Filo Magic from 3 Hatted Oz Food Legend Janni Kyritsis

Sparkling Janni Kyritsis. Came to Australia aged 23 speaking no English. From a simple family in Northern Greece, his backpack was stuffed with generosity, kindness and initiative. Started as an Electrician and through encouragement from his partner David he slowly entered the world of food. Worked with Gay Bilson, Stephanie Alexander. Started his own restaurant MG Garage and earned 3 Hats in the first year. Recently honoured with Legend Award from Good Food Guide. This is his Filo Magic in his own words. Bear in mind that he is self- taught in English writing….


Janni on right after winning 2016 Food Legend Award from Good Food Guide




Filo Sweet or savoury filo fingers.

In all my professional career I have made my own filo.
I love the feel of it, the way it stretches as thin as paper enough to read a news paper under it, the texture of it, and of course it always remind me seeing members of my family making their own filo with clouds of flour drifting
from the kitchen into the living room.
Now that I left the commercial kitchen behind and try to do all my cooking in my gully kitchen I rediscovered the wonderful and so versatile commercial filo.

A packet of filo lasts for weeks in the fridge but what I do, I open the filo flat
out of the packet and frieze it in layers of 6 and 3 leaves. They defrost in a minute and ready to use. 2 leaves brushed with a light oil is enough for the bottom of a pie dish for 6 people, after I place the filling into the dish and fold the filo over the filling   then I put another oiled and torn in pieces leaf on top, it gives an attractive look to the pie and certainly makes the pie very light compare to the normal short crust or puff party.

Another way I have been using the filo most regularly is to make rolled filo finger either sweet or savoury.
6 filo leaves will give you 24 fingers for coffee or drinks 
No need for a recipe the list of fillings is as long as all the ingredients you have got in your kitchen and your imagination.
 I have made mixtures with nuts (walnuts, almonds, Pistachios, pine nuts,) 
I have used dry fruits (raisins, sultanas, apricots, citrus peels) orange or lemon rinds spices and sometime a spoonful of honey to combine the mixture, 
A jar of fruit mince I discovered in the back of my kitchen cupboard the other day made a very nice filling.
For savouries I have used olives cut in half and put in a layer, 3 anchovies
cut in half length wise is enough for a roll, some feta pieces and herbs,
Strips of cheese and ham and so on.

Here is what you do, start the oven on 200c
Place a filo leaf in the table use oil or butter and brush half of the leaf
Fold over the other half and brush again,
Add a thin layer of filling on the one end of the leaf and roll tightly 
They should not be more than a finger thick.
Place on a baking tray making sure the end part stays underneath.
When they all finessed brush them with oil or butter prick them in a few places so the steam escapes  and cook them for 
approximately 25 minutes the will look brown in the first 10 minutes,
don’t be tempt to remove them from the oven too early you need to make sure all the layers of the filo are  cooked right through.
Remove them from the oven immediately they are done on some kitchen paper to make sure they don’t absorb back any oil lying in the tray.
Cut its stick diagonal in 4 pieces and serve, 
They are best hot or warm and they can be reheated the next day.    




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