Youvarlakia soup (Γιουβαρλάκια σούπα)

Youvarlakia is Greece's version of a meatball soup, most commonly made with white sauce, although you will also see it made occasionally with tomato. The dish basically consists of meatballs boiled in a light water-based broth, with egg and lemon juice beaten into it once the meatballs are cooked. I make youvarlakia about once a month in the winter period. Since the kids have become avid vegetable eaters, I now add a lot of vegetables to the soup, together with the meatballs, and our youvarlakia soup turns into a very hearty and less meaty meal. My recent youvarlakia variation turned out to be the most popular version of the dish to date.

For the meatballs, you need:
1 kg minced beef (or pork, or a mixture of beef and pork)
1 large onion, finely grated
2-3 garlic cloves, finely grated
1/2 cup rice
a few springs of parsley, finely chopped
a few sprigs of mint, finely chopped
salt & pepper to taste
a little olive oil
some flour for dusting

For the soup, you need:
3 litres of water (or stock - I prefer water for a lighter soup)
50g butter (you can also use olive oil instead - I prefer butter because I don't use stock)
a few sprigs of dill, finely chopped
1/2 small cauliflower (or broccoli), broken into bite-size florets
1 large carrot, cut in small chunks
1 cup of peas
These are the vegetables I used in this version of the soup. You can use any vegetables that will keep their shape when cooked - I try to use only seasonal vegetables, especially if we grow them ourselves.

For the sauce, you need:
2 eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs (except the flour) together very well by kneading them. Make golf-ball sized balls, and roll them in flour. Set them aside while making the soup.

Boil all the ingredients for the soup together. When you get a rolling boil, add the meatballs, one by one, and continue to boil the soup until the liquid starts rolling again. It may need more water if the liquids have evaporated too quickly (you can make it as thick as you prefer). Turn down the heat to the minimum, place a lid on the pot and continue to cook the soup until it becomes creamy, for at least 60 minutes. Turn off the heat, take off the lid and allow the soup to settle for a quarter of an hour.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and lemon juice together. Pour a tablespoon of the soup into the egg and lemon mixture and keep beating the sauce (otherwise the egg will 'cook', like scrambled eggs). Pour another tablespoon into the sauce and keep beating. Keep doing this until the bowl is nearly full. (Don't try to hurry this step - you will spoil the soup by cooking the egg.) Now pour the sauce slowly into the soup. Stir it in gently. The soup is now ready. Serve it hot.

Youvarlakia soup is hearty enough to be eaten on its own with some thick slices of toasted bread. If you like to add a bit more protein to it, try it with a thin slice of feta cheese on the side, or crumbled into the soup. This soup will congeal once it cools down, but when warmed up, it becomes runny again. It also tastes good the next day.

©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.

Melomakarona (Μελομακάρονα)

What kind of Greek food blog is one that does not include a recipe for the traditional Greek Christmas shortbread known as melomakarona? An incomplete one for sure. As my sister is the melomakarona maker in this family, here is her recipe, which I made this year.

This recipe makes a lot of melomakarona - I halved it, and got this plate, as well as another half plate. It is a simple recipe, and an easy one to make in one afternoon. For modern eaters, this recipe is vegan (and can be made gluten-free by adding gluten free all purpose flour).

The olive oil, orange juice, honey and walnuts are all local products, all produced just 10-30 kilometres away from my home. Without being biased, these melomakarona are truly delicious: they taste like a whiff of Crete in every bite.

1 litre olive oil
1 ¾ kilos all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed (not from a packet/carton - the final product won't taste right)
some ground cinnamon  and cloves
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons semolina
Mix everything together, leaving the flour till last.

Bake at 180C till golden brown, about 30-40 minutes. When cool, dip lightly in syrup (recipe below):
1 cup honey
2 cups sugar
3 cups water
Boil everything together, till the syrup sets slightly (about 20 minutes on a rolling boil).

Either the biscuits must be hot and the syrup cold, or the biscuits must be cold and the syrup hot (I do the latter - it's easier to warm up the syrup after making the biscuits).

Dip the biscuits in the syrup and allow them to soak in the syrup for up to a minute, turning them over once. As you pull them out of the syrup, coat them in ground walnuts.

©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.

Old age (Γηρατειά)

Can anything stop us from losing our mind?

"Eating a Mediterranean diet rich in fish and vegetables may help prevent your brain shrinking for as long as five years, new research suggests."  http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/21/mediterranean-diet-may-slow-the-ageing-process-by-five-years

We are seriously wondering about this in our house, as we watched the terrifying consequences of the developments of our 91-year-old yiayia's senile dementia. Up until two months ago, she was cooking her own meals and cleaning her house. She watched TV and read the Saturday local paper. She also pottered around the garden, and kept the front yard immaculately clean.

It was around this time when she also started telling us about the living dead: so-and-so died, she'd say, proceeding to tell us the gory details of their death. As far as we knew, these people were still alive. Sometimes old people confuse things, we'd tell the children. But we got worried, and hired help, a neighbor who was looking for this kind of work, and had experiencing in looking after old people. But imagine what this feels like for someone who had always tried to live independently. The relationship didn't quite work out.

There was also that time when she kept waking up at night and phoning us, to ask why we hadn't woken up yet, because it was time to go to work (it was often in the middle of the night). Checking her kitchen clock, we wondered if perhaps she had simply confused the time: the clock was indeed showing the wrong time. So we set it correctly, and changed the battery just in case. But the clock still kept changing time. So we removed the button that did this, to make sure that the time-changing gremlins didn't strike again. Yiayia then removed the alarm button and popped it onto the pin that had been left on the time-setting button. So we were back to square one. When we removed that button too, yiayia chucked the clock in the bin. "It's broken," she told us. "No, look yiayia," we said, holding it to her ear, "it's still ticking." But she wasn't convinced: "Only barely," she replied. It's just old age, we'd tell the children. But we were worried, so we called in a doctor.

"She's probably suffered a myriad of tiny strokes that were barely noticeable," he told us, and recommended donepezil and some sleeping tablets. It seemed to work, at least when she took it, that is. Yiayia had spent her life not just independently but also without taking any kind of medication whatsoever. All she ever took occasionally was paracetamol for a headache or other minor ailment. It was a shock to her that the doctor was suggesting that she take pills to live. "But there is noting wrong with me!" she kept saying. And she was right. Her blood tests showed no signs of illness. Normal reds, normal whites, normal cholesterol, normal heartbeat: in fact, normal everything. "She's really healthy," we told the kids, but we knew that there was something that was not really right.

She began moving the furniture around the house. She threw things out. We had to go through her rubbish every day: a cup, a plate, a bowl, even the remote control for the TV. And of course, food. "They've all been poisoned," she told us, howling with horror when we showed her what she was throwing out. "Get it out of this house immediately!" she'd cry, hitting her walking frame up and down on the floor. She was having psychoses. "It's a normal part of senile dementia," the doctor explained. "But she needs psychiatric help." At 91, I doubted that she would ever be able to receive help for her condition, not because the Greek health care system is broken, but because she would be unwilling to receive it. By this time, she had stopped taking all the medication she had been prescribed (we were giving it to her). She did not want our own help; how would she accept a change in environment and caregivers?

None of this terrified me personally as much as what was about to ensue, during her last week at home. Believing that we were poisoning all the food brought into the house, she stopped eating. She literally ate nothing all day. I checked her cupboards: apart from a few rusks, some olive oil, sugar, flour, rice and lentils, there was no other food. She had thrown everything else out, and refused to take anything we gave her. When she stopped eating our home-made meals, we brought in all sorts of other store-bought delicacies: she threw those out too, believing that the wrapping they came in was poisonous.

After three days, I insisted that we should take her to the hospital. Knowing that she wouldn't allow anyone to take her out of the house, I asked some big burly black-shirt-wearing relatives to help us coax her out. "You need to disarm her," I told them. "Take away the walking frame."  She had been using it like a deadly weapon, hitting anyone she had stopped trusting when they tried to approach her.

The doctors were very sympathetic. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her", they said to us. "She's just senile." The A&E doctors called the resident psychiatrist who tried to give her some sedatives. But she refused to drink the water that had been laced with drops, nor did she accept to have anything injected in her. "We can't make her do anything," the doctors and nurses said, and we understood them to the tee: we couldn't make her do anything either. Yiayia went home, and continued her diet. For the last week of her life at home, she didn't take one bite of food.

How long can a person live without food before they faint, fall and create bigger problems than what they already have? It was either that, or residential care. State old-age care does exist, but it requires a lot of paperwork. For a start, the person entering state care needs to have thorough medical checkups before being admitted. Yiayia's issues did not allow us to go through this procedure. Private care differs not just in cost but also in terms of what kinds of cases they take on. We eventually chose a unit that is run by someone who has 40 years experience in geriatric care, 35 of which was spent caring for old people in state care.

Apparently, she's eating and has now started taking medication. But she's still not the yiayia we knew. I'm not sure if she will ever be again. The Mediterranean diet no doubt aided in her longevity. But it didn't stop her from the eventual decline that we all go through when we get old.

©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.

The Mediterranean Diet as a lifestyle (Η Μεσογειακή Δίαιτα ως τρόπος ζωής)

Here is an article I wrote that has just been published as a leaflet, for distribution at the second Mediterranean Diet Fair, which is being held next month at Tavira (Portugal) between the 5th and 7th of September, 2014. The leaflet is being produced by the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (my workplace) since it has been charged with the responsibility of the Coordination Point for the Mediterranean Diet until April 2015. You're getting a sneak preview of it. 

The Mediterranean Diet,
as inscribed by UNESCO
in the List of Intangible Heritage

2014

Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania

The Mediterranean Diet

When talking about the Mediterranean Diet, emphasis is often placed on the actual food consumed by people who live in Mediterranean countries. This emphasis is perhaps misdirected: the Mediterranean Diet should be seen as a lifestyle, not a diet in its literal sense:

“The Mediterranean Diet – derived from the Greek word díaita, way of life – is the set of skills, knowledge, rituals, symbols and traditions, ranging from the landscape to the table, which in the Mediterranean basin concerns the crops, harvesting, picking, fishing, animal husbandry, conservation, processing, cooking, and particularly sharing and consuming the cuisine. It is at the table that the spoken word plays a major role in describing, transmitting, enjoying and celebrating the element.” (UNESCO)

Therefore, safeguarding the Mediterranean Diet in modern times is not based on the safeguarding of specific recipes; it stems from the rapid breakdown of a changing social fabric which once helped to safeguard the continuity of a lifestyle passed on from one generation to another, making it difficult to pass on this knowledge to future generations. Without a community base, there would be no ‘Mediterranean diet’; it would simply be called 'Mediterranean food'. The food of the Mediterranean is also found in other parts of the world, and can easily be copied, but this is not true about the lifestyle - it is actually the way of life (δίαιτα) that UNESCO wants to protect as Intangible Heritage under the general title of the Mediterranean Diet. 

Origins

The origins of the phrase "Mediterranean Diet" are founded in Ancel Keys' well known 1960s study about the food habits of various Mediterranean people, which took place not too long after the devastation caused by World War II when many European countries were still underdeveloped, people lived on the farm, and there were many food shortages. Their food habits, which constitute the Mediterranean Diet, were regarded as healthy due to the low incidences of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and high cholesterol. Additionally, high life-expectancy rates existed among populations who consumed a traditional Mediterranean diet. Therefore, the Mediterranean diet gained much recognition and worldwide interest since the period after the original study, as a model for healthful eating.

Seen in the old town of Hania, outside a taverna.

Ancel Keys' Mediterranean Diet pyramid is based on the healthy eating and lifestyle habits of the people living in southern Italy and the Greek islands, notably Crete, in the early 1960s.

A modern Greek meal is like taking a trip through Greece's history. Food names, cooking methods and basic ingredients have changed little over time. Bread, olive oil and wine have constituted the triptych of the Greek diet for many centuries, just as they do today. The first cookbook was written by the Greek food gourmet, Archestratos in 330 BC, which suggests that food and cooking has always been of great importance and significance in Greek society, which remains true even today.

The Mediterranean Diet as a lifestyle

Food events in the Mediterranean are an integral part of the Mediterranean people’s socialization; they are a perfect display of the Mediterranean lifestyle. They invariably involve a group of people who all play their own role in ensuring that a seasonal food event takes place according to plan. From the soil to the plate, each stage in the process is followed. Omitting any stage can sometimes be the cause of misunderstanding, although it is possible to alter a stage to suit the conditions. The alterations to such seasonal activities are how traditions are formed over time in each of the individual communities involved. The Mediterranean Diet is, therefore, not limited to terrain or particular food products: it is a shared understanding of the continuity of traditional values associated with eating patterns. Every different Mediterranean country has its own rituals and traditions associated with food, so there is no single diet. It is a coincidence that similar food items are often used, although they are combined in different ways according to many factors, such as one's locality, religion, available seasonal produce, customs, etc.

Many of the lifestyle events involved in the Mediterranean Diet are one-off occasions. They cannot be repeated due to their seasonal nature, and therefore their results will be lost for the year if they are not conducted accordingly. When things don't go to plan, there is always a Plan B to follow, so that the ritual's offering will not go wasted. The Mediterranean lifestyle revolves around the same seasonal activities that, at any given moment, are being done by different people at exactly the same time, and this is what is so special about the Mediterranean Diet: this is in fact the Intangible Heritage that UNESCO wants to protect under its label. It is not just the food, but the way of life that the food revolves around which needs to be protected.

The Mediterranean Diet in food security

In modern times, there is a great need to protect the Mediterranean Diet, due to the fact that it is now under threat from the forces of the globalisation and internationalisation of lifestyles. These movements cannot be prevented, nor is it desirable to stop them from taking place. But they are the main reason why the farming populations of Mediterranean countries are gradually being reduced, hence the reason why the Mediterranean people are losing contact with the land as they become more urbanised. These events are also accompanied by an increasingly homogenized and globalised food production system that disconnects food from its natural landscape.

It should therefore be seen as a vital goal to promote the Mediterranean Diet in its place of origin (i.e. in the countries of the Mediterranean basin) in the framework of a lifestyle. Our lives are becoming interconnected, and we are merging in many ways, but there are some things that will keep us distinct, and they are to be treasured, for that is where our sense of uniqueness comes from. The aim of the Mediterranean Diet newsletter, in conjunction with the Mediterranean Diet website, is to initiate discussion into how to maintain and preserve this unique identity.

In the process of being editeds

Intangible Heritage - UNESCO

Upon the completion of negotiation rounds headed by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food of the Hellenic Republic, Greece has been assigned the coordinating role of the Network of the seven Member Countries subscribed to the Mediterranean Diet in UNESCO's representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, from 1 May 2014 to 30 April 2015. At an intergovernmental meeting held in Agros, Cyprus, on 28-29 April 2014, which was attended by the National Committee of UNESCO, the proposal of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food of the Hellenic Republic to undertake the coordination of the Network was adopted. November 16 has been set as the Flagship Day to celebrate the Mediterranean Diet.

This effort of the Greek government and specifically the Ministries of Rural Development & Food, and Culture & Sport, regarding the need for a coordination tool, was launched in 2011, immediately after the recognition by UNESCO of the Mediterranean Diet as Intangible Cultural Heritage, following the submission of a portfolio to the UNESCO Committee. On the Greek side, Koroni in Messinia was chosen as the flagship of the Community, an area rich in agricultural products such as olive oil, olives, wine, raisins, figs, a large variety of vegetables, herbs and aromatic plants. The Member Countries and Emblematic Communities of the Mediterranean Diet as Intangible Cultural Heritage are Koroni (Greece), Brač and Hvar (Croatia), Agros (Cyprus),  Cilento (Italy), Chefchaouen (Morocco), Tavira  (Portugal) and Soria (Spain).

The Ministry has assigned, as the coordination point, the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh/CIHEAM), which has the necessary scientific and research expertise to undertake joint actions and initiatives, both to preserve and disseminate the values of the Mediterranean Diet.

If the Mediterranean Diet is seen as just a pyramid of a suggested diet regime, then we are only looking at the food and not the lifestyle. The significance of the Mediterranean Diet includes so much more than just the food.

©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.

The Mediterranean Diet as an Intangible Heritage

Food events in Greece are an integral part of the Mediterranean Diet, in the way that they exhibit the Mediterranean lifestyle. They involve a group of people - never one sole individual - who all play their own role in ensuring that a seasonal procedure goes according to plan. From the soil to the plate (or from the farm to the table, if you prefer to phrase it that way), each stage is followed, and a stage cannot be omitted. Omitting any stage in the process can sometimes be the cause of misunderstanding, but it can be altered to suit the conditions. The alterations to such seasonal activities are how traditions are formed, according to the time period.

The plan was to sit outdoors and have the meal...

Many of the lifestyle events involved in the Mediterranean Diet are one-off occasions  They cannot be repeated due to their seasonal nature, and therefore their results will be lost for the year if they are not conducted accordingly. When it doesn't go to plan, there is always a Plan B to follow, so that the ritual's offering is not wasted. The Mediterranean lifestyle revolves around the same seasonal activities that, at any given moment, are being done by different people at exactly the same time, and this is what is so special about the Mediterranean Diet, which is what UNESCO wants to protect when it labels it as Intangible Heritage. It is not just the food, but the way of life that the food revolves around which needs to be protected. Every different Mediterranean country has its own rituals and traditions associated with food, so there is no single diet. It just happens to revolve around similar food items that are combined in different ways according to many factors, such as one's locality, religion, available seasonal produce, customs, etc. The Mediterranean Diet has its base firmly grounded in the unique lifestyle, climate and landscape of the Mediterranean basin, combining festivals and celebrations related to the production of food. These events become the receptacle of gestures of mutual recognition, hospitality, neighborliness, conviviality, intergenerational transmission and intercultural dialogue.

The reason why the Mediterranean Diet needs to be protected as an Intangible Heritage is that it is now under threat from the forces of the globalisation and internationalisation of lifestyles. These movements cannot be prevented, nor is it desirable to stop them from taking place. But they are the main reason why the farming population is gradually being reduced and also why people lose contact with the land as they become more urbanised. These are accompanied by an increasingly homogenized and globalised food production system that disconnects food from its natural landscape.


We sometimes feel less secure about what we see on our plate because we don't always know its origin. This should not cause so much anxiety in a highly technologically advanced food system (except when things go wrong, but this is usually picked up quickly), but for some of us, it is matter of principle and pride to know where our food comes from, especially when our local food is directly linked to our identity and vice-versa. But our food is becoming more simplified and more processed these days, as we seek ways to reduce the time spent in the kitchen. Industrial farming is imposing new landscapes that are disconnected from the local people’s lives and the natural seasons, resulting in our alienation from our historical roots, and towards a change in diet based on rapid high-calorie sustenance.

The word 'diet' is associated in modern times with a low-calorie food regime; it can also mean the food that somebody eats on a reular basis. But the word actually comes from the ancient Greek δίαιτα, which means:
1. way of life in terms of nutrition, clothing, survival
2. what is required to survive, meal, food |food regime, specific nutritional program for health reasons, diet |medicine 
3. abode, residence |animal's abode 
http://www.greek-language.gr/greekLang/ancient_greek/tools/lexicon/lemma.html?id=60
Hence, the Mediterranean Diet is a way of life, not limited just to food intake.

It's now official: In a recent intergovernmental meeting held in Agros, Cyprus (a flagship community), on 28 and 29 April, Greece was given the task of coordinating the Mediterranean Diet as Intangible Cultural Heritage (as defined by UNESCO), and my workplace MAICh (www.maich.gr) will act as the coordination point for the Mediterranean Diet for this year until April 2015. Thanks are due to the Portuguese contingent, who used Greek letters for the logo design: the M stands for the mountains, while the γ for the sea should be interpreted as δ, which stands for Μεσογειακή διατροφή (= Mediterranean diet).

Can the Mediterranean Diet (read: Mediterranean lifestyle) be protected by institutions such as UNESCO? Cultural heritage does not end at historical monuments, landscapes or artifacts. It also includes traditions, customs and life expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts, and above all, a sense of community, which directly leads to a sense of identity. Fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization. An understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of different communities helps intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for other ways of life.

I personally see it as a vital goal to promote the Mediterranean Diet in its place of origin (ie in the  countries of the Mediterranean basin) in the framework of a lifestyle. It is all very well to say that people can choose their lifestyle, but when our choices are gradually being eroded by the natural forces of internationalisation, we are forced to choose among alternatives that may not satisfy us (a bit like the state of Greek politics these days - we dislike the politicians we have, but we are required to choose someone among them to lead our country). In order to have good choices, we need to maintain what is dear to us, so that these choices will remain available, not just for us but for future generations too.


To better understand what is meant by the Mediterranean Diet, we can take as an example a food festival that occurs in the region. I will use the little feast that was celebrated on a completely local scale to make the world's biggest dakos, in order to make it into the Guiness Book of World Records. The fact that the feast centred on food was only part of the 'diet' - it involved the way the people congregated, every one setting out a chair to take part in the feast, watching the cooks prepare the dakos, then lining up (in the Mediterranean way - τουρλού τουρλού!) to be handed a piece of the dakos, making the meal communal, and finishing off the evening with live Cretan music and dancing made the feast a whole one.


The rain dampened the Plan A - Plan B was then executed (we went indoors).

The work that needs to be done in terms of safeguarding the Mediterranean Diet is to remind the older generation of their duty to the younger generation, and to educate the younger generation by encouraging a cooperative spirit among them and the local authorities who are entrusted with maintaining the cultural and traditional aspects of a community. The scientific community plays its part by ensuring that the modified food chain is traceable by continuous monitoring. At the same time, I don't believe the Mediterranean lifestyle will be completely lost if these actions are not taken, but every concerted effort helps to ensure that continued erosion does not destroy what we have. Our lives are becoming interconnected, and we are merging in many ways, but there are some things that will keep us distinct, and they are to be treasured, for that is where our sense of uniqueness comes from.
The photos were taken last September during the grape harvest to make the new year's wine supplies. The giant dakos was made at the end of August last year.

©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.

Out of the frying pan and into the Mediterranean cuisine - a gift from Zoulovits

For a while now, I have been dreaming about changing some of my kitchen ware which are old and now look rather unappealing. Zoulolvits came to save me just at the right time: I was offered, as a gift, a beautiful white ceramic frying pan, something I depserately needed to replace my old rather over-used black non-stick pan. Zoulovits is based on Ermou St in the very heart of Athens, the Greek equivalent of London's Oxford St, and it has now created an online store to help people living outside Athens to purchase their items. The internet has connected the world in terms of shopping experiences. Greece has made inroads in the virtal shopping world: although Greeks generally don't use online stores as much as concrete stores, surveys show that those that do shop from the internet spend just as much money as their non-Greek counterparts in Western countries.

Για κάμποσο καιρό τώρα, ονειρεύομαι να κάνω κάποιες αλλαγές σε ορισμένα μαγειρικά σκεύη, που είναι παλιά και τώρα πια δεν με εμπνέουν στην κουζίνα. Το κατάστημα Zoulolvits ήρθε να με σώσει ακριβώς τη σωστή στιγμή: μου πρόσφερε ως δώρο, ένα όμορφο λευκό κεραμικό τηγάνι, κάτι που μου χρειαζόταν απεγνωσμένα για να αντικαταστήσει το παλιό και πολυ-χρησιμοποιημένο μαύρο αντι-κολλητικό τηγάνι. Το Zoulovits βρίσκεται στην Ερμού, στην καρδιά της Αθήνας, το Ελληνικό αντίστοιχο του Oxford St στο Λονδίνο, και έχει δημιουργήσει πλέον ένα ηλεκτρονικό κατάστημα για να βοηθήσει τους ανθρώπους που ζουν έξω από την Αθήνα να κάνουν τις αγορές τους χωρίς περιορισμούς. Το διαδίκτυο έχει συνδέσει τον κόσμο όσον αφορά τις αγοραστικές μας εμπειρίες. Η Ελλάδα έχει κάνει μεγάλη πρόοδο και στον διαδικτυακό κόσμο των αγορών. Αν και οι Έλληνες γενικά δεν χρησιμοποιούν ηλεκτρονικά καταστήματα όσο χρησιμοποιούν πραγματικά καταστήματα, οι έρευνες δείχνουν ότι αυτοί που κάνουν αγορές από το διαδίκτυο ξοδεύουν εξίσου όπως οι ομόλογοι τους στις δυτικές χώρες.

My new pan from Zoulovits with my old one in the background - it really was time for a change!
Το νέο μου τηγάνι από το Zoulovits (με το παλιό στο παρασκήνιο - πραγματικά ήταν καιρός για μια αλλαγή!

A frying pan is a very important cooking instrument in Crete. The pan on the stovetop is a quicker way to cook a meal than a roasting tray in the oven. In the land where extra virgin olive oil is the norm, cooking in a pan is very common, whether it is to deep-fry potatoes, to shallow-fry zucchini fritters, or simply to brown our kalitsounia (small pastry pies filled with greens and/or cheese).

White eggplant slices, lightly fried in olive oil, and scented with dried basil. 

Το τηγάνι είναι ένα πολύ σημαντικό εργαλείο στην κάθε κουζίνα στην Κρήτη. Το τηγάνι είναι ο ταχύτερος τρόπος για να μαγειρέψουμε κάτι. Στη γη όπου το έξτρα παρθένο ελαιόλαδο είναι ο κανόνας, το μαγείρεμα στο τηγάνι είναι σύνηθες, είτε πρόκειται για να τηγανίσουμε πατάτες, να ψήσουμε κολοκυθοκεφτέδες ή να ροδίσουμε καλιτσούνια (μικρά πιτάκια γεμάτα με χόρτα και/ή τυρί).

During a meeting held recently at my workplace, our resident chef, Yannis Apostolakis, founder of the Cretan Gastronomy Network, mentioned the importance of the pan in Mediterranean cuisine:

Normally bouyiourdi is cooked in the oven, but this recipe is for a pan-fried version. It can be used as a dip or as a pasta topping. 

Κατά τη διάρκεια συνάντησης που πραγματοποιήθηκε την περασμένη εβδομάδα στο χώρο εργασίας μου, ο σεφ Γιάννης Αποστολάκης, ιδρυτής του Δικτύου Κρητικής Γαστρονομίας, αναφέρθηκε στη σημασία του τηγανιού στην κουζίνα της Μεσογείου:

"We could say that the gastronomy of Greece, and generally that of the Mediterranean, revolves around a pan. We cook our vegetables, fish, shellfish, meat, cheese and potatoes in it. We also brown our pastries, loukoumades, pancakes and omeltets in it. It's one of the favorite cooking methods in the kitchens of the Mediterranean."

"Θα μπορούσαμε να ισχυριστούμε ότι η γαστρονομία της Ελλάδος αλλά και της Μεσογείου γενικότερα περιστρέφεται γύρω από ένα τηγάνι. Τα λαχανικά τηγανίζονται το ίδιο και το κρέας, αλλά και το ψάρι τα οστρακόδερμα, το τυρί και οι πατάτες. Στο τηγάνι ροδίζουν ζύμες, τηγανίζονται ζυμάρια, λουκουμάδες, τηγανίτες και ομελέτες. Άλλωστε θα μπορούσαμε με βεβαιότητα να πούμε ότι με την αποκλειστική χρήση του ελαιολάδου μαγειρεύουμε σε κατσαρόλες και στο τηγάνι, είναι ένας από τους παλαιότερους και πιο αγαπημένους τρόπους μαγειρέματος στη κουζίνα της Μεσογείου."

All over the Western world, the high-sided pan is regarded as a classic image of haute cuisine; coupled with the pouring into it of a glug of extra virgin olive oil or a splash of wine, it is regarded as the ultimate cooking experience, an experience often imitated by people outside the Mediterranean.

Sunday lunch is almost ready - only the potatoes remain to be fried.

Σε όλο το δυτικό κόσμο, το βαθύ τηγάνι θεωρείται ως μια κλασική εικόνα υψηλής γαστρονομίας. Ο συνδυασμός του με την εκχύλιση έξτρα παρθένου ελαιόλαδου ή κρασιού θεωρείται ως η απόλυτη εμπειρία μαγειρέματος, μια εμπειρία που συχνά ακολουθείται και από ανθρώπους έξω από τη Μεσόγειο.

My new ceramic pan from Zoulovits now stands out among my other kitchen ware, which is all predominantly coloured metallic or black; it has suddenly become easier to spot! It is a non-stick pan, using a more modern non-stick ceramic technology invented by the same company that first brought out the teflon range. It is also deeper than my previous pan, which means more space in the pan and less likelihood of spillage.

Το νέο κεραμικό τηγάνι μου από το Zoulovits ξεχωρίζει ανάμεσα στα άλλα σκεύη της κουζίνας μου, τα οποία είναι κυρίως μαύρα ή μεταλλικό χρώμα. Ξαφνικά έγινε πιο εύκολο να το εντοπίσω! Είναι αντι-κολλητικό τηγάνι το οποίο χρησιμοποιεί μια πιο σύγχρονη αντι-κολλητική κεραμική τεχνολογία που εφευρέθηκε από την ίδια εταιρεία που μας έφερε τα τεφλόν. Επίσης, είναι βαθύτερο από το προηγούμενο τηγάνι μου, πράγμα που σημαίνει περισσότερο χώρο στο τηγάνι και μικρότερη πιθανότητα χυσίματος.

Sunday lunch was served outdoors, with Greek BIOS beer - but the weather has changed drastically since then. It is now too cold to sit on the balcony - we went from an average temperature of 30 degrees to C to just 15!

I tried out my new pan last weekend, frying potatoes in it to go with our chicken grilled over charcoal, and making zucchini fritters in it. It's a joy to have a new pan I can clean easily: the white colour really helps! Another Cretan blogger also chose the same gift from Zoulovits, which shows how important that pan is in any kitchen - its non-stick technology helps to keep food light and calorie-friendly.

Δοκίμασα το νέο μου τηγάνι το Σαββατοκύριακο, τηγανίζοντας πατάτες (που ταιριάζουν με το κοτόπουλο στη σχάρα) και φτιάχνοντας κολοκυθοκεφτέδες. Μου δίνει ιδιαίτερη χαρά να έχω ένα νέο τηγάνι που καθαρίζεται εύκολα: το λευκό χρώμα βοηθά πραγματικά! Και η Vita (μια άλλη blogger από την Κρήτη) επέλεξε επίσης το ίδιο δώρο από τα Zoulovits, που δείχνει πόσο σημαντικό είναι το τηγάνι σε κάθε κουζίνα - η αντι-κολλητική τεχνολογία του βοηθάει στο μαγείρεμα ελαφριών και χαμηλών σε θερμίδες πιάτων.

Τhank you Zoulovits! - Ευχαριστώ πολύ!

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Fat (Χοντρή)

Continuing on from yesterday's teaser post, here's another one. I was recently asked at work to prepare a presentation focusing on the Mediterranean Diet. My job was to translate a Greek speech, turn it into bullets and eye-catching notes, and add the photographs. I was able to add any photos I wanted, so I chose them mainly from my own vast Mediterranean collection.

One of the slides included the following statement:

"The Mediterranean Diet, is not just a special kind of diet, but a lifestyle, a philosophy, a vision for life, a standard for welfare." 

So I added the following photo:

... for the simple reason that it depicted the idea of congregation as is often ascribed to the Mediterranean lifestyle, where villagers come together to celebrate something as small as a nameday, or much larger like a saint's feast day (most likely the feast day of the saint attributed to the local village church), inviting their friends and families to the festivities, eating and drinking by sitting around communal tables, and singing in the local genre (in Hania, rizitika songs will often be heard).

When my senior colleagues checked the presentation, they were up in arms: I was asked to change the photo, because of the preponderance of overweight ladies. "We're supposed to be showing the features of a healthy diet, Maria, not one which makes you fat!"

I used this photo instead (both photos are dated July 2013). I didn't initially choose it because I wanted to show the older age group, and this photo contains a lot of people who are not facing the camera. It also shows more people than it does food, but it also contains classic Cretan images, eg the wine in the plastic containers. 

So what went wrong in the overweight ladies' version of the Mediterranean diet? Are they eating junk food? Are they overdoing the meat? Are they eating butter instead of olive oil? I don't think they are doing any of the above. They are simply completely inactive, and they are consuming more calories than they expend.

Stout women always existed in Cretan villages. You can even picture them in your mind: matriarchal figures that wear black day in, day out, gathering their aprons full of horta or holding a pail of eggs in their hands. But there is a difference between 'stout' and 'fat': one refers to your 'build', while the other refers to 'excess flesh'. While we sometimes confuse the terms, we can usually tell the two apart by other features (eg if the person's hands and legs look 'worked'). These women probably started off their life as slim women, putting on the weight slowly, while child-bearing and raising a family when they became less active.

Being active has always helped to keep people fit, but not necessarily skinny. These women most likely still eat Mediterranean food, but they probably eat more sweets because these are more readily available in our times. They are most likely very inactive. Even if they live in a village (and most of them do not in this case - they are visiting from an urban setting), they probably do so without a family to care for, which means that the food that they cook will not be eaten by many people (maybe just themselves and/or their husband). Their days will still be spent preparing a lot of food to be eaten, perhaps because they are used to doing this (because there is a lot of food to start with in that setting). They may still work on the land, but the work will be much more limited than it ever would have been in the past, say their mothers' times, when they would bake bread for the family (which was large), gather greens, milk sheep, tend chickens, graze animals, etc. More importantly, these women don't walk much - they drive or are driven.

This was initially the photo I wanted to show in the presentation (dated August 2013), but it was too Crete-based. I wanted something that showed an event that could have been taking place anywhere in the Mediterranean, rather than specifically in Crete.

Even if they live in a very small village in modern times, a baker will deliver fresh bread to them on a daily, every-second-day or bi-weekly basis because the village bakery will have closed down ages ago, once the village started to become deserted; so their bread needs are dealt with without too much trouble on their part. They also visit a supermarket at least once a week (or fortnight) to do a big shop. That is where they will buy their long-life milk; older people suffer from tiredness and mobility problems in their old age, so they don't always tend animals, unless the animals are being raised for meat, in which case the animals can be left alone for longer periods. The most they may have in the vicinity of their home is a chicken coop, which doesn't cost them much time or energy to tend. Women probably continue to cook for the whole family, tasting and eating the food (we all know the feeling), and they will probably still cook along traditional lines. But they are cooking for people who are generally well-fed and may even have health problems, some of which may have been caused by over-eating or eating too much meat/fat.

The urban shift that has taken place over the last few decades has made people live far away from their ancestral land. Even if they live close to it, they do not spend so much time on it. Those that do spend time on their land live close to it. Very few people are lucky to have their olive trees, orange groves, vineyards, grazing fields, etc, surrounding their private home. So those that do intend to continue to work on their land do this by driving to it, not walking. Somewhere in my reading, I came across some stats about the average time once needed to go to one's fields: in Ancel Keys' time, Greek farmers walked up to 18km a day, while in modern times, they drive that much and walk at the most 2km a day.

This discussion raises the question of what the Mediterranean Diet pyramid is all about. You would still be eating a healthy diet if you ate along those lines, but without a healthy amount of movement, the Mediterranean Diet is probably not going to keep you fit. Healthy, yes, to a certain extent, but not fit. And don't overdo the olive oil: just because it is one of the healthiest fats in the world doesn't detract from its label - it is still fat.

Back tomorrow with another teaser...

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Conference food

Right now at my workplace (MAICh), there's a big scientific conference taking place, with speakers from all over the world including the UK, USA ans AUS. It is taking place at our ISO-approved international conference centre. Our chef Yannis Apostolakis is taking care of the meals.

Potato salad with yoghurt sauce, boureki pie (mine was the last piece so it has crumbled), orzo pasta salad with tuna, fancy green salad with pomegranate, white wine, cheesecake and ekmek dessert. These were among some of the offerings at the buffet.

Just like the meals we have at the Institute during the academic year, the conference meals are mainly plant-based, light in taste, they use local ingredients and extra virgin olive oil; above all, they remain transparent - you can see what you are eating. And our guests are loving it: colourful meals based on the Mediterranean Diet.

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Crete in one dakos (Όλη η Κρήτη ένα ντάκο)

Last night, an attempt was made to assemble the biggest dakos ever at 1.80m x 8m for the Guinness Book of World records. Dakos is a favorite Cretan snack which is often turned into a vegetarian meal when accompanied by a salad. It often forms our own evening snack throughout the summer when we have an abundance of fresh tomatoes growing in the garden. The base of the dakos is made of double-baked bread, usually wholewheat, that becomes hard and can last for a long long time in storage, to be used when needed. The rusk has been eaten in Greece since ancient times and it was one of the foods that soldiers often carried with them, as they were easily transportable.

The giant dakos was presented at the small forested park near the beach at Ayious Apostolous in Hania. Whereas a decade ago, the dakos was known as a Cretan specialty, it is now widely known all over Greece, having entered the mainland restaurant menus. The wholewheat rusk is now made to suit a multitude of different tastes, with white flour, brown flour, multigrain, etc, and most bakeries produce their own version. Dry bread doesn't sound exciting, but once you try the dakos, you will probably be hooked. Dakos can be made vegan or vegetarian, depending on whether you use the cheese - but generally speaking, Cretans associate dakos with the cheese.

The giant dakos event is not going to be remembered just for the dakos that was shaped in the form of the island of Crete (it was baked in smaller parts that fitted together like a puzzle). I preferred to see it as a celebration of the Mediterranean diet. The event was not characterised just by a food presentation. It started with a group of people who had an idea, which was taken up at the community level. The choice of the bakery, the cooking of the rusk, its transportation to the site, the setting out of the tables and chairs, the makeshift kitchen for the assembly of the dakos, the grating of the tomato (by hand, of course!), the choice of olive oil and mizithra (soft white cheese), the designation of the kitchen assistants and how each one would take part, the assembly of the dakos (layer by layer), the congregation that came to the event, and finally, the sharing out of the giant dakos to the audience (children were treated first) all formed a significant part of the event.

The dakos base was baked in a commercial baker's oven, but the grating of the tomato and the  spreading of the cheese was all conducted at the park. In about half an hour, the dakos was assembled; there was a bit of a scramble for photographs (I got a 6 1/2 foot man to take my shot from the dais set up for musical component of the event) after which the dakos was immediately distributed to the public.

Any food celebration in the Mediterranean area does not start and stop with food, so this was not the end of the event - music and dance followed, completing and marking the event as a whole and complete one. The Mediterranean diet cannot be divorced from the lifestyle component:

"The Mediterranean Diet as a unique lifestyle, determined by the climate and by the Mediterranean area, is also manifested through related festivals and celebrations. These events become the receptacle of gestures of mutual recognition, hospitality, neighborliness, conviviality, intergenerational transmission and intercultural dialogue. " 

Our piece came from the Rethimno part of the dakos.

Without a community base and a musical accompaniment, there would be no Mediterranean diet; it would simply be called 'Mediterranean food'. The food of the Mediterranean can be found in other parts of the world, but not the lifestyle - it is actually the lifestyle that UNESCO wants to protect as Intangible Heritage under the general title of the Mediterranean Diet.

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Scam

The following is a scam email I received yesterday, which would have turned me into a rich person overnight, were it a real life scenario:

Bookings.‏

Paul Morgan

To Recipients

From:	Paul Morgan (paul1009@mail.com)
Sent:	Wednesday, March 27, 2013 12:21:56 AM
To:	Recipients (paul1009@mail.com)

Greetings, 

I write on behalf of I and my colleagues to confirm whether your company will be able to provide transportation for 4 delegates that will be coming for 7 days tour in your area.
Please find below the details of the transportation schedule;

(1). Date of transfers: Tuesday, 18th of June 2013 to Monday, 24th of June 2013 (7 days) 

(2). The duration of the transfers will be 8 hours each day,that is; from 10am to 6pm every day, within a radius of 200km in your area. 

(3). Number of persons: 4 persons 

(4). Driver required 

Kindly note that any of these vehicles will be alright for the transfers during those dates; (a car or van). Note also, that 2 or more vehicles that can serve the same purpose will be a better option.

Advise the availability and TOTAL COST for the 7 DAYS transportation for the mentioned days with a driver.

Thanks for your anticipated co-operations. 

Yours sincerely,
Paul Morgan

.

Knowledge of my husband's job (cabbie) comes from my blog. But no mention is made of the place name, there are English grammar errors, and - my personal favorite blooper - a 200km radius in my town would require an amphibious vehicle.

. 



This kind of scam is more obvious than the one being played out in real life. While Europe is at war, some countries are profiting, while others are barely surviving, and some are being annihilated. When old weapons stop working (eg salary cuts and higher taxes), new ones are being invented (eg savings confiscation). 







The economic destruction of Greece was a gradual process - we learnt and continue to learn how to cope with it. The economic destruction of Cyprus was a complete, almost overnight, annihilation. Can anyone deny that Europe is in a state of war, without sounding dismissive, insensitive and totally ignorant? It's our own fault, we have been told, but we were powerless to do anything about it, except to run away, which we didn't do.

.



Now, all we have left is to wait and see, hoping that the destruction will eventually stop, which it will do of course, because when everything is destroyed, there will be nothing left to destroy. Hence, it will stop.

.



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Greek statistics

The title of the e-newspaper report I read yesterday sounded rather shocking:

"Δύο στους δέκα έλληνες σε διατροφικό κίνδυνο! Στην Ελλάδα 439.000 παιδιά ζουν πλέον κάτω από το όριο της φτώχειας"

which translates to: "Two in ten Greeks in nutritional danger! In Greece 439,000 children now live below the poverty line." The figures have been taken from the latest report by the Greek committee of the United Nations in combination with figures released by another study conducted by the Hellenic Nutritionists Society, during June-September 2012, in Athens, Thessaloniki, Katerini, Ioannina, Corinthia, Crete and Cephallonia.

The article starts off with a discussion of Greeks' recent adoption of fast food which damaged their health, especially that of their children; this is nothing new of course, since it is also a common trait in Western/developed nations. A return to the classic Greek diet has been proposed as a solution, but this is viewed as "prohibitive" for most Greeks, given the "present circumstances". The latter phrase is not explained, but I take it to mean that we are all too busy to cook bean stews, or that it may be too expensive to do so.

An attempt was made to measure how "Greekly" people ate. From a sample of 798 adults aged 18-73, it was found that half the group showed relatively good nutritional habits, whole the other half that didn't admitted that they did know better but did not follow a healthy diet. Women were better at keeping to a healthy diet, but at the same time, half the sample did not adopt the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle. The report also states that more than 1.5 million Greeks suffer from high blood pressure, while 40% of the Greek population also suffer from high cholesterol, and 15-16,000 Greeks per year have a heart attack. Diabetes in Greece is as common as in other European countries (4%) while the risk of obesity has increased to 40%.

The figures are quite damning, but they should also be viewed with caution. If Greece has a high rate of unemployment, then there should be more time available to people to cook a Mediterranean meal, something like bean stew.  It is also reported in the popular press that fresh products are being sold at very competitive prices at the street stalls (λαϊκή), while discount supermarkets sell pantry staples at low prices; the cost of food isn't always as expensive as the cost of living is made to sound in the mass media. To my mind, the research sounds counter-intuitive.

The figure of 439,000 children living below the poverty line is a worrying one; the number was presumably calculated from statistics for income and household size including number of children. Such figures do not take into account the stories that come to light every day about people who declare an extremely low annual income to the state while at the same holding Swiss (or other) bank accounts with more than half a million euros.

According to Greek statistics, there is poverty and hunger in Greece. But poverty levels are often cited according to international standards, always using mainly income as the basis. Different lifestyles are not always taken into account, eg the high reliance on one own's food resources, something Greeks revere and take on like a national sport. I'm sorry but I don't buy those figures.

There's a fasolada lying in my fridge today, leftover from Monday because I didn't have time to prepare a meal last night for the next day's lunch. There are also some tomatoes and peppers from the garden, and there's a 2kg-block of some of the best graviera I have ever tasted, which was given to us (as is done every year) as payment in kind, by a farmer who uses some of our land for grazing his flock. My children's lunch box today contains the last pieces of turkey meat, another gift from a relative, supplemented by some pasta. Poor man's food? Give me a break. Even our pet dog and cat eat home-cooked food: there's some leftover pilafi rice for both of them from Sunday's lunch that no one wants to touch now.

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Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (Πολιτιστική Κληρονομιά)

The Mediterranean diet has been safeguarded!

The recently convened (15-19 November) UNESCO INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR THE SAFEGUARDING OF THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE made the following decisions at the Fifth session, in Nairobi, Kenya:

The Committee
1. Takes note that Spain, Greece, Italy and Morocco have nominated the Mediterranean diet for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, described as follows:
The Mediterranean diet constitutes a set of skills, knowledge, practices and traditions ranging from the landscape to the table, including the crops, harvesting, fishing, conservation, processing, preparation and, particularly, consumption of food. The Mediterranean diet is characterized by a nutritional model that has remained constant over time and space, consisting mainly of olive oil, cereals, fresh or dried fruit and vegetables, a moderate amount of fish, dairy and meat, and many condiments and spices, all accompanied by wine or infusions, always respecting beliefs of each community. However, the Mediterranean diet (from the Greek diaita, or way of life) encompasses more than just food. It promotes social interaction, since communal meals are the cornerstone of social customs and festive events. It has given rise to a considerable body of knowledge, songs, maxims, tales and legends. The system is rooted in respect for the territory and biodiversity, and ensures the conservation and development of traditional activities and crafts linked to fishing and farming in the Mediterranean communities which Soria in Spain, Koroni in Greece, Cilento in Italy and Chefchaouen in Morocco are examples. Women play a particularly vital role in the transmission of expertise, as well as knowledge of rituals, traditional gestures and celebrations, and the safeguarding of techniques.
2. Decides that, from the information provided in nomination file No. 00394, the Mediterranean diet satisfies the criteria for inscription on the Representative List, as follows:
R.1: The Mediterranean diet is a set of traditional practices, knowledge and skills passed on from generation to generation and providing a sense of belonging and continuity to the concerned communities;
R.2: Its inscription on the Representative List could give broader visibility to the diversity of intangible cultural heritage and foster intercultural dialogue at regional and international levels;
R.3: The nomination describes a series of safeguarding efforts undertaken in each country, together with a plan for transnational measures aimed at ensuring transmission to younger generations and promoting awareness of the Mediterranean diet;
R.4: The nomination is the result of close cooperation of official entities in the four States, supported by the active participation of communities, and it includes evidence of the latters’ free, prior and informed consent;
R.5: The Mediterranean diet has been included in inventories of intangible cultural heritage in the four States concerned and will be included in a transnational inventory of the Mediterranean that is underway.
3. Inscribes the Mediterranean diet on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The same committee also included the gastronomic meal of the French on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity:

"The gastronomic meal of the French is a customary social practice for celebrating important moments in the lives of individuals and groups, such as births, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, achievements and reunions. It is a festive meal bringing people together for an occasion to enjoy the art of good eating and drinking. The gastronomic meal emphasizes togetherness, the pleasure of taste, and the balance between human beings and the products of nature. Important elements include the careful selection of dishes from a constantly growing repertoire of recipes; the purchase of good, preferably local products whose flavours go well together; the pairing of food with wine; the setting of a beautiful table; and specific actions during consumption, such as smelling and tasting items at the table. The gastronomic meal should respect a fixed structure, commencing with an apéritif (drinks before the meal) and ending with liqueurs, containing in between at least four successive courses, namely a starter, fish and/or meat with vegetables, cheese and dessert. Individuals called gastronomes who possess deep knowledge of the tradition and preserve its memory watch over the living practice of the rites, thus contributing to their oral and/or written transmission, in particular to younger generations. The gastronomic meal draws circles of family and friends closer together and, more generally, strengthens social ties."

Apart from the words in bold in the above text (which differ in terms of the order and range of dishes served in each culture), it should be noted that it isn't ONLY the FRENCH gastronomic meal that encompasses these ideas. Why UNESCO couldn't automatically say at the same convention that all world cuisines are an intangilble heritage of humanity is a mystery. All well-known cuisines in the world encompass the same ideas, not forgetting the fact that all those well-known cuisines have probably influenced one another in some way. To claim otherwise is simply elitist prattle. 

In any case, I was pleased to know that not all the French think in the same way as UNESCO...

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