Ever since happily following my mom and grandma in the kitchen, I have witnessed many an argument on the mother of all food arguments: should we tweak traditional recipes or not? Do we mess them up and make nonnas and yiayias roll their eyes to eternity? Are we taking something away from their authenticity? And isn’t authenticity a relative term, to begin with? Well, I have to admit. I’m a tweaker, and I carry no shame! Becoming a better cook is a lifelong journey, and tweaking is what you do: you recreate your favorite family recipes and practice. You think about how each component is an integral part of a unified whole, and how each step falls into place to shape up your own creation. You substitute ingredients, you test, you play, you have fun. Throughout the years, I have honed my style, and that is about me adding an unexpected ingredient or two to classic Greek recipes. You will find them under the Tweaked Greek category. That said if you must insist on the classic take of a handful of rustic dishes, you can find those under the Venerable Greek category. I won’t judge, we all have our pet peeves and our absolute no-no’s when it comes to certain recipes. And we all get to practice our very own yiayia-style eye roll—it seems to be an inherited trait that was inevitably passed down along with the recipes! Then, there’s everything else…

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