Disqus - Latest Comments for greekfood

Re: The Magic of Greece

greekfood — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:54:14 -0000

A good synopsis! If I may make one correction: in 1821 the rest of Europe was dead set against an independent Greece (especially the Great Powers). Indeed, it was not until the Greeks were well on their way to achieving independence from the Turks that the French and British appeared on the scene, and they only showed up to make sure that the Greeks did not completely dismantle the Porte. Contrary to ill-informed opinion, the Greeks had no allies in their struggle for independence from the Ottoman Turks.

Re: If Your Shy, Cherish Privacy, Support Manchester United or Heaven Forbid own a PC - is the Thirty Day Challenge For You? #30dc

greekfood — Thu, 28 May 2009 10:21:27 -0000

Good thing about CONDUCTOR is that is also refers to a train conductor, or a conductor of energy (i.e. electricity). So, Ed, conduct away, we're all singing as we ride the 30DC electric train! :-)

Re: If Your Shy, Cherish Privacy, Support Manchester United or Heaven Forbid own a PC - is the Thirty Day Challenge For You? #30dc

greekfood — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:30:12 -0000

Hi Ed, my replacement word for LEADER is CONDUCTOR. As we are involved in a creative enterprise, I thought it may be germane to refer to 'leaders' among us as CONDUCTORS (after the chorus-leader in ancient Greek tragedy who was known as a Coryphaeus). Failing that, I also think BELLWETHER might be appropriate in some case. ;)

Re: Behind the Scenes of a Cooking Capsule

greekfood — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:44:43 -0000

How do I jump on board with some Greek cooking? Love this idea! Let me know please.

Re: Thrace – Tolerance Through Food

greekfood — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:45:20 -0000

Ilias is well. I just drove down to see him and read to him a little. Now, I am on my way home.

As for Greeks and Turks and all the rest. Let me just say that I am hopeful that a day will come when the ploughshares will truly be fashioned out of the swords. Let us eat and drink to that day. I have no problem with people of like mind and spirit. Indeed, education is the key, but whose and what the curriculum I wonder? Selah.

Re: Thrace – Tolerance Through Food

greekfood — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:59:28 -0000

Jacoba, the same people you claim know Greece better than the Greeks are the same people who told us there were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq... And we are still waiting to see them!

As for our meals, yes, we eat as healthy as we can. It is one of the few freedoms left to us these days.

Re: Thrace – Tolerance Through Food

greekfood — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:01:20 -0000

Jacoba, the "Thracians" as you call them are Greeks and identify as such, all except the small Turkish speaking minority. As for the relations between and among them, I am afraid you are looking at the situation in a rather naive fashion. Trust me when I tell you that there is very little love lost between them. Think of how harmonious Sarajevo appeared when they hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, and then reflect on what happened shortly thereafter...

In any case, I forgot to comment on the excellent recipes you provided, particularly the roast chicken. Though, the Thracians are not the only ones who make chicken this way, the lemon-mustard combination is a pretty common recipe for kotopoulo throughout Greece. As for the trakhana, I am making some for dinner this evening. :-)

Re: Thrace – Tolerance Through Food

greekfood — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:00:07 -0000

"There is little that Greeks loathe as much as a insinuations that they have a historical relationship with the Turks. However, even though they have tried to destroy everything that could remind them, albeit remotely, of the hated Turks..."

Oh my dear Jacoba, you have it all wrong. What Greeks loathe is that we have to keep reminding our friends that Greeks are not Turks. :-) That the Greek language is still a living language and that the Greeks despite the odds, have succeeded in surviving on down the millenia when even the mighty Romans could not. What many of our amici forget is that although our homeland was occupied for four centuries by the Ottoman Empire, we managed to maintain our own distinct cultural (which includes gastronomic) inheritance, and that the Turks were the larger beneficiaries of any exchanges in that regard. Indeed, what Greeks loathe more than anything else, is that when we consider the sidelong glances and sneers of some of our so-called "friends", we are forced to reconsider who our real enemies might be... After all, long before the Turks even appeared on the scene we have the fine example of the The Fourth Crusade. And then, of course, we must not forget what happened in the Second World War and after. So, please excuse us if we seem to have to constantly remind you of our annoying (for some) existence. The truth is, Greece is the root of Europe, and just like the branches and leaves of any tree cannot survive without its roots, so too Europe.

Re: Bread, Part 2: Italian Bread – A Broad Overview

greekfood — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:02:16 -0000

Jacoba, Apicius and Pliny were Romans without a doubt, but "artolaganus" (cake- bread), and "speusticus" (in a hurry bread) belie their roots simply by their names which are both of Greek origin. Indeed, to this day, on "Clean Monday" or "Ash Monday, the Monday of Lent" the traditional bread (artos in Greek) that is served throughout Greece -and wherever there are Greeks- is called "lagana" and it is similar to what the Italians refer to as foccacia. As for the milling of grains, I have a different take on its introduction and was simply wondering what your source for Roman primacy was... So, no, not always the Greeks, but it is always good to verify such statements against the available sources.

Re: Bread, Part 2: Italian Bread – A Broad Overview

greekfood — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:37:20 -0000

A nice introduction, though there are a couple historical innacuracies. The breads artolaganus‘ (cake- bread), speusticus (in a hurry bread) you mention are both of Greek origin, not Roman. Also, I am wondering what your source is for the claim that the Romans taught us to grind millet/wheat. For, as far as I have been able to research the matter, it was more likely the Greeks (specifically the Greeks of Sicily) who introduced the mill to the Romans, though I would be interested in any differing account. As always, I enjoy your posts and the opportunity to compare notes on gastronomica.

Re: Chargrilled chicken – Giorgio Locatelli – UKTV Food

greekfood — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:27:33 -0000

Very nice! I enjoyed this video, Jacoba. Is the chef a friend of yours?

Re: Champagne Cuisine

greekfood — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:15:09 -0000

Welcome Kim! A nice selection of French delicacies, thank you for sharing them with us.

Re: Basically Pesto alla Siciliana

greekfood — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:10:57 -0000

MMmmm, sounds tasty! I make an excellent sun-dried tomato pesto, but this sounds like a nice alternative and I will have to give it a whirl. Thanks for sharing. :-)

Re: Spanish Style Sprouted Saffron Quinoa

greekfood — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:31:16 -0000

Julie, I'm with you! I simply love saffron and use it often in rice dishes and soups. I don't use quinoa much, but this post has definitely stirred my curiosity and I will remember to pick some up next time I am shopping. I will definitely try this recipe, it sounds and looks great! Thanks for sharing. :-)

Re: Athens – Pasta Sokoklatina

greekfood — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:29:48 -0000

Jacoba, no NOT a slap, please do not misconstrue my sentiments (and not that I think you have). For the record, my Honours B.A. was in Philosophy, and I did what amounted to an "undeclared" Minor in Classical Studies at York University in Toronto. I have met many wonderful people in academic circles, and I still audit courses at Universities here in Toronto, so I am not a miso-academic. However, I am not oblivious to what I can only characterize as a broader Culture War in some milieus within the walls of Higher Learning (so called). Other eminently more celebrated dilletantes have run across the same "proprietary" prejudices and remarked on them, so I am not alone in this observation. Indeed, you need only read up on what Heinrich Schliemann who discovered Troy, and Michael Ventris who deciphered Cretan Linear B (both "amateurs") went through vis a vis their own contemporary academic counterparts in their day. The bias is real, and it cannot help being personal as it is among and between persons. All of that being said, I have noted and am hopeful that honesty and fair assessment may actually be back in the ascendancy in some scholastic circles, so I have not completely renounced the Academy and her denizens. ;)

Peace be with you,

Sam

Re: Athens – Pasta Sokoklatina

greekfood — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:48:02 -0000

Jacoba, the issue here (for me) is not about the earliest civilization, nor are we talking about fairy tales, after all the Greeks have Pyrrha and not Eve. Gastronomy and food writing was invented by the ancient Greeks and as a result we can trace the influence of Greek food on all of subsequent European and Middle Eastern culinary traditions. Though some people (especially a peculiar brand of academic that I have had the displeasure of continually running into due to the nature of my studies) have gone to extraordinary efforts to overlook and obfuscate the obvious for various reasons of their own; yet, the facts remain fixed and only await proper research, collation and presentation to shatter certain unfounded and ultimately malicious myths about the nature and origin of Greek cuisine and food culture. After all, while the Greeks and the Greek language are still around today, the same thing cannot be said about the Romans and their language. In any case, when I do publish my work on the topic, you will definitely have a chance to reconsider the matter as a whole. So, you are right, let us not get stuck on this issue as there so many more wonderful things to discuss that relate to food, its preparation and consumption.

Amiably,

Sam

Re: Athens – Pasta Sokoklatina

greekfood — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:13:48 -0000

With the exception of the Alcock book, I have looked for the other references you cite and was unable to find them; they are quite obscure texts. If there is anything you think I really ought to read from them could you scan it and email it?

Let me reiterate one point: Greek gastronomic influence on Turkish cuisine is primary, the Greeks did not appropriate the cuisine of the Turks, it was MOSTLY the other way around. There is loads and loads of evidence to support my position and I will be making the case in my own good time. Stay tuned. :-)

Re: Athens – Pasta Sokoklatina

greekfood — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:23:03 -0000

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look these up at the Reference Library.

Re: Athens – Pasta Sokoklatina

greekfood — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:04:42 -0000

Just a quick follow up on my postings from this morning, you'll have to excuse me, I was half asleep when I made them. In your response to my response you wrote about Turks originating from the Persian Empire. I immediately thought you meant the Mogul (Mughal) Empire as they did use the Persian language for administrative purposes and the like, but were not related ethnically to the Persians. So, in short, you were partly right, we were on one hand talking at cross purposes and about two different things. Anyway, the point I would like to make is simply this: so-called Turkish cuisine as we know it today is largely not Turkish in origin at all and much of it is actually Greek, though for some reason (perhaps the baksheesh or maybe the hashish?) many academics have pooh-poohed the idea and go so far as to bolster Turkish claims of gastronomic primacy vis a vis the Greeks! LOL Nothing could be further from the truth, and I am pretty sure you are aware of that so I won't go into any more details on this matter at this juncture....time for bed. :-)

Re: Athens – Pasta Sokoklatina

greekfood — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:50:15 -0000

OK, fine with me. Though I really must tell you that as far as academics go, I don't put much stock in most of their conjectures either. Sadly, the Academy is not what it used to be... But I agree with you, wikipedia is not authoritative and I simply use it as a convenient online starting point for references that are readily available but not necessarily definitive.

Re: Athens – Pasta Sokoklatina

greekfood — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:01:06 -0000

Aaargh.. I am still sleepy and its too early in the morning for me to be writing! In my post above, I wrote: "As the Turks moved westward out of the Asian Steppe, their first major conquest was northern India where they formed the Mogul Empire." It should read, "As the Turks moved westward out of the Asian Steppe, their first major conquest was northern India where they *eventually* formed the Mogul Empire." ANyway, the point was to establish the central Asian origin of the Turkic peoples. :-)

Re: Athens – Pasta Sokoklatina

greekfood — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:53:07 -0000

Here is some supplementary information on the Mogul (or Mughal) Empire: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Re: Athens – Pasta Sokoklatina

greekfood — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:45:02 -0000

Jacoba, you are welcome to visit anytime!

As for the Turks, they are not originally from Persia. The Turkic peoples are originally from the Asian Steppe just like the Mongols. In point of fact, they are/were related peoples. Neither had anything to do with the Persian Empire or people. As the Turks moved westward out of the Asian Steppe, their first major conquest was northern India where they formed the Mogul Empire. Their history is quite plainly that of a nomadic people, and this is not some kind of judgment as to barbarity or otherwise, it is simply a fact. One good example of what I mean when I state that the influence of Greek cookery on the Turks is greater than the converse is one very basic element: olive oil. Where did the central Asian origin Turks learn to cook with olive oil? Their modern cuisine makes liberal use of olive oil, yet at the time of the fall of Constantinople, the olive tree was not cultivated beyond 200km from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. That is just one example, there are many many others.

With respect to chocolate, the turks were certainly not responsible for its introduction to Greece. Chocolate, like the tomato, is a product of the New World and arrived from the West, not the East, sometime after Columbus crossed the Atlantic.

Anyhow, you have convinced me of the necessity to set the historical record straight. I will be including a chapter on just this topic in my book.

Be Well,

Sam

Re: A Weekend at Gourmet Magazine’s “Gourmet Institute”

greekfood — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:37:43 -0000

Great synopsis Julie! Looks like a great time. Thanks for sharing. :-)

Re: Specifically Spices – Mouthwatering Health

greekfood — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:52:23 -0000

Yes, we did and no you won't. :) Try Herodotus, "The Histories", it's there, can't cite the exact reference as it escapes me at the moment but trust me, it is there.