GREEK “KOUZINA” - Means Good Food - Part Two

Street food in Athens street

Greek Honey has many good flavours since Greek bees dine on wild flowers, pines, thyme, blossom and a variety of plants and forest flowers. Greek honey is exported and has won many prizes at international fairs. I crave a dish of thick Greek yoghurt and walnuts covered in honey, at any time of the year, once tried you’ll be hooked too. Just think, it’s good for you too.

Greek sweet Baklava

A favourite and necessary pastime of Greeks is the little nibbles and snacks taken throughout the day. Most Greeks used to just have a black coffee and not a big breakfast, however, on their way to work, they could purchase from street vendors or special shops, Koulourakia (fresh crisp bread rings covered in sesame seed), Cheese pies (Tiropittas) or even Baclava or custard pies (Galatoboureko). Also included may be toasts, sandwiches, fruit, ice-cream or cakes, not to mention Greek coffee. Coffee shops or Patisseries (Zacharoplasteia) are plentiful and other coffees may be purchased there too.

Greek coffee is a near Eastern tradition of small cups of thick coffee with grounds sinking to the bottom, best sipped long and lingeringly. The gateaux and pastries are mind boggling and Greeks must consume plenty since fresh ones are available every day. In summer gateaux are made of ice cream and are a favourite to take as a gift on a visit to a name day or birthday celebration.

Greek Kafenia or Coffee houses are quite a different matter and remain even today, mainly a male bastion, since very few women enter them or perhaps wouldn’t want to. They are smoke filled, men play cards or backgammon (Tavli) very loudly, they gossip, talk politics (one of Greece’s favourite pastimes) and sip coffee or ouzo and swing worry beads (Komboloi). No matter what time or when one goes by a coffee house, they are nearly always full and a part of Greek life.

Greek salad

On the ground floor or basement in many office buildings you will find a very small room which sells coffee and soft drinks, sandwiches and toasts and most Greeks will have an arrangement whereby the service (including water) is open throughout working hours. These small businesses seem to thrive despite only perhaps catering to one or two office blocks. Perhaps the word is passed round on the “grapevine” as they rarely need to advertise.

Greek mothers rarely need to send out their loved ones with sandwiches past their schooldays as they know they can, with a few pence, find some sort of snack on their way. So food is important in Greece as everywhere and their home cooking is superb. To be invited to a Greek home for lunch or dinner is the highest compliment and this is where the Greek hospitality shines.

Feta and Spinach pie made in Greek homes.

So you find your taverna perhaps by the beach, it is a warm summer night, around the time of the August moon perhaps, you have eaten your grilled fish and salad, have washed it down with retsina or one of the newer Greek wines, you are looking forward to a choice of fruits to complete your meal, maybe melon, watermelon, fresh figs, grapes or peaches, perhaps even the yoghurt and honey dish. The full moon seems to glow as an orange orb almost if you could reach out and touch it, as it almost hovers balanced on the horizon.

Perhaps a Bouzouki or Guitar music is being played somewhere nearby. The atmosphere, the ambience, and most of all the taste of Greece – what more can you wish for? Your companion or friends will say “Pame!” or (Let’s Go) and you’re off to a Patisserie for your coffee, ice cream or cake. The August moon may seem to follow you, perhaps knowing that you’ll be enjoying yourself again very soon.

Kali Orexi!.