Briam
Slow-roasted summer vegetables — an oven tray that needs no attention.
Briam is a Greek tray of summer vegetables — potato, courgette, tomato, onion — roasted slowly in a generous amount of olive oil until the edges caramelise. It needs no attention once it is in the oven, and it is eaten warm or at room temperature, which is how most Greek vegetable dishes are served.
Ingredients
- 2 courgettes
- 2 potatoes
- 1 aubergine
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 onion
- Olive oil, oregano, salt
Method
- 1
Slice everything into rounds of the same thickness.
- 2
Layer in a roasting tray, seasoning as you go.
- 3
Pour over 150ml olive oil and 100ml water.
- 4
Roast at 190C for 75 minutes, turning once.
- 5
Let it cool to warm — briam is better not hot.
End-of-market vegetables, one tray, no supervision.
The rest of the table
- Gigantes Plaki — The baked beans from the same oven.
- Horiatiki (Greek Village Salad) — The raw salad that goes beside it.
Taverna Notes
The free Greek recipes are six of the thirteen in the guide. The rest of the book is the taverna itself: what may and may not appear on your bill, how fish by weight is priced, and how to order without being upsold.
Thirteen Greek recipes, and the language, law and labels of the Greek table.
- Thirteen Greek recipes with metric and US measures
- Regional food context and taverna guidance
- Menu and ordering language
- Restaurant pricing and consumer rules — including the prohibition on κουβέρ cover charges and the consent rules for bread and water
Travelling more widely? The Complete European Table holds all seven expanded guides — 495 pages across 7 guides, one-time purchase.
Get all 7 guides — $29.99Cooking this way every week? Read our free guide to the Mediterranean diet on a budget.