What does Opah! mean in Greek? .................OH MY GOD THE CHEESE IS ON FIRE!
- 3/4 lb of kefalograviera cheese.
That's the hardest ingredient to find; you'll have to look at groceries that import Mediterranean food. If you have a hard time finding it, you can use instead - kasseri,
- kashkaval, or
- manouri.
Slice the cheese so that slices have the largest possible surface area and a thickness of 1/3 in. If you cut the cheese too thick, it won't melt all the way through; if it's too thin, it will turn into a liquid before you know it instead of turning hot and soft. It's OK if you end up having multiple pieces. Whip
very well, and pour it on a plate. Dip the cheese into the egg (all sides) until a nice layer of the egg has gotten attached to the cheese surface. Pour - white flour (approx. 1 cup)
onto the cheese's surface; the flour will stick onto the egg, and you should make sure there is a nice even layer of flour all around. In a frying pan, heat up
1 tbsp of olive oil
until it's very hot. Then, put in the floured cheese. The flour and egg will fry, forming a golden crust (takes about 2 minutes). Flip it over, so that the other side gets fried, too.
For each serving, squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon into skillet and sprinkle with a few drops of Cognac. Ignite. Say, "Opah!" And then serve cheese when flames die down.Serve hot, with - French bread, and
- 1 lemon or some lemon juice (to be poured onto the saganaki for those that enjoy the sweet/sour combo of cheese and lemon).
You typically serve saganaki in the very same pan that you cooked it in (keeps the cheese melted inside the golden crust).