Ancient Greek Breakfast - Teganites

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RECIPE
1 cup (120G) whole wheat flour
1 cup (235ml) water
2 tablespoons honey
¼ teaspoon salt
Some Olive Oil for frying
Optional Sesame seeds

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan.
2. Mix the salt into the water. Mix the salt water with the flour and honey and cover, letting it sit for 20 minutes.
3. Heat enough olive oil in a pan to cover the bottom. Pour in some batter and cook for one and a half minutes. Flip the teganites and cook for another minute or until fully cooked. Repeat until all the batter has been used, adding additional olive oil as necessary.
4. Serve hot with honey and optional sesame seeds.

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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza | IG @worldagainstjose

PHOTO CREDITS

#tastinghistory #ancientgreece #pancakes

[TastingHistory]

It’s hard to say goodbye to this kitchen. It’s truly changed my life. I hope everyone likes the new space and I look forward to the many episodes that will be filmed there.

[leeleedee]

Lol, my husband, who is an archaeologist, once tried to troll me by trying to convince me that pancakes were invented by the ancient Greeks, and the only way I realised that he was making it up as he went along, was that he loudly extolled that they were called 'PANKAKOS' - which made me and him laugh out loud and the jig was apparently up. HOW DO I TELL HIM THAT HE WAS ACTUALLY ALMOST RIGHT!!!?!?!

[MJTRadio]

Wait a minute… did Max just explain how the three seashells in Demolition Man worked? Like those stones? That was a callback to ancient Greece?

[joeb]

These are still made in Greece, at least in the Peloponnese region. It's called teganopsomo (frying-pan bread), and it's still sweetened with honey. :-)

[suelane]

On our last trip to Greece we were treated to wonderful Greek food including vegetarian. However, when it came to breakfast, each venue was advertising the Full English. My husband asked one of the waiters what the Greeks ate for breakfast, he looked sheepish and answered "coffee and cigarettes."

[vasilissapounidis]

Being Greek, this made me so happy! American style pancakes have become very popular lately, but we still make these at home, and they're not too different from the ancient version. Or at least not in the North of Greece where I'm from, we make some things a bit "old school" up here...
If anyone is interested to try the modern version of these:
Make the same batter (1:2 ratio) with all purpose flour (white flour, not whole grain), and water.
We usually add a little sugar, but the honey will do. A pinch of salt, but also add a little dry yeast.
Only rest for about 20-25 minutes, and mix again afterwards, you don't want the yeast to make them too fluffy, you mostly need its taste.
Add a lot more olive oil in your pan, enough to cover its bottom. When you add the batter the Tiganites should float a little.
Add the batter a few tablespoons at a time, they should be quite small, 2 - 4 bites each.
The edges should turn upwards in the oil, and they become like little "boats". Flip them when the bottom gets golden.
The whole thing gets crispy, the edges extra crispy, and the middle soft and chewy.
Serve with honey while they're still hot, and it's heavenly.
As for anyone who tries to google "Tiganites" for a recipe, well good luck! The versions online are endless, every region in Greece makes them slightly different.

[YamiVizzini]

I love that Galen implied the cooks of his day had just as much trouble telling when the cakes were done as I do.

[Lauren.E.O]

“Hot and shedding dew” is the weirdest way to describe something like pancakes that also makes it really tempting to make pancakes and douse them in honey 🍯

[margaret]

As a Greek I really like it that the ancient greek food is getting more recognition☺ another famous dish also is Loukoumades. Also in greek its pronounced " τηγανίτες"

[yiannchrst]

I'm a Greek and I didn't know it was an ancient Greek food! We love this stuff! Especially for breakfast.

[lordofutub]

WOW WHAT?! My bulgarian grandmother used to make me "tiganichki" that are EXACTLY like this! Different toppings though. But this is wild! I guess there's no need to change a winning team.

[grantpark]

The aforementioned 3 stones remind me of the "3 seashells" mentioned in the movie 'Demolition Man'... which I thought was just a joke, turns out it has IRL origins.. learning all kinds of things from you Max : )

[silia_p]

it's great to see ancient recipes are back! and as a Greek, i appreciate the video even more. it's amusing that breakfast in Greece hasn't changed as much over the millennia. my grandma used to make me teganites for breakfast every weekend and i know from her that at least up to my granfathers time (who happened to be from Ithaki, Odysseus homeland), akratos was still used as a breakfast, and some people still eat it to this day, tho not for breakfast. As for the pronunciation, you are almost spot on. Only in greek the g in teganites has a softer sound, much more similar to the wa in water

[aleksandernikulin]

These are still very popular in Bulgaria - especially on the seaside parts, which were originally ancient greek colonies. Even the name is more or less the same - tiganitzi ( the "slavo-phonic" pronounciation of the original name. )

They are normally eaten either with honey, yogurt or lightly salted.

[j.madsus]

I simply love Τηγανήτες. My grandma makes them every time I visit. Sometimes she mixes in feta cheese to create a wonderful combination of sweet and salty. Highly recommend!

[MasterShake]

That two-part Hot Topic joke has better writing than most “professional” television. Also crispy-edged pancakes sound divine, can’t wait to make these!

[HuevoBendito]

Ok, now we need more Ancient Greek breakfast foods so we can have a diner

[NateCummings]

Ok, while it's clearly not the *best* part, but I always look forward to what themed pokemon you've set out for each new episode.

[varolussalsanclar]

The combo of olive oil and sweetness (esp honey) is probably the most underrated thing ever. Its so much more complex and flavourful than just using butter

[TheWhiteDragon]

I like how so many ancient cookbooks and other books kinda assume that everyone knows something that would have been common in their time completely unaware that their works would persist for so long, or maybe they were specifically and only writing for a target audience and didn't bother to clarify what they definitely would have known. It reminds me of an excerpt from a Polish dictionary from the 40's(?) from the definition of "horse" - "Horse: everyone knows what a horse is"