Name: Potato and Olive Stew with Tomato Sauce (Patates Yahni me Elies)
Yield: Serves 2-3
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 3 large onions, thickly sliced; ½ cup dry white wine; Sea salt; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; ½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; 2 cups chopped fresh or good-quality canned tomatoes; 5-6 cloves garlic, sliced; 2 pounds new potatoes, peeled and quartered; ½-1 teaspoon minced fresh chili pepper, or ⅓-½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes; ½-¾ cup olive oil; 1 cup small black olives, rinsed and pitted

Preparation info

Serves
2-3

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Foods of Greece

By Aglaia Kremezi

Published 1993

About

Potatoes were introduced to Greece in the early nineteenth century by Ioannis Kapodistrias, our first governor, after the revolution that freed Greece from Turkish domination. There is an amusing story about their introduction that is a good indication of the Greek character.

At that time, the nation’s capital was at Nauplia, in the Peloponnese. The enlightened governor wanted to give potatoes to the people, thinking that they would be an ideal food for the starving