Chania Tsigariasto (Χανιώτικο Τσιγαριαστό)

Tsigariasto belongs to the mountains of western Crete, especially Chania: goat or lamb browned in olive oil and cooked down with wine, no water, no tomato, no fragrant pile of herbs. The name tells you the method, from tsigarizo, to brown in fat. What makes it itself is the spareness. Good meat, good oil, patience.

I want you to hear this before the pot goes on: the browning is the dish. Brown the pieces hard and in batches. If the meat is crowded, it releases grey liquid and the pot becomes a plain stew; if it has space, the oil takes the browned flavor and the later wine turns that into sauce. After that, lower the flame and leave it alone.

This is the Cretan table after a fast or on a feast day, rich but not busy. I don't add onion because the old Chania version doesn't need its sweetness, and I don't add water because water erases the whole point. My notebook has three versions from Cretan cooks, and the best one is the plainest: meat, oil, wine, salt, pepper. Λίγα και καλά, a few things, and good ones.