

I soak these overnight.

Boil them in unsalted water for about an hour and 15, an hour and 20 minutes, and what you end up with are these beautiful tender, but firm beans.

You want to be careful not to overcook them.

♪ ♪ Onions go in next.

♪ ♪ And cucumbers.

This is gonna be a very, very hearty salad.

♪ ♪ Tomato.

♪ ♪ Some scallion.

Greek feta.

And we just want to get most of this in, and then some of it on the top of the salad as well.

Pickled peppers, or as we say in Greek, "piperiés toursí."

And these, I just like to lay right around the circumference of my bowl.

Some Kalamata olives.

I also, like to add capers to the salad.

I'm gonna make the dressing next.

Very simple.

Olive oil, lemon juice, vinaigrette, with a little bit of oregano and mustard.

We get the lemon juice in first.

And I'm just using classic Dijon mustard.

And some oregano.

♪ ♪ Whenever you make a vinaigrette, you always add acid before fat, so lemon juice before olive oil.

And you whisk it all together until it emulsifies, until what you end up with is a beautiful, velvety, creamy liquid.

I like to add a little lemon zest to this.

(grating lemon zest sounds) ♪ ♪ I added just enough to moisten the salad knowing that the tomatoes, the olives, the peppers, the capers, the feta cheese, are all going to add their own moisture to this.

So, as the salad sits, and as I toss it, all of those beautiful flavors are gonna start to come out.

♪ ♪ This looks like a really substantial Greek salad, almost a meal in itself.

And I just want to get a little taste.

Mm.

The arugula is really peppery, but it's also really fresh and grassy.

And the giant beans are buttery and comforting and firm, but luscious and earthy at the same time.

I got a lot of that beautiful acidity from both the tomatoes and the feta cheese, but the feta cheese adds this creaminess to the whole thing.

And I think, it's gonna make a great addition to tonight's meal.

[Kyveli Zoi] My name is Kyveli Zoi.

I am a painter and I run the project space, KYAN Athens.

I really like the idea of the table as a symbol.

It's a scene, it's a set.

And definitely, my painting is very much about the set, and creating something that is more cinematic, let's say, in terms of perspective, in terms of atmosphere or Mise-en-scène.

Having been born and raised in Athens, having witnessed the economic crisis that affected everyone in many different ways, but especially the arts, I am one of those who believe that any hardship becomes fuel for creativity.

[Claudio Coltorti] My name is Claudio Coltorti.

I am a painter.

I live in Athens now, three years.

I paint mostly, people, but not in a photographic way, but mostly from my memory.

And since I'm here, I started to actually paint people.

Before I was painting only objects and still lifes.

I was living in Paris, and after, I wanted to change and Athens seems to be a very good solution for me.

[Nadia Gerazouni] I'm Nadia Gerazouni.

I'm director at the Breeder Gallery.

The city has changed and the art world probably was the first to change, along with it.

Of course, there was this landmark event, Documenta.

And that brought the attention to the city.

And I think it's cities in that, what one could suppose is periphery, that is where all the innovation in contemporary art is happening.

♪ ♪ [Diane] I'm making a traditional Cretan phyllo pie called "Haniotiko Boureki" with zucchini, feta, and mint.

And the first thing I'm gonna do is finish prepping the zucchini.

We want the zucchini in thin slices, round slices.

And that's one of the things that distinguishes this zucchini pie from all the other zucchini pies found throughout Greece.

(grating the zucchini) ♪ ♪ This pie, the Haniotiko Boureki, traditionally calls for a cheese called "xynomizithra," which is a traditional cheese from Crete.

It's nice and sour with very fine curds.

It's almost impossible to find in the United States.

So, to approximate that flavor and texture, I'm mixing feta cheese, ricotta, or anthotyro.

And a little bit of Greek yogurt.

And we basically, just want to work that with a fork, until everything is combined.

The next thing I want to get in here is some dried mint.

It's really, really potent and that gives this unique flavor to this particular zucchini pie because the cheeses are a little bit tart.

The mint is a little bit sweet and the zucchini is incredibly refreshing, so it all comes together really nicely.

A little bit of black pepper too.

♪ ♪ So, this is just how I want it.

I want to mix the zucchini with just a touch of salt.

And a fair amount of all-purpose flour.

Gonna eyeball this a little bit.

What we want to do is use enough flour to coat the zucchini.

We want the phyllo to be crispy, not soggy.

And I think, we're exactly where we want this.

Now, I'm ready to assemble the pie.

I've got my phyllo under here, covered, to keep it nice and moist.

And the first thing I'm gonna do is oil my baking pan.

We want to work fast.

When we put the phyllo down, try to get overhang on each side, and brush with olive oil.

You don't have to painstakingly cover every single inch of the phyllo dough.

♪ ♪ This is a rather dense filling, so we want at least five sheets on the bottom, to make sure there's enough phyllo to keep it from getting soggy.

♪ ♪ So, we just want to take a bunch of zucchini.

Make sure it's kind of evenly dispersed, all over the surface.

Next thing, I'm gonna do is get some cheese in here.

And I usually just dot the top.

This will spread out as it bakes, so you don't have to pat the whole surface down, you just want to dot it.

And a little bit more zucchini and you keep going up the depth of the pan.

Pies are a great way to cater any meal, whether you're doing it in your own home, or you're bringing it somewhere.

And that's actually, one of the reasons I chose this recipe today because it's easy to transport.

You can serve it warm or at room temperature so it makes a really nice addition to any dinner party.

I like to press this down and this way, all of the flavors melt together.

The cheese will melt into every corner of this filling.

Ready to cover the top of the pie.

♪ ♪ When you do that, press down on it a little bit.

♪ ♪ We don't want all this overhang, but we want enough, so that we can turn it in to make a nice rim.

♪ ♪ You join the bottom and top phyllo, the overhang, just twist.

You're using basically, your forefinger and your thumb to do this.

And we're almost ready to get this into the oven.

The only thing we want to do is score it into serving pieces.

The reason we score the phyllo is to let steam escape as this bakes, which keeps the phyllo crisp.

So this is ready to go into the oven.

I'm gonna bake it at 375 for about 45 to 50 minutes.

This has been cooling for about a half hour.

I'm ready to cut it.

It's still warm, and it's nice and crisp.

That looks really luscious for a pie that just has a few ingredients.

Look at that.

I really want to taste this.

Mm.

What's great about this pie, it's surprisingly complex and there are a lot of different things going on.

The phyllo gives us this incredible texture.

It's really flaky, really crisp.

The zucchini is so refreshing.

It's almost like freshly cut grass.

But the cheeses with that mint, it's just a perfect combination.

It's just tart enough.

It all works beautifully together and I know my daughter and her friends are gonna love this.

[Chloe Royer] My name is Chloe Royer.

I'm a visual artist based in Paris.

I am making sculptures.

I was invited to create a solo show in the island of Spetses.

So, I'm here for two months for the production.

My work is around the question of balance, and the support between individuals, and the way that we see the body in our group, in our society.

Compared to Paris, time is slower.

It has an impact on my artistic production, that is very interesting.

[Sofia Stevi] My name is Sofia Stevi.

I'm a painter.

I was born in Athens, but then, I moved to London.

I became a painter in London.

And I moved back here in 2013, in the middle of the crisis.

There was a very vibrant art scene.

It was a really exciting place to be back then.

Athens is a good place for me to work.

It's very cheap to do production here.

The weather, mostly, is nice, so that's good.

We have the younger generation of artists, again, doing project spaces and being energetic, so I think we are very similar to another European big city.

[Hugo Wheeler] I am Hugo Wheeler.

I run a gallery here called "Hot Wheels Athens."

I moved here five years ago and yeah, I've been running the space for the last three years.

I think what's really interesting about the local scene here is this DIY aspect.

Like, a few years ago there wasn't much arts funding or anything like that, so people really had to build by themselves.

And I think that kind of DIY nature has been really sort of like, poignant and really important, and it's really sort of defined itself, in a way, through that.

[Diane] I'm making a really special dish today.

It's actually, one of my daughter's favorites.

I only make it on very special occasions.

It's a braised octopus dish with oranges and olives.

I'm just getting the leeks cut into half circles.

(chopping sound of leeks) We want the leeks to be a little bit on the large side for this dish because we want them to hold up to the braising process.

Olive oil next.

Quartered red onions, go in next.

And the leeks.

Garlic next.

I'm not looking to cook this down too much, to lose too much volume, because when I add the octopus, this is all gonna cook together for a fairly long time.

The octopus is going straight in.

I'm gonna cover it and that will help the octopus exude its juices.

The best part of this dish, the oranges.

I'm gonna cut them into wedges.

It's a really unusual combination of flavors, but orange, anise, and green olives go incredibly well together, and that's a trio that we find all over the Mediterranean.

♪ ♪ Let's see what this looks like.

Oh.

All those beautiful pink juices are starting to come right out of this beautiful octopus.

In Greece, we say, "It exudes the sea."

Usually, we don't add any salt to octopus.

I always add a little bit of bay leaf to my octopus dishes.

And in this recipe, a little bit of star anise.

Now, the fun part, squeeze the juice into the pan.

The oranges are gonna cook together with the octopus.

And that slight bitterness in the skin is what really gives this dish its extraordinary flavor.

♪ ♪ The next thing that goes in here is a Greek spirit, Ouzo.

Very redolent of anise.

And it enhances that star anise that we also used.

And a little tomato paste, just for some color.

Try to dilute it right into the liquid.

And now, we're gonna let this cook, probably for around 45, 50 minutes.

You have to keep an eye on it.

Know what's happening with the liquid.

Use your judgment, if it needs to be covered or not.

I'm gonna cover it, to continue cooking the octopus until it's nice and tender.

I think this is done.

Oh, yes.

Couple more things.

Some green olives.

♪ ♪ A little black pepper.

♪ ♪ Let me just give that a stir.

We don't want to cook the olives, we just want to warm them through, for a few minutes, so that they absorb these delicious juices before we serve the octopus.

And the next thing I'm gonna do is brighten this up with a little dill and I've got fresh dill here.

♪ ♪ And this is ready.

♪ ♪ Let's taste this.

And a little snip of that orange.

Mm.

This is an explosion of land and sea.

The orange, I love that flavor.

It's just so intense.

That, in combination with the octopus, which is earthy in its own way, but also has that beautiful sea saltiness, and is infused with the anise flavor of the Ouzo.

I hope my daughter's happy with this and I hope her friends, in the artist community of Athens, also like it.

♪ ♪ I want to thank everyone for coming.

What's going on in Athens right now is very unique.

I can say that art is food for the soul and let's dig in.

Yamas.

[Group] Yamas.

Cheers.

[Kyveli] Cheers.

Thank you.

[Diane] The art scene in Athens is electric with something new and exciting in the air.

And with passionate creative artists like these, it'll continue to grow and make a real contribution to the arts, both in Greece and globally.

Yamas.

[Group] Yamas.

[Kyveli] Cheers.

Salute.

[Diane] For recipe links and information about My Greek Table , visit my website, DianeKochilas.com.

[Announcer] Diane's cookbooks "My Greek Table" and "Ikaria" are available to purchase online at DianeKochilas.com Or call the phone number on the screen.

My Greek Table with Diane Kochilas is made possible in part by...

The Fillo Factory.

Grecian Delight Kronos, A family committed to better eating.

Dodoni, tradition in taste.

Celestyal Cruises.

Meltemi Greek Yogurt.

The National Hellenic Society.

And by the following... ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪