Greece has a whole tradition in cooking minced meat, streaming from the Persian kofta that became adapated in Greek culture with the Keftedes or other recipe like this with spices sometimes and aromatic herbs. Often eaten with pita bread or simply as skewers with vegetables it can be paired with Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre blends most commonly known as G.S.M wine such as the Saint Chinian C.D.O which is a fantastic match for a foodie tasting experiment.

Recipe for 4 persons :

Ingredients :

• 21,10 Oz of beef, veal or else lamb minced or a mix of these three meats together

• 2 potatoes

• 7 Oz of onions

• 0,025 Gal of olive oil

• Few mint leaves

• 2 eggs

• 1 table spoon of vineager

• 1,75 Oz of flour

• Salt and pepper

Peel the potatoes and wash it. Let it cook 30 minutes in salted boiling water. Let it cool down out of the pan and then mash it with a fork.

Peel and thinly slice onions. In a frying pan put the olive oil to heat and cook the onions up to these getting blond. Wash and separate mint leaves to chop it thinly.

Melt in a salad bowl the eggs, the meat, the mashed potatoes along with 0,025 Gal of water. Add salt and pepper. When the onion become transparent, add these in the salad bowl together with the vineager and the mint. Mix well and then cover the salad bowl to let it marinate 4 hours in the fridge.

Mix once again all the ingredient and shape meat balls of 0,1 Ft long and 0,05 Ft large. And then roll the meatballs in the flour.

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and brown the meatballs to golden at medium heat. Flip it regularly so it gets cook on all sides. As soon as the meatballs turn dark it is cooked. Dry the meatballs on a paper towel and serve it along with a vegetable dish made with tomatoes onions bell pepper and eggplant such as the Tumbet.

When it comes to pair meat skewers with a wine we can often rely on a Grenache. Shiraz. Mourvedre type of wine especially if the meat is lamb and it works in general for red meat too. In this case the meat will be minced and eating it will feel as chewing a melting flesh breaking down easy when having a bite on this savory Keftedes. Thus we will need a wine with a silky texture with melted tannins to match this mouthfeel with consistency. The Shiraz grape and the Mourvedre which are part of the blend of Saint Chinian C.D.O will have these features and pairing it with this dish will simply be a delight. The Grenache which offers a round and runny texture to the wine will tend to pair the same, being consistent with the ground meat texture. Moreover this wine has provencal notes of thyme laurel and rosemarry which will naturally enhance the meat flavor, especially if you cook the keftedes skewer with a barbecue. Of course provencal herbs will expand the tasting horizon of the meat and add a real tasty aromatic touch. This is a classic ingredient when it comes to seasoning meat. To keep on associating aromatic flavors with the Keftedes, we will definitly enjoy the menthol and eucalyptus notes of the wine which will simply reinforce the touch of mint leaves among the ingredient of the recipe. It will be an overlapping of flavors and a great match. Finally the peper notes of the Syrah will come as a straight answer on how we can add taste complementarily to the meat. Obviously, along with salt, pepper is a natural flavor enhancer in any meat cooking, and that is one more reason why this wine will do the job.