Saganaki

Saganaki is a thick slab of firm cheese dusted in flour and fried in a small pan until the outside turns crisp and golden while the centre stays soft, finished with a squeeze of lemon. The name actually refers to the small two-handled pan the cheese fries in, not the cheese itself — a detail that explains why several completely different Greek dishes cooked in that same pan also carry "saganaki" in their name.

What it really is

A firm, semi-hard cheese — kefalotyri or graviera are the traditional choices, since both hold their shape under heat rather than melting into a puddle — cuts into a thick slab, dusts lightly in flour, and fries hot and fast in olive oil until the outside sets into a crisp, golden crust. The frying has to happen quickly: too long in the pan and the cheese collapses into a molten mess instead of holding its slab shape with a crisp shell around a softened, not liquid, centre.

The cheese has to hold its shape after frying, not melt into a puddle, or it isn't a proper saganaki. That's the whole reason kefalotyri and graviera are the standard choices — softer, faster-melting cheeses can't survive the hot pan intact, and a saganaki that arrives as a puddle rather than a sliceable slab has gone wrong somewhere in the kitchen.

How it's served

• Hot, straight from the pan, cut into wedges at the table.
• With a squeeze of lemon juice over the top just before eating.
• As a starter or meze plate, often alongside olives and bread.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag the wheat and dairy.
• Say which cheese is used, since kefalotyri and graviera taste and behave slightly differently under heat.
• Note that it's served hot and eaten quickly, since the texture firms up fast once it starts to cool.