A Week of Dinners: Lorrie Doriza

Lorrie Doriza is a New York-based songwriter, composer, and performer. In addition to collaborating on a number of albums and performing at music festivals and venues across Japan and New York, she was recently accepted to the prestigious BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as a composer. Not only is she a musical powerhouse, but she’s also a talented cook, making Greek-inspired dishes from her childhood. Here, Lorrie shares the hit Greek dish she always brings to parties, her youvarlakia recipe, and the best feta cheese…

Many of the recipes you cook and share on your Instagram are inspired by the Greek dishes you ate as a child. Tell us about that.

Growing up I didn’t realize I was eating “Greek food” — it was just “oh, that again.” My parents cooked at home often but they were not great cooks. My mom worked full time and my dad, a practical, thrifty, hot-tempered Greek, chain-smoking man, stayed at home and cooked mostly utilitarian meals to keep me and my brother fed.

We ate a lot of bean dishes, salads, grilled and fried meats, and soups. We always ate fresh ingredients and very rarely went to fast food places. To this day, I’ve never had a Big Mac. But there was no limit to how much dessert we could eat. I ate so much Nutella as a kid that I never want or crave it now.

Do you have a favorite recipe from your childhood that you still make today?

Throughout all the food crimes my parents committed over the years — well-done rubber steaks, Nutella on un-toasted whole grain bread, oily baked fish in a weird tomato paste, and neverending lentil soups (called fakés in Greece) — there were a couple of standout dishes that have become my nostalgic go-to’s. My dad’s youvarlakia is one, and most of his soups, especially his red snapper soup. My mom would make this amazing omelet. I’d beg her to make it when I was a kid, and I just found out that it’s just french fries with a couple of whisked eggs. So simple, so delicious.

You’ve lived all over the world. What other recipes have stuck with you from those times in your life?

Before settling down in NY, I lived in Belgium, Australia, Greece, and most recently, Japan. I’ve picked up some “comfort staples” along the way, like crepes from my time in Belgium and Tuna Natto Donburi, a Japanese rice bowl.

When I first started to cook, after watching countless cooking shows and working through my recipes-for-kids cookbooks, I absolutely avoided Greek dishes. But at the same time, the more standard dishes you’d associate as Greek staples, like moussaka and stuffed grape leaves, I only ate at restaurants because of how time-consuming they are to make.

How has your cooking routine been affected by the coronavirus pandemic? 

I’m definitely cooking way more now, and I’ve made good use of my Instant Pot. For a while, when it was still cold, I was making youvetsi type dishes in my Instant Pot (so fast!). Youvetsi is roasted meat with orzo in an earthy tomato sauce.

A good trick when you start making the same thing is to display it on a large plate you usually reserve for dinner parties, and garnish with fresh parsley. Just look how profesh this looks:

I’ve also been going through My Greek Taverna, which is one of those Greek recipe books for tourists. It was practically a gag gift, but the recipes (in English) are so simple and low effort that it’s become my quarantine go-to.

I’ve seen many friends of mine trying different dishes and experimenting with a wide variety of flavors, cuisines, and techniques during the quarantine. Though admirable, I find the whole process of choosing what to make for lunch and dinner overwhelming. That’s why I think I’ve resorted to making a lot of Greek dishes because I can look at what I have in my fridge or pantry and there’s a dish already there and I don’t have to go into decision fatigue trying to figure out what to make! Also, bonus points for nostalgia and comfort.

When I can’t find something in My Greek Taverna, I know Akis Petretzikis will always have a good recipe for me to try. His tsoureki, for example, is by far the best.

What do you always have in your pantry?

1. Tomato sauce cans (diced, whole peeled). So many dishes revolve around tomato sauce, from stews to pizza to pasta — it’s a must.
2. Rice/Orzo/Pasta: Quick, easy, filling.
3. Dry beans. They last forever and are versatile, and quick in the Instant Pot, I’m telling you!
4. Flour. Who’s not making bread these days, right? From bread rolls to whole wheat bread, always good to have on hand.
5. Canned tuna. I mean, self-explanatory.

You’re going to a BBQ or friend’s dinner party. What dish do you bring?

I can usually count on a spanakopita to go over well. I never use a recipe, it just flows out of me and it always comes out spot on — the trick is to add lots of dill and use good feta — but not the best feta.

Speaking of feta, don’t buy that pre-crumbled shit. That’s literally salty damp flour. Always go for what’s chillin’ in the brine, and if you really want to know what good feta tastes like, try the Dodonis brand. Trader Joe’s feta is also imported and pretty good.

Thank you so much, Lorrie! Lorrie’s first musical short, The Masterpiece, came out in June.

PS. More Week of Dinners interviews, including a Denver-based painter and an NYC-based massage therapist.