There is a category of recipes that I make that I lovingly refer to as “dream dishes.” Dream dishes, to me, are ones that transport us to another time or place. When we’re really lucky, the mere smell of a certain dish can take our senses on a trip to a dream destination. When I make rice-stuffed calamari, I can’t help but feel like I’m in the Greek islands.
Something about the aroma of the fresh dill and parsley wafting in the air, combined with the feeling of the olive oil and rice between my fingers as I stuff fresh baby squid, makes me feel as if I’m in sunny Santorini or the fabled Ikaria—the Blue Zone island whose healthy citizens seem to “forget to die.” Taking a bite of the finished dish, bright with the flavors of the citrusy herbs and fruity olive oil, I’m immediately transported to the breezy family gatherings of my childhood.
