Greek Christmas breads and New Year pies have often impressive decorations such as serpentine figures made of dough. The serpent is a survival of the doctrine for the oikouros ofis*, the ancient home-protecting serpent, which believed to be an incarnation…
Ensuring abundance of food~ Polysporia
November sowning seeds. Manuscript, 1346, Vatopedi monastery Religious rituals and symbolic practices in which food is used to secure the future harvest are still important in Greece. Their parallels are found in very ancient times, when fertility and food security…
Recording food culture of Amari Valley, Crete
A few years ago, I gave an interview about food culture of Amari Valley (Crete).Since we are two weeks before the 2nd Symposium of Greek Gastronomy, which will be held in Amari, you might be interested in reading it. History,…
Yogurt in their faces
Last months Greece is threatened not only by its biggest post-war economic crisis but also by the most significant political upheaval since the end of dictatorship (1974). It is not surprising then that the crisis has a big impact on the…