Yia-Yia's Teganides Greek Fried Dough

 Yia-Yia Stella travelled here from Kotronos, Greece. Her family settled in Massachusetts, and she eventually moved to Biddeford, Maine. I love the picture of her, and it appears she is frying something, maybe this very recipe?

When I think of "fried dough" my mind naturally wanders to the summer fairs, where I get my annual treat of fried dough, the size of a plate, slathered in melted butter and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. This fried dough is similar, but the recipe suggests twisting the dough into a cruller or wreath shape before frying. So I decided to try making a "cruller." I loved crullers when I was a kid...nowadays they have lost that fascinating name and are called "sticks." Wish we could go back to "cruller."

This dough is not a sweet dough, so you definitely want to butter it up and sugar it up. You can also dip it in melted chocolate sweetened with sugar (maybe with a dash of almond flavoring). Or dip it in maple syrup. Oh. so. good.

I did a little digging to find out the meaning of "Teganides." The spelling I found is "tiganites"and means "fried doughnuts." In Greece, when it is time to do the olive harvest, the men are sent out with satchels filled with lots of fried dough, and a local cheese, and a jar of honey.  

This recipe completes the "Donuts" chapter in the Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook. And what a fun chapter it has been!



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