Yiayia Next Door by Daniel & Luke Mancuso (with Yiayia)
Yiayia Next Door is a cookbook with a difference, showing how even the smallest acts of kindness can go a long way – transforming lives and restoring hope.
Photography: Mark Roper
Baked beans from Yiayia Next Door. Photo: Mark Roper
Luke and Daniel Mancuso passing food over the fence to the Greek grandmother (Yiayia) next door. Photo: Mark Roper
When Luke and Daniel Mancuso lost their beloved mother Teresa to domestic violence, the Greek grandmother next door started looking after them, passing home-cooked meals over the fence.
This simple act of kindness helped Daniel and Luke navigate the fog of grief that followed, and went on to capture the hearts of Australia when they began sharing the meals and their special relationship with ‘Yiayia’ on social media.
Luke and Daniel’s new book, Yiayia Next Door, captures Yiayia’s home cooking with a collection of traditional Greek recipes from her kitchen and from other yiayias across Australia. From spanakopita and moussaka to baklava and galaktoboureko, these are dishes to comfort.
Yiayia Next Door is a book about the power of food – it’s about love forged in tragedy, the importance of connection and how simple gestures, such as giving someone a home-cooked meal, can transform lives and restore hope.
Below we share a recipe from the book: Tiganopsomo me feta (fried bread with feta).
Galaktoboureko from Yiayia Next Door. Photo: Mark Roper
Fish parcels from Yiayia Next Door. Photo: Mark Roper
“This book is about love forged in tragedy, the importance of connection and how simple gestures, such as giving someone a home-cooked meal, can transform lives and restore hope.”
Fried feta, Yiayia style from Yiayia Next Door. Photo: Mark Roper
Yiayia Next Door captures Yiayia’s home cooking with a collection of traditional Greek recipes from her kitchen and from other yiayias across Australia. Photo: Mark Roper
TIGANOPSOMO ME FETA
My Yiayia, Helen, who I am also named after, has made this fried bread recipe since before I can remember. She would make up to 15 loaves of bread each week, not only for her family to enjoy but everyone she met. With the leftover dough, she would make fried bread with feta (occasionally sprinkled with honey on top). People were constantly in awe of her talents and immense kindness. Food was her way of showing gratitude and love to the people around her, especially her family.
Growing up, I was blessed enough to live next door to my yiayia and pappou. We even shared a door through our backyards! I am so grateful I was able to spend so much time with Yiayia (and Pappou, of course), learning and consolidating the Greek language, listening to stories about their ancestors and upbringing, and discovering the traditional recipes that stayed with them for generations. Now, in 2021, after suffering two strokes in 2016 and 2018, and having to learn how to walk, talk and eat on her own again, I am a thousand times more grateful for the memories I have and the recipes she taught me. This fried bread recipe was the simplest of things, but always had a sense of family and community to it.
Makes 2
INGREDIENTS
280g plain flour, plus extra if needed and for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
7g sachet instant dried yeast
120g Greek yoghurt
80 ml (1⁄3 cup) warm water, plus extra if needed
200 g feta, crumbled
125 ml (1⁄2 cup) olive oil
honey, to serve (optional)
METHOD
Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Add the yoghurt and stir to combine, then gradually add the warm water and mix until it forms a dough. Knead in the bowl for about=5 minutes, until you have a light, non-sticky dough, adding a little more flour or water if necessary to achieve the right consistency.
Grease a large clean bowl with olive oil, then add the dough and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place for 50 minutes or until doubled in size (covering the bowl with thick blankets or towels will create an airtight warm space for the dough to rise).
Poke a finger into the middle of the dough to deflate it, then transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 1 minute. Divide the dough into quarters. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into four 20 cm discs, about 5 mm thick. Scatter the feta over two of the dough discs, leaving a 1 cm border. Top with the remaining dough discs and press and fold the edges, pinching inwards, to seal.
Heat half the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add one of the stuffed dough discs and cook for 1 minute each side or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to
a plate and repeat with the remaining oil and stuffed dough.
Serve hot or, for a sweet and salty twist, serve with a drizzle of honey on top.
