History of Greek Food

FISH ROE

Τhough I was raised in a non religious middle class family, the consumption of special Lenten foods didn’t defer from other middle class housholds, apart from the fact that it had to do with folk rituals rather than religion.
When I was a child, crab meat, black caviar, botargo, taramas, taramosalata, halva, date palms and coconuts were the sine qua non of the Cretan urban Lenten diet. I remember my father putting caviar on a thin slice of toasted bread, asking me to hold the bite into my mouth for a moment and feel the fresh sea fragrance and the funny texture.
That caviar was coming from Evros, a river flowing into the Thracian sea (N. W. Greece), which sustained a small fishery and caviar canning operation of sturgeon (Acipenser sturio L.). Overfishing, reduction and pollution of Evros’ waters caused devastation to sturgeon populations and the collapse of caviar industry, in 1975. One year before the collapse of fishery, the military dictatorship had fallen in Greece, so, pretty soon the imports of Russian caviar began. However, it was unaffordable delicacy for most Greeks. Hence the consumption of the precious black eggs was limited to only the most special occasions. Of course, we still eat halva, date palms, coconuts, tarama and botargo ( though a costly delicacy too).

Fish roe for taramas

Being luxury or not, fish roe is regarded as the characteristic food of Lent. This paradox of fasting from fish but not from fish eggs is not quite similar to the paradox of the prohibition of wine and olive oil (though grapes and olives can be eaten). Wine and olive oil are not allowed during fasting because they are processed foods and they afford pleasure -moreover, you can drunk on wine- but why is the consumption of taramas, caviar and botargo not forbidden? Aren’t they processed fish eggs, don’t they afford pleasure? In the late 18th century, the scholars of Greek Enlightenment–an intellectual movement that combined Western liberal thought with ancient Greek spirit- emphasized that this form of fasting had no logic. But the tradition was stronger. During Ottoman occupation, these paradoxes were encouraged by the Orthodox Christians who lived among Jews, Muslims and Catholics. Their traditional fasting practices were linked not only to religious beliefs but also to ethnic behaviors. In other words, they were an affirmation of cultural identity.

Black caviar is considered the best quality of fish roe, avgotaraho (botargo)- the salted, dried and wrapped in wax, ovary of female cephalus- is an expensive delicacy, and taramas- the salted and aged roe of cod or carp- is the poorest quality. All of them are greatly appreciated.
The appreciation for fish eggs is traced back to antiquity. However, Byzantines became familiar with the word caviar no earlier than 9th century. As for botargo, the physician Symeon Seth mentioned it in the 11th century (Properties of Foods, p. 125)*; it “should be avoided totally”, he noted. Of course, his contemporaries rejected his advice.

The consumption of caviar, botargo, taramas- foods which are not “real” foods but delicacies- was social indicator in Byzantine society. Taramas was consumed by the poor, while black caviar was imported for the aristocrats, the wealthy and the notables. Monks of highest degree or of noble origin were also enthusiastic eaters of caviar and botargo. In 11 and 12 th centuries, the monks of higher status were fasting during Lent on oysters, clams, crabs, squids, lobsters, botargo, and black caviar imported from Tanais (Don) on the sea of Azov (Black sea) or from Caspian Sea.

Although this trend in Greek fasting diet continued in Ottoman times, in the late 18th century black caviar became affordable to common people. Ioannis Varvakis**- a Greek whose business issues were related with systematic production, conservation, standardization and trade of caviar- became the first major international black caviar leader. “He exported so much caviar to Greece in the late 1780s that he had to employ thousands workers.” (Saffron, Caviar: The Strange History and Uncertain Future of the World’s Most Coveted Delicacy, p. a:64, 2001) As Thomas Smart Hughes pointed out, in Ioannina (N.E. Greece) in 1830 ” Botargo, which is the roe of the red or grey mullet, and caviar, which is that of the sturgeon, imported from the Black Sea, is much relished, especially during the season of religious fasts.” (Travels in Greece and Albania, vol. II, p. 24, 1830). And Christopher Wordsworth, describing the commodities with which the Athenian market was supplied in 1832, mentions barrels of black caviar, among other things. (Athens and Attica, Journal of a Residence there, by Cristopher Wordsworth, 1834, 2004).
The sources also mention imports of red caviar from Constantinople, the Black Sea and the coasts of Asia Minor. The taramas merchandised in the Aegean islands was mainly made from eggs of cheap fish.

But four years before the World War I, the caviar consumption was reduced. Most of the famous Russian caviar was consumed locally and the exported eggs became very expensive: “The long fasts enjoined by the Orthodox Church lead to a very large consumption of salt fish and caviar — not the Astrakhan caviar, which is as costly as in England — but red caviar, which is imported in tubs. This is pounded with garlic and lemon juice into what is called tarama salata and is eaten with oil. It is a distinctively Greek dish”. (Ferriman, Z. Duckett, Home life in Hellas, Greece and the Greeks p.181, 1910)

Τhe Russian black caviar had become again a perishable delicacy, a status symbol.

Ioannis Albanis’ Colonial shop in New York.

He sold: Black caviar, smoked tongue, taramas, botargo, octopus, smoked grey mullet, halva, tahini, honey, okras, aubergines, peppers (from Florina), bulbs, olive oil, olives, cheece.

Caviar salad (Chaviarosalata, Χαβιαροσαλάτα)

“Crush an onion (in a mortar), add black caviar, one boiled cooled and puréed potato, bread soaked in water and squeezed dry; stir constantly till the mixture becomes thick, add some olive oil and vinegar while stirring , add some lemon and olive oil, decorate with parsley and serve.” (Alexiades B., Megali oikogeneiaki mageiriki & zaharoplastiki, 2nd ed. 1905)

Smoked herring roe spread

(Chaviarosalata kapnistis rengas, Χαβιαροσαλάτα καπνιστή ρέγγας)

1/3 cup smoked herring roe

2 spring onions (white part + 3cm green)

1 small onion

1 small spring garlic (white part)

2 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and puréed

2 tsps wine vinegar

3 tbs lemon juice

1/2 - 3/4 cup virgin olive oil

In a food processor put all ingredients except potatoes, olive oil and lemon juice, and blend. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the potato puree and half of lemon juice. Stirring constantly add the olive oil slowly. Taste when the oil has been absorbed and add more lemon juice if you like.

Mackerel roe

The roe of lobster, sea urchin, octopus, salmon, sardine, mackerel, herring, sea bream and several other fish is considered a delicacy. The roe can be eaten fried, baked or roasted over charcoal embers. If the roe is small, it can be cooked inside the whole fish.

This roe has been cooked inside the grilled mackerel. It was served sprinkled with pepper and drizzled with lemon and extra virgin olive oil. If you prefer a more robust taste substitute the extra virgin olive oil for slightly bitter green olive oil.

*Botargo < Gr. avgotarahon < ᾠοτάριχον < ᾠóν ‘egg’ + τάριχον ‘pickled fish’.

**Varvakis financed the building of Athens’ closed central market, the Varvakeios Agora.

FASTING FROM OLIVE OIL

The periodic abstinence from olive oil is one of the hardest parts of fasting.  But why is there such a prohibition?
Let’s start from the beginning.
Religious fasting nutrition is a form of self discipline.  It can be also a form of commemoration of saints or precede important religious feasts. Though early Christian writers had opposing views on fasting and of making food a religious concern,  early Christians took the practice of fasting from their Jewish background and enthusiastically included it among  other selftortures.
As virginity became a central Christian value, fanatic ascetics waged continuous battles against the demon of lust. Since lust originated in the flesh, the flesh should be starve.  Stomach and pudendum were said to be united, otherwise stomach ” would not have been fixed to the belly rather than elsewhere.” (Tertullian, On Fasts 1. 1-2) In order to avoid the temptations of lust and gluttony, ascetics  restricted themselves to small amounts of bread or rusk and water for several days. It was not uncommon for some of them to exist for years on the Eucharist or on a single fig.
Their diet was the extreme form of xerophagy - ”dry eating” (Gr. xerofaghia / ξηροφαγία).

ascetism…

…. and gluttony.
(Gluttony, fresco, Vatopedi monastery, Mount Athos)

The rise of the monastic movement in Egypt (4th-5th AD), and from there to many other Roman provinces, incorporated fasting as an integral component of self-identity of ascetic anchorites’ and coenobites’ life. Sources indicate that monks followed two kinds of fasting diet: one related to the ecclesiastic year and another one individually adopted. Xerophagy held important role in both of them. Of course, hard working monks could not live on bread and water; thus the word xerophagy also signifies that the consumed foods could be raw vegetables, soaked legumes, bread or rusk and occasionally fruits, nuts and honey. In practice, boiled vegetables were also allowed. However, cooked foods and olive oil were strictly prohibited because they were considered processed foods.*

The Egyptian ascetic ideal served as the prototype of Christian monasticism in the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine monasteries maintained the tradition of xerophagy during fasting periods. During Great Lent xerophagy was prescribed on Wednesdays and Fridays. In some monasteries with stricter rules of eating, Mondays were also observed as xerophagic days. Olive oil was prohibited, but in some monasteries could be replaced by olives or sesame oil. However, in areas where olive oil was a staple good of daily consumption, sesame oil was considered as fake oil. Where olive oil was not a major part of the diet, the prohibition sometimes included all vegetable oils.

Greek Orthodox Fasting, following the Byzantine fasting rules, also uses sesame oil or sesame paste (tahini) instead of olive oil.

Tahinosoupa (Tαχινόσουπα)

“We make a soup with water, salt and pasta** or rice. Pasta is preferable. The proportion of rice is 1 tbs per person, and the proportion of pasta is a little more than 1 tbs per person. When the soup is ready, we beat tahini and a little water in a bowl. We add the juice of two lemons and we beat until white, adding some liquid from the soup. We remove the soup from the heat and add tahini, stirring constantly. The proportion of tahini is a teacup per 5-6 persons. When soup and tahini have combined well and pasta has a cream texture, we serve. ” (1929, Vasileiou ed., I noikokyra, ti prepei na gnorizei, p. 288)

*On any other day, olive oil was used as an addition to various dishes or for cooking, but not for frying.

** Rice-shaped pasta, orzo.

LOVE, INVINCIBLE IN BATTLE…

“In truth at first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundation of al the deathless ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth, and Eros (Love), fairest among the deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men within them.” 1

Eros stringing his bow, Roman copy of statue by Lysippos , 4th c. BC
Museo Capitolino

Since then, “without warning
as a whirlwind
swoops on an oak
love shakes our hearts”… 2

Couple hiding under the same cloak, fragment of a red-figure cup, ca. 525 BC–500 BC, found in Athens http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Couple_cloak_Louvre_G99.jpg

…and “like a ram racing in the heavens
breaking the branches of the stars” 3,
love hovers “over the oceans and distant lands
and
no immortal god, nor man with his measured days
escapes “ it. 4

Nikos Engonopoulos

Though it can also be ”… a cunning weaver of fantasies and fables” 5, parent of strife and fountain of tears 6, love is “all we have, the only way that each can help the other”. 5

Pastichio with walnuts for lovers

“Beat 6 egg yolks with 300 gr of sugar until thick and pale and add 300 gr ground walnuts, ground cloves and cinnamon. Beat the egg whites very well and fold them into the mixture. Bake in medium oven.” (Ephimeris ton Kyrion, February 1899)

1 Hesiod, Theogony, 120 Crane, Gregory R. (ed.)

2 Sappho

3 Odysseas Elytis, Monogram IV, transl. C.Neophytou

4 Sophocles, Antigone, act II, 781

5 Sappho.

6 Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. 446 ff

7 Euripides.

“Love, invincible in battle….”, Sophocles, Antigone.

FOOD FOR THE DEAD

As a puff of wind, the psyche leaves the body at the moment of death.

Marble grave stele of a little girl, ca. 450–440 B.C (commons.wikimedia.org/)

Then, either enjoying the easy life in the Elysian Fields or wandering as weeping shadow among the pale asphodels or ascending to ”a place of light, a place of green pasture, a place of repose” * the psyche needs honors. In an unbroken continuity from ancient Greek times through the Byzantine era to the present, offerings of food hold an important place among the dead honors.

Funerary banquet scene, IVth cent. BC

(Nat. Mus. Istanbul, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki)

On the days that departed souls return to the upper world, they cannot find peace if not treated graciously. Because there is a popular belief that souls return to earth. They freely roamed the ancient Athens on the third day, called Chytroi (Pots), of the Anthesteria, a festival in honour of god Dionysus. They wander at the places they had loved during their lifetime and they sit in the trees watching the living, according to Greek folkore. On Psychosavvata (Saturdays of the souls), that is the two Saturdays before the Great Lent and the first Saturday after it, the dead are the breath of wind and the shadows at the Carnival feast.

Though traditions vary from town to town, its a common place that souls cannot find peace if not treated graciously. Therefore, people have to act accordingly. Beautiful flowers and burning candles decorate the graves; bread and kollyva, a mixture of grains which echoes the ancient Greek pankarpia (all fruits) or panspermia (all seeds), are offered to the neighbours or brought to cemeteries. Cheese, cheese-pies, halvas etc. are included in small lunches at the grave sites (Crete) in remembrance of those who cannot be seen.

KOLLYVA

4 cups hulled wheat

2 cups ground blanched almonds

3/4 cup ground toasted hazelnuts

1 cup crushed toasted sesame seeds

2 cups toasted and powdered chickpeas

3/4 -1 cup pomegranate seeds

1 /2 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 cup currants

2 1/2 teasps ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground cloves

3 tsp finely chopped parsley

1 tsp salt

1 small bay leaf

Clean, wash and boil the wheat with the bay leaf and salt until it’s soft. Drain, place under cold water, drain again and let cool. Spread it on a clean towel and cover with another one to dry overnight. The next morning add cinnamon, ground cloves, parsley, 1/2 cup of powdered chickpeas, nuts, currants and pomegranate in the wheat. Mix very well. Place the mixture in a tray and cover it with sesame seeds and 1 1/2 cup powdered chickpeas. Press it smooth on the top. Shift sugar over kollyva and press smooth with a wax paper. Mix well before serving.

*Book for Commemoration of the Living and the Dead.

FISH SOUP FOR THOUGHT

Behind this fish -soup there is a long history of fear and courage.
Because, in the ancient thought the sea was a hostile, lonely world with sea monsters and fishes which were frightening to humans…. the only animal eaten in eastern Mediterranean that could eat people. Dolphins were an exception of course.

Scylla. Apulian vase. 4th cent. BC

Such negative feeling had a profound effect on visual arts and literature.
“Lie there among the fishes” says Achilles, having thrown the body of his fallen enemy into the river, ” who will lick the blood from your wound and gloat over it; your mother shall not lay you on any bier to mourn you, but the eddies of Scamander shall bear you into the broad bosom of the sea. There shall the fishes feed on the fat of Lycaon as they dart under the dark ripple of the waters…” (Homer Iliad 21.122-7. trans. Butler S. )

“Under the dark ripple of the waters” was a place of death, where drowned mariners were devoured by fish. Moreover, fish was considered a threat not only to humans but also to weaker sea-creatures, including fishes …. the only animal that eat each other. “Among fishes neither justice is of any account nor is there any mercy or love, for all the fish that swim are bitter enemies to each other. The stronger ever devours the weaker; this against that swims fraught with doom and one for another furnishes food. Some overpower the weaker by force of jaws and strength; others have venemous mouths; others have spines wherewith to defend them with deadly blows.” ( 177-180 AD, Oppian, On fishing, 2.43-50, trans. Mair)

Behind this soup there is a long history of poverty.

Fishermen. Phylakopi III, 16th ca. BC. Milos Island.

Being fisherman implied that land was so poor that could not feed its inhabitants. In Greek literature fishermen suffer from poverty, hard life and very low social status. Dedications and epigrams bring before us their hambler life in their thatched huts or out at the sea.

Hard is the life the weary fisher finds
Who trusts his floating mansion to the winds ;
Whose daily food the fickle sea maintains.
Unchanging labour and uncertain gains.

Moschus 169 (2nd cent. BC. Collections from the Greek anthology. Robert Bland, 1813)

However, it seems that fishermen who supplied the market and rich people with quality sea-food had the opportunities for enrichment.

Flatfish Painter, Apulian red-figured fish plate ca. 350–325 BC. (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fish_plate_Louvre_K590.jpg)

Because, quality fish was very expensive, a luxurious delicacy, a symbol of wealth. During all periods of antiquity, the great value of fish as a wealth symbol was equally opposed to the stereotype of fisherman’s poverty.

Behind this soup there is a long history of technology and commerce.
The ancient fishermen might had an abundant catch only few times a year, however imagine that the Aegean fishermen of 10,000 years ago were able to catch 50-200 kg tuna in open water. But the fish is perishable. Hence, as fishing technology became more and more efficient, technologies of preservation of fish and commerce were developed too.

Fishermen did provide not only a staple element but also a significant factor in the ancient economy.

The thick fish soup (Pichti Psarosoupa, Πηχτή Ψαρόσουπα)

1 kg fresh cod

1 large onion, peeled

2 tomatoes

6 carrots, peeled

1 cup of celery, chopped

3/4 cup of celery root, peeled and halved

1/2 kg. potatoes, peeled and halved

6 small zucchinis

1/3 cup of Arborio rice or Greek Karolina

2 tbs virgin olive oil + some more

lemon juice

4 lemon halves

salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper

Put fish, onions and tomatoes in a pot with enough water to cover them and bring to boil. Add salt to taste. When the fish is ready strain it through a strainer, debone it and set it aside. Add zucchinis, carrots celery, root, potatoes and olive oil and cook until tender. When they are ready strain them. In a blender puree a third of the vegetables and a third of fish meat. Set aside. Pur the rice into the broth and cook. When it is almost done add the puree and cook for 1-2 minutes. Serve the soup in bowls, season with pepper and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Serve fish and vegetables on a platter, drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve with lemon halves on the side.

Or put some fish and vegetables in individuals bowls and laddle over the soup.

BREAD

Theodoros Papagiannis : Tribute to the bread. Installation (clay & metal). 1998

I really eat bergamot for day to dawn…

…. and I write poems so as to fall in love rightly, Odysseas Elytis says.*

To fall in love you have to write poems of course, and the bergamot’s flavor explosions do pull the night away!

In another poem, he writes:

You bite bergamot and then you drink drink drink cool water, coffees,

and a never- ending cigarette like Greece.**

Naming bergamot, cool water, coffee and cigarette, the Nobel Prize-winning Greek poet legitimates a Greek identity and culture rooted in fragrances, flavors and senses.

(Photo credit: Mariana Kavroulaki)

Speaking for myself, when I say pergamonto all things become islands of spoon sweets, liqueurs, mixtures of salt and dried zest, and bergamot cookies.
But they are finally here… The bergamot oranges with the rough thick surface are here, waiting to be the most intoxicating spoon sweet.
I bought 15 beautiful pergamonta from the farmers market and the first thing I did with my treasure was a not at all sweet spoon treat.

7 bergamots

300 gr. sugar

2 1/2 cups of water

juice of 1 lemon

The classic recipe uses 900 gr sugar for 7 bergamots, but I’ m not a big sugar person so I reduced it to 300gr.
Wash and dry the bergamots. Grate them to get rid of the bitter layer of the peel. Keep the zest in the refrigerator for a future use in cakes, cookies, puddings and custards. With a knife slice the skin of bergamots in eighths and pull each piece from the fruit. Cut pieces in half , across the width.

In a large pot bring about ¾ of water to a boil. Add the peels and after 3-4 minutes remove them and drop in a large pot filled with cold water. Leave them for 10 hours. Remove from the water and dry them.

Bring 2 1/2 cups of water, the lemon juice and sugar to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add the peels and cook them until tender (15-20 minutes). Remove the peels carefully and bring the liquid to a rapid boil and cook stirring, until thickened slightly. Add the peels and boil them for 2 more minutes.

Sterilize a large jar, pack the peels in it, pour the very hot syrup over them and cover the jar. Store the jar in the refrigerator.

This spoon sweet has a unique sharp clear and refreshing taste, however if you don’t like its bitterness you should try the classic bergamot spoon sweet recipe.

You can eat it by itself but it’ s also great with yogurt or a soft white cheese with rich and slightly sweet flavor. Use it in custards, rice puddings, cakes and nut filled fyllo desserts.

* The water of resemblance. The Collected Poems of Odysseus Elytis, Transl. Carson J.; Sarris N., p.560.

** p. 589.

ON A COLD WINTER NIGHT…

….walnuts and thyme honey.

(Photo credit: Mariana Kavroulaki)

THE FIRST NATION THAT RECOGNISED THE GREEK INDEPENDENCE: HAITI

View of Haitian landsape: Michelle Walz Errikson (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Haitian_Landscape_hispaniola.jpg)

On the first day of 1804 and after 14 years of violent conflicts between the African slaves and French colonists, Haiti made history by being the first independent African nation in the world.

16 years later, the declaration of the Greek Revolution against the ruling Ottoman Empire  recieved a warm response in Haiti. Not only was Haiti the first country that recognised the Greek War of Independence and the Greek state but 100 volunteers also departed from the island to join Greeks. Unfortunately those brave men never arrived in Greeece, probably because of a pirate attack on their ship.
It is interesting, however, how  the free nation of ex-slaves viewed its role in the world supporting the liberation of slaves worldwide.
Jean-Pierre Boyer, President of Haiti,  responded positively to the requests of the Paris Greek Committee in 1822 to help Greece . In his letter to the Committee,  he said that Haitian government would like to support the fair Greek Revolution by sending money to revolutionaries to purchase weapons.
The young republic did like to help financially… but it couldn’t,  because of the extreme poverty of the island.

The truth is that Haiti did find another way to help. It sent 25 tons coffee beans to the revolutionaries, in order to be sold to buy weapons.

For readers interested in contributing to assist the victims of the tremendous earthquake that struck Haiti, here is a list of organizations that plan to offer relief. There are thousands of injured people who need care, thousands homeless, up to two million children remain at risk. Food and drinking safe water are needed as well. If even before the earhtquake there was not enough food around, imagine what it’s like after this .

Please, help.

Yele. You can use your cell phone to text “Yele” to 501501, which will automatically charge 5 $ to your cell phone bill.

Oxfam

Action against hunger

Direct Relief International

One Day’s Wages

Partners in Health

American Red Cross

Doctors without borders

Doctors without borders / Greece (Γιατροί χωρίς σύνορα)