Well, it’s that time of year again. For the last few weeks we, here in UK that is, know that we are approaching Lent – well let me re-phrase that – we know that Easter is on the horizon. The hot cross buns have been on the supermarket shelves since early January, and, believe it…
Tag: Greek traditions
The Brightness of an Island Easter – Lambrópites – Easter Pies
Back in the distant days of the mid-1980s, I was fortunate enough to spend a few years living on the Greek island of Kos – one of the Dodecanese group of islands, in the eastern Aegean. It is now known as a major ‘package holiday’ destination, but back then the original character of the island…
Bringing in the New with the Old – New Year 2016
Here in Athens, 2016 has arrived with a long-anticipated blast of wintery weather. All through this autumn, Greece has been basking in bright sunshine and temperatures that would put an English summer to shame. To be honest, you could tell that the Greeks were getting a bit weary of it – longing to get…
Super Food Heroes and Mythical Places
To those of you whose only experience of Greece is on a summer holiday, all I can say is that you are missing a trick or two. Of course, the Greek islands in July or August are without comparison. The familiar picture of sapphire seas under cloudless skies is one cherished by philhellenes and…
Times they are a-changing for tea drinking in Greece
Time was in Greece, that having a cup of tea was a definite signal that your health was in decline. The standard response when asking for tea was, invariably, “What’s the matter with you ?” Tea was solely a beverage for the sick. There was no choice when buying black tea – it was almost…
Double Dips and Feasts and Festivals
One of the many bonuses of having two cultural backgrounds, is that you have the chance to have ‘double dips’ when it comes to celebrations. So, in our house at Christmas, we have mince pies and melomakárona, and when it comes to stuffing the seasonal fowl, sage and onion gives way to the traditional rice…
Athenian Christmas – Melomakárona and a mystery ingredient
It seems that this year is ending, much as it started. We are in Athens again; mainly the weather has been more than kind to us with balmy days and mainly blue skies – and, of course, with that almost cobalt colour that you only seem to get in the Aegean. There…
A Spoonful of Sugar – Preserving Goodness Spoon Sweets
There was a time, probably not so common now, that ‘visits’ (επισκέψεις) to a Greek home followed a series of conventions that, in some ways, were almost rituals. The visitors would be entertained in the ‘salóni’ – a room a bit like the British ‘front room’ -a place that the family rarely set foot…
Happy New Year – Καλή Χρονιά !
So, ten days in and it’s been a busy culinary year already. Of course there was all that cooking and baking over Christmas – I do both the Greek and English traditional sweets – just can’t stop myself! So there were melomakarona, kourabiedes and mince pies – not to mention a new favourite, white chocolate and dried…
kouzina 