In the Greek world, wrapped and stuffed foods are prominent features at Christmas meals and New Year’s banquets. In pastoral and agricultural societies stuffed foods link human and agricultural fertility, the life of the individual and the cycle of the…
Cured lean pork – a Byzantine tradition.
In his lettter to Alexios Pantechnes, Ioannis Tzetzes, a 12th century Byzantine scholar, thanks him for his gifts which were spices and a living partridge, adding that he preferred slaughtered animals to alive ones, because he could not suffer seeing blood…
BOURANI, A CELEBRATION OF FERTILITY
A wild, Dionysiac festival of fertility, found under the misleading name bourani, marks the beginning of Lent in Tyrnavos. Bourani is a thick, oil-less, spinach-based soup served on Clean Monday. During the cooking of the soup the bourani- people tease…
In olden times people used to make special breads, at New Year, for the animals as well as for the family
In Mani, such bread is known as “tongue”, and is a crisp but very fragile fried dough in the shape of animal’s tongue, made of a thin batter. When the tongues are eaten by the family, they are dipped into…
SOME OF THE CHRISTMAS SYMBOLIC FOODS ARE FAVORITES AT ANY TIME OF THE YEAR
Just because Christmas is over doesn’t mean you can’t make those foods said to represent Christ’s swaddling clothes. On the contrary, they can be eaten with delight any time of the year. Cabbage leaves stuffed with a minced meat and…