Taverna Ousia

 

Athanasios Gortsas was born in Germany, but feels more like a Greek

When you first enter Taverna Ousia, you will catch glimpses of Athanasios Gortsas as he whirls through the establishment, greeting new guests - often with a handshake. Then he's gone again in a flash, serving the next round of meals. Those are prepared by his brother Nikolaos and his team. Born the youngest son of Greek immigrants in Berlin, Athanasios Gortsas took an early interest in gastronomy. At the age of 17, he took over a Greek restaurant in Kreuzberg together with his brother. Then he spent two years in Athens expanding his knowledge of Greek cuisine before he and his brother opened Taverna Ousia.

Taverna Ousia in Berlin's Schöneberg district

With their restaurant, the Gortas Brothers have breathed new life into the "table culture" of their grandparents. And the concept has worked so well, that they were able to expand their space in 2014. Now Taverna Ousia is almost always full. But Athanasios Gortsas wouldn't be much of a host if he weren't able to find space for everyone.

 

Lamb shoulder in red wine sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the lamb shoulder:

• 1 lamb shoulder, around 700–800 g, separated in the middle by butcher
• 200 ml red wine
• 1 can peeled and puréed tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 small onion
• 2-3 bay leaves
• Thyme
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

For the red wine sauce:

• 300 ml red wine
• 1-2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 150 ml gravy
• 100 g butter
• Salt and pepper
• Flour for thickening
• 1 T sugar
• 1-2 T whipping cream

For the vegetables:

• 1 carrot 
• 1-2 potatoes
• 1 zucchini
• 1 eggplant
• 1-2 bell peppers
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 onion 
• Around 500-600 ml puréed tomatoes
• Fresh parsley
• Fresh dill
• Salt and pepper
• Vegetable oil
• Sugar

Preparation:

Dice onions and sauté in oil, then put lamb shoulder in pan and sauté. Deglaze with red wine. Add around 2 liters of water to pan so that lamb shoulder is completely covered. Then add garlic, bay leaves, and some fresh thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste and then stir in puréed tomatoes. Simmer at low heat for around 90 minutes until lamb shoulder is tender.

In the meantime, prepare sauce and vegetables. To make the sauce, sauté thyme in butter, add red wine, and bring to a boil. Then stir in gravy and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add one tablespoon of sugar, bring to a boil, add flour to thicken, and stir thoroughly. Strain sauce through a sieve, allow to cool, and add cream and fresh thyme to taste.

Wash vegetables, peel potatoes and carrots, and chop all vegetables into pieces. Dice onions. In a pot, sauté onions and garlic in vegetable oil. Add 2-3 liters of water and bring to a boil. Then add puréed tomatoes and bring to a boil again. Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste. First add potatoes and carrots to tomatoes and cook until vegetables are al dente. Remove potatoes and carrots using a slotted spoon and set aside. Then cook vegetables with a shorter cooking time - eggplant, zucchini, and bell pepper. When vegetables are finished cooking, chop dill and parsley and add to vegetables. Cook vegetable mixture for an additional ten minutes. Then add potatoes and carrots back to the mix. To serve, slice lamb shoulder and cover with sauce and vegetables.

Taverna Ousia
Grunewaldstraße 54
10825 Berlin

Tel.: +49 30 2167957

Taverna Ousia website