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What does saganaki mean?

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dubai_suzie

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One of the things that always confused me was how cheese saganaki and shrimp sagani both exist! It makes no sense to me...how are the both cooked "saganaki" when they're totally different? I was always under the impression that saganaki meant fried but shrimp saganaki does not look fried. Am I missing something?
 
Saganaki means fried, but the definition of fried in Greek is not the same meaning as fried in English When you tell a native Greek you're having saganaki tiri, or saganaki garides, they think cooked in a skillet, not fried in oil.
 
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This is true, for example, you would not say that French fries are cooked "saganaki" even though they are deep fried
 
Both cheese saganaki and shrimp saganaki take their name from the skillet they are cooked into. The saganaki (σαγανάκι in Greek) is a small frying pan with two semi-circle handles. There are many other dishes cooked in the saganaki skillet. However, the best known of them are the cheese saganaki and shrimp saganaki.
 
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sonia said:
Both cheese saganaki and shrimp saganaki take their name from the skillet they are cooked into. The saganaki (σαγανάκι in Greek) is a small frying pan with two semi-circle handles. There are many other dishes cooked in the saganaki skillet. However, the best known of them are the cheese saganaki and shrimp saganaki.
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This is interesting, I had no idea it was based off of them name of the skillet!
 
I hadn't made this connection, but it makes sense. Other dishes do the same, for example tigania from from tigani.
 
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sonia said:
Both cheese saganaki and shrimp saganaki take their name from the skillet they are cooked into. The saganaki (σαγανάκι in Greek) is a small frying pan with two semi-circle handles. There are many other dishes cooked in the saganaki skillet. However, the best known of them are the cheese saganaki and shrimp saganaki.
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Great insight, thank you!
 
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