Kritharoto borrows its name from the type of pasta used to make it called ‘kritharaki’ which also lends the name to the dish. Other names that it comes by is ‘manestera’ on the island of Corfu or Greek households, who love making it up and down the country, often refer to it as ‘giouvetsi’ from the clay pots that are traditionally used to cook the dish in. Many Greek dishes are either tomato or citrus based. Kritharoto and Giouvetsi is a tomato based dish and can be made with any type of meat; chicken, lamb and beef being the most popular but it can also be made with seafood. In this menu the prawns are cooked just long enough to retain their delicious juices and suit beautifully the aromatic tomato sauce and pasta. To my mind the ‘horiatiki’ (or Greek salad as you would probably know it that accompanies the main dish) is perfect and is how we love to eat it in Crete. Topped with creamy cheese and served with small dry barley rusks we call ‘dakos’, think Creatan croutons, which absorb the beautiful juices of the salad and add another texture making this a Greek salad like no other you have tasted. I can’t think of a dish which brings more sunshine to my table than this one.