Last weekend brought the end to the meat-eating phase of Apokries (Greek Carnival) and now Greeks are in the homestretch – the last week of Apokries. It’s Tyrini or Cheesefare Week with many Greeks forgoing meat and only eating dishes with cheese…lots of cheese! Pasta’s popularity goes beyond the happy bellies of Italian diners and [...]
You know what’s in season in Greece right now? Big, fat juicy lemons! Last year when I traveled to Nafplio (Peloponnese) I recall seeing groves and groves of lemon trees lining the roads. It was August so they all looked like limes but I was imagining myself stopping at the side of the road and [...]
I’m sharing more inspiration from my summer vacation in Greece and again, from my parents’ corner of Greece, Florina. The folks in this area love their peppers and the appellation product known as “Piperies Florinis” begin to appear in the markets in August. Travel around the towns of Florina and you’ll see these peppers (here [...]
To understand where this dish comes from is to first get a hang of what Strapetsada is: basically a scrambled egg dish containing grated tomatoes, olive oil and crumbled Feta and often eaten as a meze or late evening Greek dinner. There are may variances to this dish but those are the basics. Like with [...]
If you’ve been invited for lunch or dinner at a Greek home then you’re likely to see olives also served on the table. There are literally hundreds of olive varietals and when it comes to Greece, some olive trees that were planted in the thirteenth century are still producing! Did you know that Kalamata olives [...]
Last month when I went down to “the Danforth” (Toronto’s Greektown) for the March 25th Greek Independence Day parade I sadly found out that one of the oldest Greek general stores was closing. Could it that many Greeks live in the ‘burbs and buy their ingredients elsewhere? Or do they buy from non-Greek businesses like [...]
