Traditional Roumeli-style Gardoumbes - A "must" Greek Easter delicacy

What can I say about "Gardoumbes" and how, really, to describe not only what they are but also how significant to the Greek Easter feast and a staple recipe they have become in various regions of Greece! A traditional dish which can be found in various areas and under different names ("Gardoumia" is another one) and which are a speciality, usually, cooked during the Easter either as a main dish or, more often, as a meze dish. Some of the most famous Gardoumbes recipes come from areas in Central Greece (commonly known as "Roumeli") and from this region comes the today's recipe. For me this version was something quite different than the one I was used to since I was a kid and I had to try it out. My mother comes from Evritania (an area in Central Greece) and every year, beside the rest of the delicacies she was cooking, Gardoumbes were always a must at our Easter table. Gardoumbes were (and still are) one of my mother's special dishes but although she follows a traditional recipe of her mother's it is different than the one I'm presenting you today. The idea is the same but more greens and fresh herbs are used in this one and they are cooked in the oven. Gardoumbes, though, can also be cooked in the pot but they are delicious either way. As I said, the idea is the same and the main ingredients, again, are the lamb's or goat kid's offal and intestines. In our family, usually,they were served along with the Mageiritsa soup on Saturday night and then on Easter Sunday as a meze dish along with others while waiting for the lamb or the kid to roast on the spit during the times we were spending Easter away from Athens. What my mother does, and I believe that most home cooks do, is to prepare the ingredients for the Gardoumbes and after cutting the offal into thin strips what small bites are left go to the pot to become the Mageiritsa soup

Cooked by Vassilis Kallides,
a prominent Head Cook and food author

"Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 6 people):
The liver, spleen, lung and heart of a young lamb (or goat kid)
The intestines of the lamb

1 Kg of mixed green salad like Romaine lettuce and Swiss chard (Silverbeet)
½ a bunch of Mediterranean small hartwort

500 gr. of Spring onions

½ a bunch of mixed flat-leaf parsley, dill and fennel fronds

2 cloves of garlic

½ a glass of white dry wine
olive oil for brushing
salt
pepper

Method:
Thoroughly wash under running water the intestines and the rest of the offal. *** The most thorough way of cleaning the intestines is to attach each, one at a time, to the water tap and run warm water through them until they are very clean. Squeezing them, if needed, between thumb and forefinger so to force out any impurities. This has to be repeated 2-3 times.

Keep the intestines in a bowl with their ends hanging over the rim of the bowl so to be easier then to handle.

Cut the offal in medium strips. *** My mother first blanches the offal in boiling water for 1-2 minutes and then allows them to drain. Then, when they are cooled down, she cuts into strips.

Finely chop the herbs and the garlic. Transfer them into a bowl, generously season with salt and pepper, stir with a spoon and keep aside.

Wash the green salads thoroughly and separate into leaves.

Clean the Spring onions and cut into long pieces (the white and most of the tender green part) and keep separately.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and brush with oil a medium oven pan.

Get in your palm 1 leaf of lettuce, 1 of Swiss chard, 2 Spring onions, 1 liver strip, 1 lung, 1 heart and 1 spleen. Sprinkle with some of the herbs & garlic mixture and wrap using the intestines.

Get one intestine and holding the top end of it with your finger and start winding it around the ingredients, covering them until you reach the bottom. There you tie the intestine pushing underneath so to keep it stable (see photo on top).

You repeat the same procedure until all the ingredients are used. Arrange the gardoumbes in the pan and pour over with the wine.

Put in the oven and cook for about 1 ½ hours until they are cooked through and lightly golden, turning them around a couple of time while cooking.