History of Greek Food

One of my favourite bloggers, the lovely Tangled Noodle has passed on to me the Fabulous Blog Award.  Since I am the honored recipient of it- thanks a lot, Tangled Noodle- I have to pass it on to five other blogs I think are fabulous and also admit five addictions.
So, the award goes to:
1) Meditteranean Cooking [...]

Feeling jealous of Ken Albala’s olives, I would like to present you these beauties.
No 1 olives, are preserved in bitter orange juice. Picked in October, they have not yet lost their bitterness, however their taste is perfect for me. A little crunch, bitter – sweet and devinely flavored by the bitter orange.

No 2: large, black, [...]

Greeks of olden times had a love of mushrooms of many kinds, supported by extensive knowledge, particularly among men and to some extent hunters and villagers. Rural populations considered mushrooms as ‘meat’ for the poor and relied on them when meat was unavailable. The term ‘meat’ may sound like an exaggeration, but mushrooms do indeed [...]

I am a big fan of freshly made koulouri. Covered with sesame seeds, crusted on the outside and soft on the inside, still warm if I am lucky, koulouri is my perfect snack. So, it is not strange that I don’t like the fashion has risen over the last couple of years: koulouria made with [...]

Forty years ago, a typical woman from Greek rural area spent all day cleaning the house, preparing meals, baking, sewing, milking, making butter and cheese, raising poultry, rabbits, sheeps, goats, pigs, gathering olives, harvesting greens and fruits, cultivating small vegetable gardens, preserving food for year- round consumption…. being wife, mother, guardian of her children’s health [...]

Until the 3rd decade of 20th century, shortages posed a continuing threat to many of the poorest areas in Greece. Things were getting worse during wars, particularly in Ancient, Byzantine and Ottomans’ occupation years when warfare included burning or salting fields, or attacking those who cultivated the soil. Then the major characteristics of famine, the [...]

ca 200 BC: ” The following wild vegetables should be boiled — beet, mallow, sorrel, nettle, orach, bulbs, truffles and mushrooms. (Diocles Carystius, Health, book I, C. 59) 

If you’ve ever been to Athens’ Varvakeios Central Market, you’ve seen them at the fish department’s entrance, selling fresh cut herbs and greens, fresh onions and garlics. They [...]

Throughout Greece, breads and pies with a coin inside, have been established as a custom on the first day of the year, in the memory of the following event: In the 4th century,  Cappadokia,  a Byzantine province in Minor Asia, suffered from famine. However, the situation did not touch the eparch of the province,1 who demanded [...]

There is a small hole in my heart.
Protests and clashes over shooting of 15 year old Alexis Grigoropoulos by a police officer continue unabated. Greek police run out of teargas and approached Germany and Israel for urgent supplies. Police quickly denied its involvement in the shooting of a 16 year old boy’s hand. Riot police [...]

29 April 2008 - The current food crisis threatens to undo all the recent efforts to lift people out of poverty around the world and could spark related economic, social and political crises, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today at the inaugural event in the Geneva Lecture series.
“We are familiar with the causes: rising oil [...]