Greece

Please respond with your name,date, and source of your information. ( Family members may be used as long as their relationship to you is noted- ex: grandmother )
My Grandfather is from Limnos and my grandmother is from Andros. I grew up in this area but my whole family is from those two places. (Alessandra Patrizio. Demitria Ratchetford/ family friend May 2012)
 * What is the name of your home town?**

My Grandfather is from Mytelinnie, lesbos, Greece (Phoebe Rodbell. Andrew Andrews/grandfather May 2012)

The Peloponnese region of Greece, in a small village outside of Sparta. (Seth Eisenstein. Robert McAuliffe/significant other April 2013)

My father John was from Karea, Greece (the southern most point of the country).

My mother Effie was from Kalambaka, Greece (a small northern town at the foot of the towering Meteora (monasteries atop giant glacier-formed rocks) (Amy Boutselis. Rick Boutselis/father. April 2013)

Our Greco-Russian family often prepares and enjoys Greek dishes. These include appetizers (mezethes) such as garlic and fish roe dips, cheese and spinach pies, various cheeses (i.e. feta), meatballs; soup (such as avgolemono or egg-lemon or lentil), many salads (including the traditional “Greek salad”), boiled greens, roasted chicken and potatoes with lemon, lamb grilled on skewers, broiled or baked fish, pastas and various sweets (baklava, halva, nutcakes). Our meals typically end, in the Greek way, with seasonal fresh fruit. Ryan Spencer,4/4/08,Lillian Dimas, Athens/family friend
 * How does your heritage affect the food that you consume in your home?**

We eat a lot of lamb. My mom really likes making gyros which are really good. They are lamb wrapped in like a pita with tzatziki sauce. Theres also spanikopita which is philo, spinach, and cheese and those are good too. mostly around the holidays is when we eat Greek food. (Alessandra Patrizio. Demitria Ratchetford/ family friend May 2012)

My grandfather is more picky on foods that he eats and their quality. He prefers to eat imported cheeses, olives, and stuff grape leaves which are also called dolmas. (Phoebe Rodbell. Andrew Andrews/grandfather May 2012)

While my family eats plenty of American food, my mother frequently cooks Greek dishes for our family meals. //Spanakopita// (spinach pita), chicken //pilafi//, //keftethakia// (Greek lamb meatballs,) //soutzoukakia// (Greek meatballs in a thin tomato sauce), and //avgolemono// soup (lemon and egg soup,) frequently grace our table. We also cook usually with Greek extra-virgin olive oil rather than traditional vegetable oil, and grace our salads with //feta// goat cheese and //kalamata// olives. (Seth Eisenstein. Robert McAuliffe/significant other April 2013)

Being Greek affects what we eat even when we are not cooking traditional Greek food. We always find a way to incorporate olive oil, lemon juice and oregano--Greek staples--into most dishes. Foods like keftedes (meatballs), spanakopita (spinach pie), avgolemono soupa (egg-lemon soup), patates me fasolia (potatoes and beans), hirino kebabs (pork kebabs), arnaki me pilaf (lamb and rice), tiganithes (fried bread) & baklava are fixtures in our cooking rotation. (Amy Boutselis. Rick Boutselis/father. April 2013)


 * What marketing practices does your family use in order to obtain the supplies needed to prepare food from your native country ?** We always try to have on hand staples such as olive oil, lemons, oregano, garlic, olives and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Food shopping is done several times a week from various vendors (grocery store, butcher, bakery) for fresh ingredients. In Greece, there are weekly open air markets, held in almost every neighborhood, which offer a bounty of products. This is also an important social event for the Greeks.Ryan Spencer,4/4/08,Lillian Dimas, Athens/family friend

I buy my food at genardies as well as my parents. We always try to get the freshest food like fruit, salad and vegetables. We shop for food once a week usually from our local grocery store. My grandparents go to butchers and bakeries a lot for fresh meat and bread. In Greek there are little street shops that are open and offer a great variety of fresh products. (Alessandra Patrizio. Demitria Ratchetford/ family friend May 2012)

He will order food from special stores that are only in Massachusetts even though he lives in New Hampshire. (Phoebe Rodbell. Andrew Andrews/grandfather May 2012)

There is a small Sicilian-owned import food store in South Saint Louis called Manzo’s Imports that specializes in Mediterranean imports. They sell all the spices, meats, bread, and oil one needs to cook authentic Greek cuisine. My grandpa frequently asks my mother to make trips there to get his special //metaxa// (Greek muscat wine) and //ouzo// (Greek anise liquor). (Seth Eisenstein. Robert McAuliffe/significant other April 2013)

While the days of stopping at different vendors for our meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables might be mostly behind us, we take every opportunity to frequent a Greek and Armenian stores for specific hard-to-find ingredients. Still, like our parents and grandparents, we cook with only fresh foods. We are sure to cook way more than we need so there are always leftovers. (Amy Boutselis. Rick Boutselis/father. April 2013)

On Eastern Orthodox religious holidays, special foods bring a renewed appreciation of tradition. Easter is the most important religious ceremony of Greece and the traditional cracking of red dyed eggs is always eagerly anticipated. Everyone selects an egg and a game is played in which each person cracks their egg against another, end to end. The object is to see who has the strongest egg. The person whose egg remains unbroken is thought to be assured of good luck for the year. The lamb (typically roasted whole over an open, outdoor spit) is then served with vegetables, special Easter bread and many sweets. Ryan Spencer,4/4/08,Lillian Dimas, Athens/family friend Funny you should mention the soup, since I was going to give that recipe (one of Alex's favorites) instead of the salad. I didn't know if the students were going to have to prepare the recipe, so I stuck with the salad, which is simpler to make and very representative of Greek cuisine.
 * Give an example of a holiday tradition in your home that incorporates food into the celebration.**

We always eat lamb during Easter. Some super greek people roast it on a spit in the yard but we do not do that. And during new years my grandma makes this really good bread with a coin baked in it and if you get the coin in your piece you get good luck all year! Also there is this other tradition where everyone selects an egg, the you hit your egg against the end of another persons. The object is to see who has the strongest egg.The person whose egg remains unbroken is thought to be assured of good luck for the year. It also symbolizes Jesus coming out of the tomb and rising. (Alessandra Patrizio. Demitria Ratchetford/ family friend May 2012)

We celebrate Easter but with my mother's family we celebrate Greek Easter (orthodox). We take dyed eggs (all red) and hit them against eacherother and say christos anesti. Whoever has the not cracked egg at the end has good luck for the next year. During this celebration we eat many different foods like lam cooked on a grill, pastries, and dishes like spanokopita. My grandfather prefers his latter (spanokopita) cold while most people like it warm. (Phoebe Rodbell. Andrew Andrews/grandfather May 2012)

New Year’s Day is a perfect example. We gather together and deep-fry what are essentially doughy Greek donuts called //loukoumades.// We cover them in honey, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts to ensure that the new year will be equally sweet. (Seth Eisenstein. Robert McAuliffe/significant other April 2013)

The first holiday tradition that comes to mind is dyeing and decorating hard boiled eggs for the winner-take-all Epper battle. Each person selects a decorated egg to take to the table before dinner. You and the person next to you smacks the pointy side of your egg against theirs and then you rounded side against theirs, trying to crack your opponent's egg. Who ever makes it out of the first round seeks out another with either a good pointy or flat end to smack and knock out. This continues until there in only one person left with a good egg (or at least a good side). The lone survivor gets a year of good luck for their efforts. (Amy Boutselis. Rick Boutselis/father. April 2013)

Podcast-2012


 * Provide a family recipe related to your culture. Click on link**
 * Podcast -2008**

media type="file" key="abbyspitzerpod3.m4a" width="200" height="165"media type="file" key="Sam Golden Greek.m4a" width="200" height="165" media type="file" key="Greece Podcast.m4a" width="243" height="243"
 * 2012**

​media type="file" key="Cooking Final- podcast .m4a" width="205" height="205" media type="file" key="Seth - Greek.m4a" width="210" height="210"
 * ​2013**