In Greek cuisine, saganaki (; ) is any one of a variety of dishes prepared in a small frying pan, the best-known being an appetizer of fried cheese. It is commonly flambéed in North America.
Etymology
The dishes are named for the frying pan in which they are prepared, called a (), which is a diminutive of (), a frying pan with two handles, which comes from the Turkish word , itself borrowed from Arabic ().
Description
The cheese used in saganaki is usually graviera, kefalograviera, halloumi, kasseri, kefalotyri,), after which the flames usually are extinguished with a squeeze of lemon juice. This is called "flaming saganaki" and apparently originated in 1968 at the Parthenon restaurant in Chicago's Greektown, based on the suggestion of a customer.
See also
- Leipäjuusto
- List of hors d'oeuvre
- List of Greek dishes
- Saganaki cheese
- Smažený sýr