Simbetherio - Mixed marriage stew (Συμπεθεριό)

The moment to rid ourselves of the aging zucchini plants came: the plants had overgrown leaves, the zucchini was sprouting but not growing, it was shrivelling up as soon as it sprouted.. Before I dug them out from the root, I snipped off the most tender part off the plant, which makes a tasty summer stew.

The meaning of 'simbetherio' comes from the relationship of the parents-in-law of the two members of a marriage; the families become related to each other through marriage (they are 'simbetheroi' to each other). The simbetherio dish uses the extended family members of various similar species, cooked in the same pot. The term is usually given to summer-autumn dishes, and not winter meal.

Simbetherio (συμπεθεριό) is the Cretan term for this dish, but it is also known as tourlou-tourlou (= mix-mix, from Turkish). It is really a stovetop briam, a Greek-style ratatouille. In my simbetherio, I used whatever vegetables had been grown in our garden: together with the zucchini tops, I added peppers, onions, tomatoes and eggplant. 

For seasonings, I added some salt, pepper, purslane leaves (known here as glistrida or antrakla) and two sprigs of fresh basil leaves. I could also have added vlita (amaranth) and some stifno (black nightshade), as both grow in our garden, but the pot was already full of sweeter greens and veges, so I left them out. 

Simbetherio is a really simple dish to prepare, and it reminds me of the end of summer, which we often look forward to in Crete, because it's always too hot at this time of year. It hasn't rained since early June, and we're completely parched here, especially since a drought has been declared in the region. 

The most frugal dishes I cook are often the tastiest, because the recipes are based on cheaply produced garden produce.

Well, if you  are having a record-breaking year for tourism in your country, and your hometwon just happens to be one of the most popular summer resort towns for domestic tourism, that means that more and more people need to have showers 2-3 times a day to cool themselves down in the blazing heat, more sheets and towels need to be washed, and more tomatoes need to be grown - and washed! - for making 'Greek' salad. 

This photo was used in the local press today to illustrate the problem of water shortages in Hania.

No wonder there is a drought right now, things will right themselves when the summer tourist season is over. There are talks right now of extending the tourist season by one month each end - ie, to include the whole of March and November - which is great news of course in economic terms, but just how prepared are we for this? Just for the record, there is plenty of water available in the region, but it was planned to be used in dire cases of water shortages. I personally don't classify this case as dire; this is simply a case of άρπα-κόλλα - it could have been prevented if there was any serious planning taking into consideration, given the early forecasting of the record-breaking tourist figures for this year.

Bonus photo: simbetherio, cooked by Ntounias last weekend.

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Eating out, vegetarianism and Cretans

Half the PTE examination topics in English as a Second Language which took place in Crete last weekend contained discussions about food. The interlocutor (interviewer) always takes the opposing view of the test takers, in order to test their ability to maintain their point of view in a discussion. One group level was asked:

If you have a special occasion, like a birthday,  is it better to eat at home or in a restaurant? What do you think?

So if they say they prefer to eat at restaurant, we interrupt them and mention that it's much cheaper and more convenient to stay at home, restaurants can be noisy and expensive, you know what you are eating, and you feel more relaxed at home. But if they say they prefer to stay at home, we cut in and tell them that a restaurant makes the celebration more special, the food is more interesting, and it's more relaxing to have someone cook and clean up for you.

No need to ask what nearly all students chose - people now stay at home for dinner, even on special occasions; it's too expensive to go out.

Another group was asked:

Is eating a vegetarian diet healthier for us? What do you think?

If they say that vegetarian diets are healthier for us, we tell them that it's natural to eat meat, meat contains protein, it's not unhealthy when eaten in moderation, and vegetarians generally object to the moral reasons of eating meat, not the health aspects. But it was hardly necessary to be given these arguments in the test script, since this is the view that most Greeks take: despite the fact that meat contains unhealthy fats, vegetarian food keeps you slim, and you can get vitamins and protein from food other than meat, meat was regarded by all the students asked as a necessary food item.

Although Greeks do like to fast for religious reasons, certain "meat" products (like shellfish) are permissible when fasting. So the concept of vegetarianism is not really being embraced in crisis-hit Greece, despite high prices being demanded for meat. A meatless diet is still not part of the Greek culinary identity.

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Full house

It's  International Food Photography Day today!

"Maria, if anyone opened our fridge and saw this, they'd wonder what kind of crisis we were going through," my husband remarked on Monday night.

The contents of the fridge don't hint at an economic crisis, but they hide another one: the only cook in the house doesn't always have time to perform her duties.

The truth is that it's already started to empty. I've managed to clear some space in it the other day when I cooked up the bag of beets (bottom left hand corner), dug out the leeks for a soup (F&V compartment), ate the boureki leftovers (metal vessel) and gave the dog Sunday's leftovers (ceramic vessel). And now that I've prepared the okra (blue bag) and spinach (below the blue bag),we should be set for a pie-making session tonight. But school lunches constantly refill it (eg top left hand corner), and the quince (below the lunch box) will last us throughout the winter - seriously!

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Yemista for the freezer (Γεμιστά για την κατάψυξη)

Yemista are a popular Greek dish in summer. They are a taverna favorite for vegetarians. Yemista consists mainly of rice, which has herbs and spices added (home cooks sometimes add mince, as an alternative to the basic recipe). This mixture is used as stuffing for summer vegetables: mainly tomatoes, eggplant and peppers. Rice doesn't freeze well; although you can freeze it uncooked, the texture will be different to rice cooked freshly. The best way to do this is by preparing the stuffed vegetables and freezing them in the same baking vessel that they will be cooked in. This may take up a lot of space in the freezer.

Stuffed zucchini flowers - from the freezer straight to the oven.

As an alternative, I prefer to carve out the vegetable shells and freeze them empty. The shells are frozen upright, tightly sitting next to each other, in a baking tin, to keep their shape. Once they have frozen solid, they can be taken out of the baking tin and placed in bags, in free spaces in the freezer. The tops of the vegetables, which are used to cap the yemista after they have been stuffed, are also frozen for the same use in the dish.

Frozen pepper and tomato shells - I freeze them upright in a tray, then I place them in a bags.

The tomato juice and flesh can be chopped very finely (I always use a mini food-processor for this) and mixed with some finely chopped onion, parsley and mint. Some (but not all) of the eggplant flesh (again, finely chopped) can also be added to this mixture. To avoid the eggplant flesh browning, you need to work quickly. The quicker eggplant gets frozen after it's cut, the less browning will occur. This mixture is frozen altogether, in appropriate quantities, separately from the vegetable shells.

Frozen yemista mixture - only the rice, olive oil and seasonings need to be added.

When you want to make the yemista (which can be cooked either in the oven or in a pot on the element):
1. Take out the tomato mixture and defrost it.
2. When it has turned liquid, add the appropriate quantity of rice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Take out the vegetable shells from the freezer and place them in the (pyrex or metal) baking vessel.
4. Start filling the vegetable shells immediately, without waiting for them to defrost.
5. Cap each vegetable with its top and continue to prepare the yemista for cooking as for the 'fresh' recipe. 

Yemista made from frozen shells

Don't forget that the shelled vegetables should be of an even size, for best results, in order for them to cook evenly when the time comes to use them. I used a local heirloom variety that produces tennis ball sized round tomatoes.

All the timatoes in this bowl came from the plant on the left hand side.

The basic recipe for yemista can be found here. This recipe can be used for freezing (without the rice, olive oil and seasonings) if you have a large garden that produces excessively, or you like to buy fresh seasonal produce in bulk from a farmer's market, especially towards the end of the season, when the prices are cheaper.

This kind of freezer food makes cooking for the whole family in the winter very easy and painless. 

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Vegetarian Greek cuisine (Χορτοφαγική κουζίνα)

If fasting is very important to you during the Great Lent, then you will want to know how to keep your as food vegan as possible. Greek taverna meals lend themselves very well to this kind of eating, since they are mainly vegetarian, while the meat and cheese part of the menu is often kept separate. Here's an article I originally published through Suite101. 

Traditional Greek food is mainly plant-based and mostly vegetarian, leading to a healthy balanced diet and longevity.

The basis of Greek cuisine is often misunderstood. Most people will associate Greek food with souvlaki, the Greek kebab, which is more of a street food or a tasty snack, rather than with what is being cooked in the homes of most Greek people. Despite the rise in modern times in the consumption of meat for the average Greek due to global forces, the true basis of Greek cuisine lies in a plant-based diet. As Diane Kochilas, a respected Greek food writer, implies: simple dishes based mainly on plants could be the country's most effective goodwill ambassador. This is in fact where the secrets of Greek longevity lie: a plant-based diet, profusely laden with olive oil.

Vegetarian Greek recipes

Many of the most popular meals in Greece are based on a vegetable dish, combined with some form of carbohydrate to add bulk to the meal. Summer favorites include yemista, shelled vegetables (tomato, pepper, eggplant) filled with rice mixed with herbs; fasolakia, string beans cooked in a red sauce, with the addition of chunks of potato; and horta, leafy greens dressed in olive oil and lemon juice, always accompanied by thick slices of freshly baked bread. All such meals are very popular taverna choices too, as they are all considered a staple part in the range of traditional Greek recipes, so tourists will often see them on a menu card. They may sound in essence like easy Greek recipes to make, but when prepared with fresh local seasonal ingredients, these dishes are very hard to beat in terms of taste.

Vegan soups and beans in the winter

In the winter, bean soups are a regular feature of the weekly meals cooked at home: there are few homes in the whole country that won’t be enjoying a hearty Greek bean soup every week. Does that sound boring? Not if there are so many different beans to base a soup on! The most popular Greek bean soups are fasolada, made of dry white beans, cooked in a tomato-based soup, together with carrots and celery, and fa-kes (φακες), a simple lentil soup cooked in tomato or with rice. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), known as revithia, are often cooked together with spinach or other leafy greens in a lemon-based (or tomato) soup, similarly to black-eyed beans (mavromatika). The Greek version of baked beans, gigandes, is the main bean dish served at almost all Greek tavernas throughout the year.

Endless variety

A plant-based diet cannot be criticized for its lack of variety because there is simply no lack of edible plants in Greece, due to the temperate climatic conditions which allow almost any fruit and vegetable to be propagated successfully. In the past when fasting was more commonly practiced, according to the religious calendar of the Greek Orthodox church, half the year was actually reserved for Lenten meals, when dairy and meat products are not consumed. Therefore, all the meals would have been mainly vegan, with the exception of shellfish (which was not necessarily accessible to everyone, at any rate).

All vegetarians, whether they include dairy in their diet or if they are completely vegan, will be able to find a tasty balanced meal to choose from in the range of meals that make up traditional Greek cuisine.

(This article was originally published at Suite101).

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Fasting for Easter (Νηστεία)

Greek food is a seasonal affair. Greek people, whether they live in Greece or abroad, generally like to enjoy meals that represent the time of year. This may be in the form of the seasonal produce grown in the area where they live. But there is another way to enjoy the food of the season, and that is to eat according to the seasonal traditions dictated by the festival calendar. These are usually based on religious festivals. Among the many examples, the most well-known are salt cod on March 25 and Palm Sunday, lamb for Easter, pig for Christmas, xerotigana for (Cretan) weddings, and shellfish on Clean Monday. No one feels obliged to eat according to past traditions, but most Greeks like to do this because it keeps them close to their customs and homeland, especially when they don't live in Greece. For instance, you may not be able to go to a Greek Orthodox church on a festival day if you live abroad: it may be a working day there, and some religious festivals like Clean Monday are immovable, while others will be celebrated on the nearest Sunday before the actual festival. But when you leave work on the feast day, you may want to eat the traditional meal for that day with other fellow Greeks. I remember this feeling well when I was growing up in New Zealand.

Bean soups and stews are very popular right throughout the year in Greece, especially during fasting periods, when beans provide the main form of protein.

We're now approaching the middle of one of the most significant fasting periods in Greece, Great Lent, the 50 days preceding the Christian Orthodox Easter. This period is traditionally associated with Greek Orthodox fasting, νηστεία (nistia), ie abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, cheese and fish products (shellfish - including snails - excluded, because they are considered to be bloodless). Such strict fasting for 50 days sounds like a long time time to go completely vegan, especially when you aren't a vegan on principle, eating only lenten foods, which are called nistisima in Greek. Forget the idea of cooking and eating shellfish on a regular basis: it's expensive, and it may not be to everyone's liking. So how do Greek people keep the fast at this time?

Clean Monday 2011: The importance of maintaining Greek food traditions cannot be underestimated. Every year on Clean Monday, my blog receives TWICE the average number of hits on any other day; this does NOT happen on any other day for my blog, not even for Easter, which has a longer period of preparation than Clean Monday. This shows the importance of the culinary aspect of the Greek identity, especially for Greeks abroad.

The simple answer is that they generally don't. Fasting isn't kept in absolute terms by all people in Greece; it never was. Fasting for Easter (and Christmas, which involves a 40-day fast in the Christian Orthodox calendar) was a useful way to help people ration food during periods of food shortages. The rule was created by a religious authority, which used to exert a greater amount of power over people's subconscious in the past. What started off as a rule for the purposes of food management is seen in a different light in modern times: fasting is good for you because it helps you to maintain a nutritional balance. This is the modern meaning of fasting, a form of detox, if you prefer.

During summer, I am inundated with zucchini, so I turn them into different kinds of food that don't resemble each other, to relieve the boredom of appearing to be eating the same food on a daily basis. This meal can be considered to be quite a filling vegan dinner (excluding the muffins, which contain eggs). From top anti-clockwise: horta, kolokithokeftedes (zucchini patties),  zucchini dip, chocolate zucchini muffins.

Greeks may not follow the strict rule of a 50-day fast* from Clean Monday until Easter Sunday, but it is highly unlikely that they won't be attempting some sort of fast during that time. There are a number of ways to do this, as attested by this list of fasting tips, which show you how to fast during Great Lent without actually fasting the whole period:

1. By not eating meat during the entire fasting period, with no restrictions on dairy produce; this is not so hard to do, especially nowadays when eating meat isn't as fashionable as it once was for health reasons.
2. By fasting according to the strict religious rules in the first week of Lent (ie immediately after Clean Monday), and/or the last week of Lent (ie Holy Week, the seven days preceding Easter Sunday); most people like to follow this rule.
3. Wednesdays and Fridays are regarded as significant fasting days throughout the Orthodox calendar year, so many people fast according to the religious rules on those days alone throughout the fasting period (Wednesday in remembrance of the betrayal of Christ, and Friday in remembrance of the crucifixion), with no restrictions on other days in the fasting period; many people like to follow this rule too. Monks also fast in this way on Mondays, a day dedicated to the Angels.

What all this amounts to is that fasting is seen as important, without impeding on the getting-on with one's daily life in an ever-changing world. There are still people who will choose to fast throughout the 50-day period (eg monks, nuns, older people - women in particular, people who have 'promised' an offering to God through prayers as a way to ask for a favour by vowing to fast), but this is not the general rule. Souvlaki shops don't close down during this period, for instance; at the same time, all tavernas offer 'nistisima' meals all year round in deference to those who wish to fast, not necessarily during a religious fasting period but also for personal reasons. (It isn't always polite to ask people about their reasons for doing this.)

Greek lenten meals are so colourful and nutritionally balanced that it's highly unlikely you'll feel as though you are eating with constraints: Cretan snail stew, spanakorizo (spinach rice) and lettuce salad.

The golden rule is that, whichever way you choose to fast, never make it sound like a big deal:
«Και όταν νηστεύετε, μη γίνεστε όπως οι υποκριτές σκυθρωποί, γιατί αφήνουν άπλυτα τα πρόσωπά τους, για να φανούν στους ανθρώπους πως νηστεύουν.» (From the New Testament: Matthew, 6:18).
(And when you fast, do not become sullen like the hypocrites, because they leave their faces unwashed to appear to others that they are fasting.)

In our house, most of the weekdays in the year are meatless ones; the meals cooked are usually vegan, supplemented by a dairy product: eg horta served with boiled eggs, beans served with cheese. We don't eat much meat during the week, but with no restrictions on milk and cheese. Weekends are when we have more time to cook, and Sundays are generally regarded as the day we will enjoy a home-cooked meat dish. This is our way to achieve a nutritional balance. It may look like we are 'fasting' for half the year by doing this, but this should not come as any surprise: if you add up the number of fasting days within the Greek Orthodox church calendar, there are about 180; that's half a calendar year!

Summer vegetables (bell peppers, eggplant and zucchini flowers) stuffed with herbed rice: my favorite Greek vegan - lenten - meal.

At any rate, it's impossible not to find something nutritiously satisfying and tasty within the range of Greek cuisine; with so many vegetarian - and often vegan - options, there's something for everyone. After all, Greek cuisine is based primarily on vegetarian cuisine, a point which a Greek newspaper completely missed when it published a report on the impact of a vegetarian diet on an adopted child.

UPDATE: It's always good to have empirical data to back up whatever you say. You can ask people if they do or don't fast, but you always have to be wary of their answers (ie how truthful they are). I was amused when I was asked if I was fasting recently, just after I picked up a language teacher's handout before a 5-hour training session (where snacks were going to be served). "No," I replied, and the secretary noted it on the list of names, which consisted of 26 people (all women - it's a characteristic feature of language teachers). On the day of the training session, I found out that only 3 people had the word 'NAI' (YES) next to their name, while 2 more had ΟΧΙ ΚΡΕΑΣ (ΝΟ ΜΕΑΤ); all the others were not fasting. Demographic variables like age and sex have played a large role in predicting who fasts, but even this is now slowly waning (my 87-year-old mother-in-law surprised me this year:not even she is fasting like she used to).

* The fasting period of Great Lent is wrongly assumed to be 40 days in length, from the (misleading) Greek word σαρακοστή (sarakosti), meaning '40 days'. A lot of people, including Greeks in Greece, get confused with the number of fasting days too. It helps to have a Kira Sarakosti hanging in your kitchen (more information in this article).

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I don't do greens (Όχι πράσινα για μένα)

My son reminds me every now and then, when I offer him a piece of garden fresh cucumber that has been placed in the fridge and is more refreshing than a glass of water on a hot day, or a serving of freshly prepared horta or salad, or a vegetarian zucchini pattie, that he doesn't do greens, or reds, or purples, or yellows for that matter, because when it comes to fruit and vegetables, he is a picky eater. He generally likes his food white: plain servings of rice, bread, pasta and potatoes are his favorite meals, with olive oil and cheese his favorite condiments. Coloured food reminds him of the marker pens he uses when he does drawings. He claims that vegetables have been artificially coloured; nature's colours are more representative of true colour than any hi-tech graphics.

The other day, I was doing some creative cookery for a friend. I recycled some of my old recipes to make some cupcakes. I got the idea of using different cake batters to create an interesting effect, both visually and taste-wise, from some 'hamburger' cupcakes which I had seen on the web. The cupcakes I wanted to make for my friend had to conform to a number of features:

• they must be easy to make
• they must contain natural colouring agents
• they must contain ingredients known in Greek cooking
• they can be promoted as 'healthy'
• they must be visually different from the average cupcake

I came up with the idea of using olive oil (a Greek ingredient) instead of margarine or butter, in a basic cupcake mixture (easy to make), using fruit and vegetables (healthy) to give flavour and colour (natural), with the use of layering cake batters to make them visually different.

The cupcakes turned out quite dense and filling: for this reason, when I perfect the recipe, I will make them in smaller patty cases. The visual appearance of the cupcake was supposed to show three different coloured layers, but this didn't work out for me, even though the three different cake batters were all made from different ingredients; before the batter was cooked, they each had their own distinct colour: red (cocoa and beetroot), yellow (banana) and brown (cocoa and zucchini).

I rarely cook these days without thinking about the health value of the food I will be preparing. Any mother will tell you how difficult it is to ensure that children are eating healthy meals, even if they do not eat outside the home environment, like my own children. A word of advice: don't let the kids watch you making these cupcakes. It's best to keep some things secret.

Now you see me, now you don't; the beetroot batter was clearly distinguishable from the zucchini batter before being cooked, but not afterwards - can you spot the beetroot cupcakes among the cooked ones?

I was disappointed: to create something as healthy as I desired, I realised that I would have to risk reducing the amount of cocoa in the vegetable mixtures, so that the colours of the vegetables would be more visible. Apart from the few green shavings of zucchini on the top of the cupcakes that did not manage to remain camouflaged by the cocoa powder, the cooked beetroot and zucchini batters were not distinguishable to the untrained eye.

Fruit and vegetable cupcakes: the bottom layer has beetroot and cocoa, the middle layer contains banana, and the top layer has zucchini and cocoa.

I ended up with a small amount of grated zucchini and beetroot, left over from the different cake batters, so I made another 'chocolate' cake, adding both vegetables to the same batter. From the visual cupcake experience, I decided that there will be little difference in the taste if I threw the beetroot and zucchini mixtures into the same cake batter.

I was right. This cake proved immensely popular this summer with my "I don't do greens" man.

"I don't do greens," he insisted. "I know," I assured him.

This kind of cake mixture gives a rather dense batter, using only two eggs. The grated vegetables make it heavier than other cakes. By controlling the amount of baking soda/powder used, the cake will rise accordingly - less for cupcakes, more for a cake. This is important if you don't want to create an overspill effect in the paper patty cases, to give a more professional look to your cupcakes. My only problem with the taste is that this kind of cake does not turn out very sweet; I didn't use more than the stated sugar amount for my chocolate zucchini cake.

Most people will complain that the cake tastes more like a chocolate bread than a cake. This is why this kind of cake makes a good breakfast meal; a piece of cake with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee will keep you going all morning. To make it a little healthier, I added a cup of muesli (which I renamed 'cornflakes' to the children) to the batter, making this cake a truly healthy breakfast meal. This cake replaced the usual 'cocopops in milk' bowl; how many kids do you know that get up in the morning and have a serving of beetroot, zucchini and muesli mixed into their bread?!

If the cake is going to be served as part of an afternoon tea or dessert, it needs to be accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or a syrup. I topped it with a chocolate syrup made in the same way (without adding the egg yolks) as for my chocolate boiled cake (hence the slightly glazed look on the top of the cake).

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Fresh (Φρέσκο)

Could you teach your child to do this? And what is it exactly that these kids are eating?

(Watch the little girl eating something else.)

Jamie Oliver could show this photo to some other children to once more 'prove' that they don't know their greens, the way he did in West Virginia recently, when he showed a child a potato and asked it if it was a tomato (or was it the other round? I can't remember). Just as long as he knows it's an artichoke (and these kids are eating the leaf tips). It's always been a tough job trying to teach children to eat their greens (whether the vegetables are greens or red or yellow or purple) - and it's also difficult to get children to eat things that they are unfamiliar with - remember the Pakistani restaurant episode?

But I'm also wondering whether Jamie led those poor lost souls on in such a way that they would have given him the wrong answer, no matter what he asked them, even if they did in fact know the right answer. Were those young children psychologically attuned to giving a positive response (ie a YES answer) to all of Jamie's questions, regardless of the phrasing, content or intention, because they thought that this was what was expected of them? The 'expected' answer is viewed positively, while giving a different response is viewed as taboo, wrong, bad, something like chickening out.

This reminds me of my daughter learning the timestables, and how I'd trick her every now and then to make sure she was really understanding what she was doing instead of learning it off by heart. After we'd written out the timestables in numerical order, and then in random order, and finally in jumbled form, so that she had to think hard about the answer and count on her fingers if she couldn't remember it off by heart, I asked her:

"What's zero times three?"

She looked at me blankly. "That's not in the timestable."

"No," I answered, "but you know the answer, don't you?"

Her look hinted at uncertainty. "Zero?" she asked, not replied, because she was now stumped; I had thrown her off course.

"Are you sure?" I asked her, just to confuse her even more.

Again, a distrusting look. "Yyyyyeeeessss..."

"OK, so what's three times zero, then?"

Now she was really stumped.I decided to give her a hint."You know the answer to zero times three, now give me the answer to three times zero."

"Aaaaaaah, what did we say that was again?"

"You work it out, like you did last time." Tough mummy. But she got the positive response she wanted to get - that she was somehow 'correct' the last time she gave me the answer.

"Zero?" she asked, again with hesitation in her voice.

"Are YOU sure?" Very tough mummy.

"Mmmmmmm, nnnnoooo."

Before I did any more damage that day, I gave her the answer and congratulated her on knowing her timestables. But she's still wondering why I confuse her every now and again.

*** *** ***

Maybe those Huntington kids were just following the leader (ie copying the first child's answer, which may unfortunately have been the wrong answer), because of that human tendency that shows up in all human beings at one time or other, to simply follow the sheep at the front: remember the "four feet good, two feet bad" chant?

I think that probably what was happening, as it usually does at such a young age, when children's logic and confidence skills are still in their infancy and not very well developed, is that the children were expecting to be rewarded for giving the answer that they thought was expected of them, regardless whether they knew the right or wrong answer.

There's also the other issue of not knowing how to make a connection between the raw food and the cooked food, the lack of experience in the kitchen as well as the shopping, all of which may lead us to believe that Jamie might have a point after all, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Here's a slideshow of some old photographs from my collection presented in a new way. It makes a good teaching tool for school teachers to get kids talking about food preparation and the processing of ingredients.

*** *** ***

TASK: Ask children to think about the food they eat, and to see if they can name the ingredients that are needed to prepare the meals/dishes they mention. To simplify matters, ask them to think only about the fruit and/or vegetables in the meal (but make sure to omit the meat: it is a trickier task).

Now show them the slideshow, and ask them if they recognise what each plant is.

Then ask the children to think about where each ingredient in their chosen meal comes from, and if they have actually seen it themselves growing on a tree/plant.

Finally, get the students to think about what happened to this fresh product once it was harvested (ie in what ways it was processed), before it could be used in the meal they mentioned.

We all love the idea of fresh, but just how fresh is what we eat?

When we get it in our hands, what do we have to do with it before we can eat it?

This exercise can be used in classrooms that are equipped with online tools, so it's not possible to use it in most Greek schools at the moment; Mr P has promised this to us in the next teaching year - let's see...

Use WH- words to make up questions (which can be tailored for younger through to older pupils):
eg WHO eats these vegetables? WHO grows these vegetables? WHERE are they grown? WHAT meals use these vegetables, WHEN are they grown? WHICH are preferable for certain meals? HOW are they grown? etc.

The children may also use their own cameras to create their own set of fruit and vegetable photos, perhaps as they watch their parents cooking, or doing the shopping, or gardening. If these activities aren't done by the parents, then you've got a problem on your hands, I suppose; they could photograph some of their meals, and then work out what was in them using these pictures and other ideas you give them.


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French fries (Πατάτες τηγανιτές)

I'm now down to counting the days before I get to the Ministry of Food exhibition. On the opening night of the exhibition, one of the invited guests, a VIP in the older age group, recalled eating a lot of potatoes during the period when food rationing was enforced in Britain, during the second world war.

Have you ever seen the potato plant? From the soil to the table...

"Digging for victory? Never 'eard of it," said my uncle, when I told him about the little trip we were going to take, and what we intended to do when we went there. "We dug to eat, not to conquer; still do, in fact." Even now, he continues to dig, because that's what he's done most of his life, and old habits die hard. As a retired senior citizen, Uncle can enjoy his hobby full time, but this work was never just a hobby. After a few years working in New Zealand, he returned to the village, bought a pick-up truck and set up a business with his brother. They ran the village μπακαλομανάβικο (bakalomanaviko - a combination of μπακάλι 'grocer' and μανάβι 'greengrocer') for two decades "until everyone started going to the supermarket and no one bought anything from the small shops any more," he tells me. They sold everything a typical village shop sold with one difference - they did not buy everything from wholesalers: they grew large quantities of fresh produce on their own land and sold it. You cannot get more local. These small shops still exist in the village, but in a new form: they are more likely to sell sweets, savoury snacks and newspapers rather than fresh produce.

Uncle enjoys his greens more than anything else. He never sits down to eat without a salad. If he is too busy to cook a meal - like during the olive picking season - then a salad will constitute the main meal of the day. "They're not to everyone's liking, but I've always liked my greens," he proudly admits, "and they're not always green," he reminded me. In the summer, he grows row upon row of tomatoes, while in the winter, there are lots of potato patches. Everything is used in some way: it may be eaten, preserved, frozen, or fed to the chickens, rabbit and sheep that he keeps on the farm - yes, even animals want their fresh veggies! A small quantity of what he grows is also sold to the small shops in the area for further selling to consumers when there is demand. But a lot of what Uncle grows is for his own home. He doesn't mind if it doesn't all get eaten - this is his hobby.

His growing interests have developed to a different level from what he used to grow for his business and personal needs. Now he grows things that aren't known or ever grown or even sold in the local shops: finnochio (fennel bulb) is imported from Italy, while kohlrabi and brocoflower (calabrese) are never even seen on the market. If he wasn't growing them, I would never have seen or tasted these vegetables myself, especially in the Mediterranean island where I live where these vegetables are still considered very exotic. Some of his starter plants and seeds are bought (like potatos), but he also saves seeds from one year to the next; some of his seeds have been used in the family for the last thirty years, as heirloom varieties. He is also given seeds by friends who have travelled and bring back seed with them for their own gardens.

He grows a variety of chili peppers, but he doesn't use them himself. "They're very pretty to look at, those pepper plants, with their different shapes and colours and sizes." The only flowers he keeps are some some rose bushes by the path leading to the entrance to the house, but that's mainly for sentimental reasons - his mother had planted them fifty years ago. Aside from the plants, there are also a few chickens and rabbits, and a couple of sheep for the family meat. Thirty years ago, he kept sheep and goats for milking and making curd cheese; he doesn't do this any more, because it's not easy to maintain animals in what was once a rural area which is now becoming increasingly more urban, making it difficult to find grazing ground.

I spotted a small crate on the ground filled with what looked like baby potatoes. "Are these for animal feed, Uncle?" The potatoes looked small and dark, with hairy roots sprouting out of them.

"Oh, they're not for eating, those ones, they're potato seed," he explained, "these are μάνες (literally 'mothers'), from Holland, a good variety, it's always important to plant a good variety of potatoes," he advises me, "for a good crop and a large yield."

Just across from the crate, near the water tap where the soil is separated from the cemented yard lay some tired looking stalky fronds. Into this small patch of ground, measuring no more than two-by-two meters, he had buried into the earth some of last season's golf-ball sized potato crops, "just for a laugh," he joked, "to see what would sprout out of them." Whenever he feels like some french fries, he digs up a few for a meal.

Just digging...

"Shall we fry some up now, for the young 'uns?"

"Yes," I said, "and for the older ones, too." There can't be many people who don't like freshly prepared french fries, made from real potato, and cooked in olive oil. He dug up a few of the potatoes - "don't use the μάνα, and always look out for rotten one!" - washed them in a bucket by the tap, scraped the skin off - "that's what fresh potatoes are like, you don't need to peel them" - and cut them into chips using a potato chip cutter. Must get one of those, I thought.

During this time, the children had been having the time of their lives: chasing chickens in the coop, collecting bits of stones and sticks in the garden: burying olive pips in the earth and then watering them by filling up water bottle: "they're going to grow into a tree, aren't they, Mum?" They were now hungry. We moved into the kitchen, where Uncle had just set a pan with olive oil on the gas cooker.

"Open the fridge," he beckoned to them as he poured the chips into the pan. "Take out the cheese, oh, and would you like to try some good feta?" He brought out a loaf of bread and sliced it, then he found some walnuts in a jar and put a few on a plate. There were some rusks and a plate of olives already on the table. He poured some olive oil over a slice of feta cheese. "Want some wine to go with that?" he asked them jokingly.

From the farm to the table (and then some)...

Uncle was a war baby; he was only a few months old in the year of the Battle of Crete. Although he did not live through the roughest years of the period of time that was marked in Athens by the Greek famine, life for him as a young schoolchild was never a picnic. Living in a mountainous village for the first two decades of his life, he has always been used to hard work. The good thing now is that, although hard work is still needed, there are many good tools and equipment available to make life easier. He told me that the garden will be ploughed soon (by machine) in preparation for the summer garden.

"If you want to pick some spinach, there's plenty for the taking, it's only going to get mulched next week," he informed me. So off I went into the garden and picked not just spinach, but a fennel bulb to cook with cuttlefish, some celery for bean stew, red lettuce for a salad, chili peppers for a more adventurous (and admittedly slightly off the Mediterranean track) meal, and finally a bag full of lemons from the tree. Luckily I had two crates in the boot ready to receive my stash.

When I had finished my harvesting, the chips were done and the children were eating. "These ones taste better than the ones we make at home, Mum." I wonder why...

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Chocolate beetroot muffins (Κεκάκια με μπατζάρι)

In the summer, I don't mind making as much chocolate cake as my kids can get enough of, because I always add grated zucchini and mashed banana into the mixture. It's like they are getting their fruit and vegetable 5-a-day intake all in one. The kids have no idea what they are eating - it looks and tastes like chocolate cake. In the winter, I can't do this because, for a start, the zucchini season is over, and secondly, because I don't freeze any zucchini - my deep freeze can't handle any more bric-a-brac, what with one compartment completely filled with kalitsounia, another two compartments jammed with tins of ready-to-cook moussaka, boureki and papoutsakia, and the usual deep-freeze staples. My kids often wonder why I stop making chocolate cake; they think it's a seasonal food product.

Now I needn't worry, since I discovered beetroot and chocolate cake, via two other bloggers, Jo and Nic. Beetroot is available all year round, like other tuber vegetables, carrots, potatoes, and so on. But they are not commonly made into anything more interesting in Crete than a boiled salad. Recently, beetroot mixed with yoghurt (similar to tzatziki dip) has been seen being used here and there around the town, but that's about it.

The purple tinge of the processed beetroot adds another dimension to these muffins, which do not taste of beetroot at all. The purple colour in the batter fades away when the muffins are cooked - no one will now how these chocolate muffins retained their moisture! Just make them when no one is looking - and get rid of all the evidence, like purple stains on your benchtop, knife and fingers.

For a dozen good-sized muffins, you need only a few simple ingredients. I adapted the recipes from the other bloggers' links (above) and came to the following ingredients list:
a glass of oil (we only use olive oil in our house)
a cup of sugar
2 vials of vanilla sugar
5 small beetroot bulbs, boiled and pureed in a blender
half a cup of walnuts processed in the blender (this is optional: you can substitute this with chocolate drops, raisins or other dried or fresh berry fruit like blueberries and cranberries, or even walnut chunks)
100g cooking chocolate, melted (I also added 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in order to ensure that the chocolate flavour would emanate from the muffins and no one would be able to guess the vegetable addition)
2 eggs
300g self-raising flour
Place the oil, sugar, vanilla sugar and pureed beetroot (and walnuts, if using) in a bowl, and mix well. Add the melted chocolate and mix again. Beat in each egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour and beat into the batter, making sure that the batter remains smooth. I preferred to add the flour in slowly, stopping when the batter resembled porridge. If the mixture feels too dry, add some a few drops of milk to smooth it out. Pour into a prepared muffin tin (or into cupcake casings) and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into one of the muffins.

Making beetroot and chocolate muffins is like getting two meals out of one cooking process. Beetroot in Greece is sold with the lovely green frond on the top of the head, and these are actually eaten too, something that surprises a lot of people who are used to seeing beetroot being sold only as a bulb. It is turned into the most delicious horta dish, dressed in olive oil and vinegar. So when you boil your beetroot for the muffins, use the tubers for your muffins and set aside the red stalks and green leaves for a salad.

A word of warning: beetroot juice doesn't create a red, crimson or even pink dye for Easter eggs - they go brown, as I discovered when I tried an experiment a few Easters ago!

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The Mediterranean diet (Η Μεσογειακή διατροφή)

I rarely get my food cooked for me, and it is a real treat when I even get it served to my table. It's just the same with my writing. I write everything I post on my blog myself, but today, I'm going to present something to you that has been written especially for my blog by someone else. Coming from a Greek background, I can personally attest to the many health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. So can other Greeks, especially those who work in the health sector, where nutrition and holistic health are part of their work, so it only makes sense that I should introduce them in my blog. Matt Papa has been working as a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the School of Medicine in Washington University (St Louis, Missouri) since he got his Ph. D. from Patras University in Greece. Thankfully, his hard work has paid off as he was awarded two research grants from the American Heart Association to study the role of coagulation factors in cardiovascular diseases. Part of the results of this ongoing work have already been published in peer-reviewed journals. Here is what he has to say about the Mediterranean diet. He validates his claims with references that can be traced to scientific studies.

Over the last twenty years, more and more people around the world have adopted the Mediterranean Diet (MD) into their lifestyle. The MD’s association with longevity is supported by extended clinical research. Several studies have demonstrated that those who adhere to the principles of the MD are likely to experience a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer, and feel a lower impact of menopause and age-related cognitive decline.

The MD is a nutritional model that is based on the dietary values of those living in the Mediterranean basin, namely Southern Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Portugal and Turkey. Back in 1966, the World Health Organization led a thirty-year study that noted the health and nutrition of 13,000 participants aged 40-59 [1]. The study concluded that Cretan men (people who live in the Greek island of Crete) had particularly low risk rates associated with heart disease and a longer life expectancy.* This stimulated interest around the world in the MD.

The MD is not really a diet in the sense that it is not a weight loss plan. It is a nutritional model, a summary of the patterns of food and drink as observed around the Mediterranean basin. The MD itself is about eating healthy food in moderation. Main meals are made up primarily of whole grains and minimally processed foods, like couscous, pasta and legumes, fresh seasonal vegetables and moderate amounts of fish, poultry and eggs. Plenty of fresh fruit is also consumed along with a moderate amount of nuts. Low amounts of dairy, comprising of cheese and yogurt, are also included. Sweets including pastries, ice cream and cookies are eaten at infrequent intervals and red meat less often. Red wine is often consumed with meals, but usually not more than one or two glasses a day.

LONGEVITY: There is no one feature of the MD that will help you live longer. Instead, there are several beneficial components that work together to promote health and vitality. Across the board, many studies have shown that those who adhere to the MD experience longevity. One of the largest scale studies into the health benefits of the MD was the European Perspective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), which assessed a population sample across nine countries in relation to health and the MD. This study found that those who follow the diet live longer than those who don’t [2]. In America, the MD has been shown to have a similar effect on longevity. In 1995 the US National Institute of Health-AARP surveyed 3.5 million people across America on their dietary habits and followed their progress. Those who followed the MD were 20% less likely to have died from heart disease or cancer over a period of 10 years [3].

CORONARY DISEASE: What do they all have in common? Well, all of them are the biggest killers in America today. While genetics play a role in all of the diseases listed above, environmental factors, such as diet, have a huge impact on your risk factor for developing these illnesses. The MD lowers the risk factor for all of these diseases. Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer in America today. In 2006, over 80,000,000 people suffered a form of cardiovascular disease including heart attack, stroke, hypertension or heart disease [4]. It has been observed that a low fat diet that consists of unprocessed foods dramatically reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Interestingly, studies have shown that the MD reduces this risk even further. The EPIC study assessed the effect of adherence to the MD (through a 10-unit scale) on survival among people 60 years old or older who had suffered myocardial infarction. Those who increased their adherence to the MD by 2 units showed an 18% lower overall mortality rate than those who did not [5].

BLOOD PRESSURE: Following the MD can also reduce hypertension (high blood pressure). Nutrition is recognized as a contributing factor to hypertension. Increasing fruit and vegetables to the diet and cutting out salty snacks, and foods high in saturated fat, will make drastic changes to those who suffer from hypertension. It has been noted that the MD, in particular the frequent use of olive oil, substantially reduced the levels of blood pressure in Greek males [6]. In the EPIC cohort it was noted that eating plenty of fresh vegetables and olive oil correlated with low blood pressure.

METABOLIC SYBDROME (METS): METS is diagnosed in a person that displays 3 out of 5 characteristics associated with a high risk factor for cardiovascular disease. These are an increased waist circumference, elevated triglycerides, reduced HDL (good cholesterol), hypertension and elevated fasting glucose levels. It is estimated that 50,000,000 Americans are currently suffering from the metabolic syndrome. Studies have demonstrated that the MD reduces the METS across a population. The ATTICA study reported that a diet, like the MD, which includes a good amount of Omega-3 fatty acids, low amounts of trans and saturated fats and high amounts of grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, drastically reduces the clinical and biological markers linked to the METS [7].

CANCER: Many of the foods that make up the MD are known to have anti-carcinogenic properties. Tomatoes, which are used quite a lot in Greek, Italian and Spanish cooking, contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, which has shown to reduce the risk of some cancers [8]. Also, the presence of fish in the diet shows a correlation with lowered incidences of cancer. The presence of wholegrain foods reduces the risk of developing malignant tumors in the body. A high intake of fruit and vegetables is also associated with a lowered risk of many cancers occurring.

WEIGHT LOSS: An estimated 30-50% of the population in the United States is regarded as obese and more so as overweight. With the high risk factors of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease associated with being overweight, working towards a healthy BMI (Body Mass Index) is more important than ever. Making the MD a part of your life can help you lower and control your weight. An antidote to many of the fad diets that have gained popularity in recent years, the MD is a healthy and sustainable way to achieve good health and lose weight at the same time. In Spain, those who followed the Mediterranean Diet were more likely to have a healthy BMI. The same study found that women who combined the MD diet with a light exercise program lost significant weight over a four-month period [9].

BONE METABOLISM: Across the Mediterranean there is a lower incidence of osteoporosis than in other parts of the world. This is considered to be in part due to dietary habits. A diet high in fruits and grains is thought to improve bone metabolism. Research has shown that an increase in fruit consumption prevents calcium loss from bones [10].

MEMORY: Foods that are rich in antioxidants have proven to be beneficial to the central nervous system, helping neuron function throughout the body. Specifically, the MD helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease, and even helps lessen the severity of the condition for those who already suffer from this ailment [11].

Perhaps the most celebrated and well-documented aspect of the Mediterranean diet is the olive oil, which comes from the tree Olea europea. For centuries, olive oil has been an important part of the Mediterranean lifestyle. In Roman times, many people considered eating animal meat the act of barbarian nomads, and instead got their protein and fat requirements from fish and olive oil. Olive oil is a natural juice with hundreds of micro-components of biological significance. It contains high amounts of antioxidants and mono-unsaturated fatty acids, which are known to decrease cholesterol levels as well as discourage inflammation and protect from cardiovascular disease.

Over 1/5 of the weight of our brain is made up of fatty acids, 20% of them being omega-3 DHA. Consumption of fish has been linked to brain and cardiovascular health. It has been suggested that a high intake of the unsaturated fatty acids contained in fish, as opposed to consumption of saturated fats, can improve cognitive performance. The omega-3 fatty acids, contained in sardines and anchovies, have anti-inflammatory and vasodilatory properties.

Fruit and vegetable intake is also important. The antioxidant content of fresh fruits and vegetables has been shown to protect against heart disease and cancer. Specifically, the lycopene in tomatoes, which are a big part of the MD, has shown to ameliorate hypertension and cardiovascular disease, protect the skin from the harmful UV rays and lower the risk of many chronic diseases.

Wine, in particular red wine, is healthy for the heart. This fact has been well publicized over the last decade. It is noteworthy that studies into the benefits of wine have all reflected that intake should be in moderation. Once you increase your consumption past two glasses a day you start to lose the benefits.

Nuts are also an important part of the MD as another source of unsaturated fat. In a recent study, it was found that those who met the criteria for the METS helped alleviate symptoms by consuming roughly 30g of mixed nuts per day.

Sweet made from grape must

It remains unknown how the traditional MD increases life expectancy. Is it the antioxidants in the fresh fruits and vegetables? The polyphenols in the red wine? The healthy fats in fish, olive oil and nuts? The siesta (afternoon nap), which has been inversely associated with coronary mortality, or the exposure to sunlight? It is probably a combination of all these.

CONCLUSION: One of the most important studies on the “longevity” effect of the MD was conducted in 2004 by Dr Knoops and his group. They published the results of the HALE (Healthy Aging: a Longitudinal study in Europe) project. People who followed the MD had at least a 20% lower chance of dying over a 10-year period than those who were not on such a diet. And this was independent of their age, gender or body weight [12].

REFERENCES:
1. Keys A, Aravanis C, Blackburn HW, et al. Epidemiological studies related to coronary heart disease: characteristics of men aged 40–59 in seven countries. Acta Med Scand Suppl 1966; 460: 1–392.
2. Trichopoulou A, Orfanos P, Norat T, et al. Modified Mediterranean diet and survival: EPIC-elderly prospective cohort study. BMJ 2005; 330: 991.
3. Mitrou PN, Kipnis V, Thiébaut AC, et al. Mediterranean dietary pattern and prediction of all-cause mortality in a US population: results from the NIHAARP Diet and Health Study. Arch Intern Med 2007; 167: 2461–8.
4. American Heart Association
5. Trichopoulou A, Bamia C, Norat T, et al. Modified Mediterranean diet and survival after myocardial infarction: the EPIC-Elderly study. Eur J Epidemiol 2007; 22: 871–81.
6. Psaltopoulou T, Naska A, Orfanos P, Trichopoulos D, Mountokalakis T, Trichopoulou A. Olive oil, the Mediterranean diet, and arterial blood pressure: the Greek European Prospective Investigation
7. Panagiotakos DB, Pitsavos C, Skoumas Y, Stefanadis C. The association between food patterns and the metabolic syndrome using principal components analysis: the ATTICA study. J Am Diet Assoc 2007; 107: 979–87.
8. Unlu NZ, Bohn T, Francis DM, Nagaraja HN, Clinton SK, Schwartz SJ. Lycopene from heat-induced cis-isomer-rich tomato sauce is more bioavailable than from all-trans-rich tomato sauce in human subjects. Br J Nutr 2007; 98: 140–6.
9. Schröder H, Marrugat J, Vila J, Covas MI, Elosua R. Adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet is inversely associated with body mass index and obesity in a Spanish population. J Nutr 2004; 134: 3355–61.
10. Prynne CJ, Mishra GD, O’Connell MA, et al. Fruit and vegetable intakes and bone mineral status: a cross sectional study in five age and sex cohorts. Am J Clin Nutr 2006; 83: 1420–8.
11. Scarmeas N, Luchsinger JA, Mayeux R, Stern Y. Mediterranean diet and Alzheimer disease mortality. Neurology 2007; 69: 1084–93.
12. Knoops KT, de Groot LC, Kromhout D, et al. Mediterranean diet, lifestyle factors, and 10-year mortality in elderly European men and women: the HALE project. JAMA 2004; 292: 1433–9.

About the Author: Matt Papa, PhD, is a research fellow at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. Matt believes in sustaining a healthy lifestyle though nutrition and exercise. Born and raised in Greece, he has enjoyed the Mediterranean Diet his whole life, and also seen the benefits it provides first-hand. In his free time, Matthew develops his website where he provides information on best rated weight loss programs and offers a coupon for the Medifast diet. He also publishes articles on various weight loss procedures such as the intragastric balloon procedure in Texas.

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.