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and the ubiquitous fritters, known as keftedes, made with meat or vegetables. By convention, one starts with the cold vegetables, spreads, and pickles, continues on to cold seafood, and finishes with the fried and warm foods. Whoever has “the quickest fork,” as the old saying goes, succeeds in tasting them all.

—Aglaia Kremezi

Peppers Stuffed with Feta

Piperies Gemistes Me Feta

Cooks in northern Greece make this meze, or small dish, with the sweet, red Florina peppers grown in that part of the country. You can substitute Anaheim chiles, which have a good deal of sweetness, or Fresnos for a little more heat.

10 3-4-inch Fresno chiles, or six 4-5-inch Anaheim chiles

9 oz. feta, crumbled

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. Greek yogurt

1 tbsp. minced fresh parsley

1/3 tsp. lemon zest

¼ tsp. dried oregano

2 egg yolks Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Serves 4-6

1. Arrange a rack 6 inches from the broiler element and set oven to broil. Put peppers on a baking sheet and broil, turning once, until just soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool.

2. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to whip feta, oil, yogurt, parsley, zest, oregano, and egg yolks; season with salt and pepper. Make a lengthwise cut from the stem to the tip of each pepper; scoop out and discard seeds and ribs. Stuff each pepper with some of the feta filling; transfer peppers to an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet; chill for 30 minutes. Sprinkle peppers with grated cheese; broil peppers until cheese is golden brown and bubbly, about 6 minutes. Transfer peppers to a platter and serve hot.

Smoky, Hot

You might find peppers stuffed with cheese (pictured) in a taverna in Athens or in other parts of Greece, but this classic dish is associated above all with the region of Macedonia, in the north. Peppers—mild and hot, fresh and dried—are one of the agricultural glories of the region, and the queen of them all is the sweet, firm-fleshed, long red pepper grown around the town of Florina, in the mountains of Macedonia’s far northwest. I ate these stuffed Florina peppers at Myrovolos Smyrni, an ouzeri, or ouzo bar, in business since the 1950s in the Macedonian city of Thessaloniki. (A waitress from Aristotelous, another Thessaloniki ouzeri, is pictured.) The filling is a whipped feta dip called htipiti, which is spiked with hot chiles; some versions get a tangy boost from fresh lemon juice. It’s a powerful combination of flavors, but then this is food designed as a match for anise-flavored ouzo or the equally potent spirit tsipouro. Htipiti is often served with pita for dipping, but in this case it’s stuffed inside the split Florina peppers, which are broiled until they’re black around the edges and the htipiti is golden and bubbly. The result—salty, sweet, smoky, hot, and luscious all at once—embodies the bold cuisine of the region better than any other dish I know.

—Beth Kracklauer

Creamy Spiced Indian Lentils

Dal Makhani

This velvety Punjabi stew is simmered for hours, until the lentils all but disintegrate and the flavors of cumin, coriander, garam masala, and other spices bloom, deepen, and intermingle. The name, dal makhani, is itself a testament to the stew’s richness: Makhan is the Hindi word for butter, and this dish contains plenty of it.

½ cups whole black lentils

½ cup split yellow lentils

½ cup small red kidney beans

1 tbsp. mustard or canola oil

6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

2 Thai green chiles, stemmed and coarsely chopped

1 2-inch piece peeled ginger, coarsely chopped

6 tbsp. clarified butter

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground turmeric

1 cup canned peeled whole tomatoes, puréed

2 tbsp. garam masala

1 tbsp. dried fenugreek leaves, optional

1 tsp. Kashmiri red chile powder or paprika Salt, to taste

1½ cups milk

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

½ cup heavy cream

Serves 6–8

1. Combine lentils and kidney beans and wash under running water until it runs clear. Toss with oil in