History of Greek Food

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. 

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

…. 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.

….walnuts and thyme honey.

(Photo credit: Mariana Kavroulaki)

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)

Here is the easiest way to make a lemon flavored liqueur.

1 cup  lemon juice

zest of one lemon making sure not to get the pith

1 cup  sugar

1 cup or more cretan tsikoudia or pure alcohol or 100-proof vodka

Add the  sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest to a jar and stir well until the sugar dissolves. 

Leave the mixture for 12 hours.

Strain out the lemon zest  and add the raki (or alcohol or vodka).

Stir again, transfer to a bottle  and store in the refrigerator.

It’s a  very refreshing and cooling drink.

A Christmas meal

A  dinner after Christmas

A New Year’s Eve dinner

Holiday season is finally over…

No more tables filled with mountain of delicacies.

Though  they hid us for a few days from world’s despair and Greece’s economic depression.

Holiday season is over…  And we cannot longer pretend that poverty, desperation and hopelessness don’t surround us.

 Carols: Nikephoros Lytras (1832-1904) 

Have a wonderful New Year! 

May it be peaceful, safe, warm, full of  love and laughter! 

Thin ribbons of fried dough or strips having the thickness of a pencil…
They are crunchy but fragile and melt in the mouth.
It’s quite easy to make them; you just need flour and water or orange juice and sometimes eggs or/and yeast. Cut the pastry sheet into squares of 7cm width or into ribbons of 10 cm x 15 cm or strips of 0,50 cm x 18 cm.
Twist ribbons and strips around two fingers while you transfer them to the hot olive oil, producing shapes of flowers, double cross and tubes.
Deep -fry until they start to turn gold. Remove and drain on paper towel.
Then pour honey or petimezi (grape syrup) over them and cover with chopped walnuts, sesame seeds and cinnamon powder.

In past, a great deal was prepared before the Christmas Eve. These fried pastries were the traditional treat to the Christmas visitors and gifts to widows and to those in mourning. They are called lalangia, lalangites, diples, pitoules, tiganites, avgokalamara etc. and evoke the swaddling clothes of Christ.
Spargana (swaddling clothes), is what they are called in Northwestern Greece. There, at night, dawning Christmas, the women pour a light batter of flour and water on a heated stone or piece of metal and make a sort of pancakes. Then, they pour honey or syrup over them and sprinkle them with pounded walnuts and almonds. Sometimes layers of spargana are piled upon each other, each one spread with honey and covered with chopped nuts. When it’s time to serve, the spargana have absorbed the honey and are tasty and fluffy.

These pastries belong to the special foods, which are offered by women to women in puerperium. When offered to Mary, they identify her with every other new mother. They also identify her son with every other newborn and in a way they prefigure his death since their shape is so similar to a shroud.

Large numbers of pig carcasses are hanging on hooks in butcher shops. Christmas day is near….
Because the pig is the traditional meat for the most regions in Greece. And the days before and after Christmas is the peak of the pig killing season which begins  around the feast of St Demetrius (26 October).
Is there a connection between pig slaughtering and ancient animal sacriface?

It is known that ancient Greeks sacrificed pigs to Demeter, greek godess of agriculture and fertility, to her daughter Persephone and the chthonic dieties. Why? Partly because of the special powers attributed to pigs on account of their association with fertility and abundance of flesh and blood. Partly because of their association with dirt; since evil spirits were often equated with dirt, pigs’ death became equated with evil spirits’ death. For the same reasons pigs symbolized the ancient Greek vegetation daemon with the ambivalent powers to give fertility and destruction. Moreover, these animals were particularly important in rituals practiced by and for women (such as Demeter’s festivals). Why? Women were linked to fertility, however like pigs, evil spirits and the dead, they were considered ‘dirty’ when not ritually purified.

But in the year 392 A.D., the Olympic Pantheon was officially pronounced dead by Theodosios the Great, who made Christianity the state religion of the Byzantine Empire. The truth is that the 12 ancient Gods had already declined, despite the fact that Christianity had absorbed many strands of ancient religion and philosophy. Did the animal sacrifices of the pagan Graeco-Roman world decline, as well?
Like a large part of the ancient Greek worshipping system which had been transformed and survived within Christianity - f.i. the hero and heroine cult, the honor paid to the dead etc.- conceptions, faiths, rituals and the strong tradition of animal sacrifice did transform too. Despite the criticism of the Fathers of the Curch, the decisions of Ecumenical and local Synods and the condemnations, animal sacrifice was much common among laymen throughout the Byzantine and post-Byzantine world. Why? Because on the one hand the Church did try to separate its cultic code from this kind of sacrifice but on the other hand it did not reject certain cults and rituals that had derived from the pagan religion. Why? Demetrios Constantelos (Christian Hellenism) has observed that ‘There were at least two distinct cultures during both the ancient and mediæval periods of Greek history: one peasant and one urban and elite. Mediæval peasant culture had more in common with ancient peasant culture than with the contemporary Christian culture of the educated urban elite, since it could more readily accommodate the lower forms of religious beliefs and practices.  So, in its attemp to spread the Christian faith, the Church did not systematically reject customs and beliefs that existed before and outside Christianity.
Until the 1960s, pig slaughtering was an important social occasion and a necessity,
for it meant full and plenty for all. Today pig killing is restricted in certain Aegean islands and mountain areas. However, killing and butchering are always done by the men who first make the sign of cross on the pig’s head, but it is always the women who make sausages, cure and smoke bones, meat, fat, cook, etc.
Some of the blood is poured on the fields or on the animals to ensure fertility and prosper through sympathetic magic.