Today, you go to the store and buy a little container of olives. You can get them in all different shapes sizes colors, and more. You can buy them with pimentos in them or not. Many wonder how this food became such an important part of Greek culture and large part of their diet.

Ancient Greeks used olives as there main source of fat instead of meat from animal because they thought it was an unhealthy way of getting fat, since the barbarians (non Greeks) ate that way. In actuality, the barbarians ate meat and their products such as milk and cheese because they were nomadic and had no way of growing an olive tree or preparing olives if they saw any.

Preserving olives was possible because there was salt everywhere! Since Ancient Greece was a huge island basically, salt was easily accessible and allowed them to preserve olives with ease.

To preserve their olives, first ancient Greeks would gather them while they where not ripe. They left them in eater that they changed every 12 hours with water that contains wood ash and then again cleared the water. It might have taken a week. To decrease the time sometimes they would cut them with a knife. They, oil would come forth from the olives but this was just used to help preserve them. They were then kept in wine, vinegar, and salty water.

Olive oil was created to help preserve the olives. Olive oil was a great source of the Ancient people’s diet because it was their main source of fat. You might think that fish was a main source of their diet, but these things were very expensive so common people mainly just had olive oil. It is not as it is today where people eat a large variety of food no matter who they are. Ancient Greece was a very socially unequal place.

If you ever dip bread in olive oil, you are carrying out the actions of an aristocratic meal. In ancient times, common Greeks mostly ate porridge and not bread for carbohydrates. Bread was a lot of work to make and was not a common food among them.

Today, olives are eaten by anyone who has a few bucks and can walk or drive to a store. Not so in the days of past. Still, ancient Greeks still figured they could turn tiny strange spherical objects on a tree into a delicious and nutritious food for all of the Mediterranean.

In Greek: γάστριν, pronounced GHAHS-treen

Sesame seeds, pepper, and poppy seeds are only some of the unusual ingredients in this ancient recipe. Petimezi (a sweetener made from grapes), used long before sugar arrived in Greece, adds to the unique taste. If you’re hooked on the Ancients, give this recipe a try.

 

INGREDIENTS:

• For the dough:
• 4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 1/2 ounces of toasted sesame seeds (a little over 2/3 cup), ground
• ———–
• For the filling:
• 2/3 pounds of chopped hazelnuts, unsalted
• 2/3 pounds of chopped almonds, unsalted
• 2/3 pounds of chopped walnuts
• 1/5 pound of sesame seeds
• 1/5 pound of poppy seeds
• 1 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup of honey
• ———-
• For the syrup:
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of petimezi *
• 3/4 cup of honey

PREPARATION:

* Petimezi: a sweetener made from grapes (recipe).

Preheat oven to 360F (180C).

Combine the dough ingredients and knead to form the dough. Roll out into 3 equal-sized sheets about 1/8 inch thick, large enough to cover a medium baking pan.

Combine all filling ingredients.

Place one sheet of dough in the bottom of a lightly oiled baking pan.]

Cover with half the filling. Add the second sheet of dough and the remaining filling. Place the third sheet of dough on top. Cut into squares and then diagonally to form trianges. Sprinkle with a little water and sesame seeds.

Bake in a medium oven (360F, 180C) for about 30 minutes.

When the pastry is cool, combine all syrup ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Pour the hot syrup over the cooled pastry and let sit until syrup is absorbed (about 3-4 hours).

Source: www.about.com

In the mythologies of many early civilizations, it was believed that the universe was developed from a great egg. In Greek mythology, the black-winged night gave birth to a silver egg from which sprang eros, the gold – winked god of love. Being considered as source of life, symbolizing rebirth, it is not suprisining that the egg was also connected with springtime fertility rituals.

Tamra Andrews says:

“Because eggs embody the essence of life, people from ancient times to the modern day have surrounded them with magical beliefs, endowing them with the power not only to create life but to prophesy the future. Eggs symbolize birth and are believed to ensure fertility. They aslo symbolize rebirth, and thus long life and even immortality. Eggs represent life in its various stages of development, encompassing the mystery and magic of creation….Early mythmakers viewed both the sun and the egg as the source of all life; the round, yellow yolk even symbolized the sun. Clearly, eggs had great symbolic potential… The concept of eggs as life symbols went hand in hand with the concept of eggs as emblems of immortality, and particularly the resurrection of Christ, who rose from a sealed tomb just as a bird breaks through an eggshell… The Jews traditionally serve eggs at Passover as a symbol of sacrifice and rebirth.”
Tamra Andrews, Nectar and Ambrosia: An Encyclopedia of Food in World Mythology, [Santa Barbara CA] 2000 (p. 86-7).

The connection of egg with rebirth and enternal life made it symbol of Christ’s Ressurection. The red colour of Easter eggs links Jewish and Christian tradition. It reminds the lamb’s blood with which Jews, when they were slaves in Egypt, marked their houses, so the Angel of death saw and pass over them, and it signifies the blood of Christ. The cracking of the eggs was already known in Byzantium of 13^th century. It symbolises the breaking of the tomb, but it is also a wish for a new, better life issuing from Christ’s Ressurection, although the owner of the last uncracked egg is considered very lucky.

As many other traditions, the easter eggs are associated with pagan beliefs. The first easter egg was valued for its magical and healing powers. So it was kept near the icons of the family. These healing powers associate it not only with the Christianism but also with the sacred egg, symbol of the skilled in medicine Asclepius, son of God Apollo.

Greeks have one more custom that can be traced back to ancient times. During the evening of Saturday (Thrace) or after the liturgy of Resurrection (Peloponnesos) they place eggs on the graves of their beloved deceased. They adopted this practice from Romans – through Byzantines- who used to eat eggs during the funeral lunches.

The last Saturday before Holy Week begins, is the Saturday of Lazarus. Lazarus was a beloved friend of Christ and his resurrection was a sign for the upcoming Christ’s resurrection after a week. In past farmers did not work on that day, because they believed that whatever they would cultivate would die. They only collected the woods in order to bake the easter cookies (koulourakia). On this day mothers bake “ Lazarakia’’, small demi- sweet breads of a shrouded man shape. They figure them just as Lazarus is represented. These lenten breads can be eaten by the whole familiy during the fasting days. In Koroni lazaraki is called an eastern bread which is made by the godmothers for their godchildren. Ιt also has the shape of a small man, with tiny legs and feet and an egg in the place of head. Lelekos M., Aποσπάσματα εκ των λαϊκών εθίμων, μύθων και λοιπών, σελ. 8 (Αθήνα 1891). Traditional recipe: Lazarakia 1 k. all-purpose flour 1 package active dry yeast 3 cups warm water 120 gr. sugar 2 tbs honey 1 tbs cinnamon 1 tsp ground cloves 1 tsp anise ½ tsp salt 3 tbs olive oil oil for brushing 6 whole nuts The night before baking, mix the yeast with some warm water and 1 ½ cup of all- purpose flour. Stir well, and set aside, covered, in a warm place. The next morning, in a bowl sift the remaining flour. Make a well in the center and pour in the the starter, sugar, honey, spices, salt, oil and water. Knead well till the dough becomes elastic and shiny. Cover it and let it rise for 2 hours. When the dough is doubled in size, divide it in seven pieces. One of them must be larger than the others. Roll the six smaller pieces into cords. Stick a nut in one end of each cord. Cut the larger piece of dough in 12 ropes. Stick the ends of 2 ropes near each nut and braid forming an ancient shroud. Place the breads on a oiled baking pan and cover them. Let them rise for 2 hours. Brush the Lazarakia with olive oil and bake them in preheated oven of 200° for 20 to 25 minutes.

“For our best and daintiest cheer,

Through the bright half of the year,

Is but acorns, onions, peas,

Ochros lupines, radishes,

Yetches, wild pears nine or ten,

With a locust now and then.’’

Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists, (Alexis, Book II, g 44, p. 90) p. 1126, transl. J. A. St. John. www. digicoll.library.wisc.edu.

 Lupines, the known wildflowers, are of the genus Lupinus and belong to the pea family or Fabacae. The name lupines or lupins is derived from the Latin word “lupus’’ which means the wolf. They have got this name because both lupines and wolves are sheep killers. Although lupines provide a nutritious food and can fertilize the soil for other plants, they also contain an alkaloid which, depending on the circumstances, provide valuable medicines or cause poisoning. The results of lupine poisoning are dizziness, depressed nervous system and heart, labored breathing, convulsions, coma, and death. Because of the effects of a light poisoning, the lupines became the special food that was offered to the pilgrims of Nekromanteion (oracle of the deceased) at Acheron river, to prepare them for communication with their deads.

Since the species chosen for cultivation have low levels of alkaloids, which can be removed by boiling, lupines is a valuable food, rich in proteins and oils. The white lupine, L. albus, has been cultivated in Meditettanean area for several thousand years. In Classical and Byzantine Greece although lupines were selled, boiled or roasted, by street sellers as a snack, they were regardered as food for the less fortunate, for farmers and cattles. It is true that this food saved a lot of people from the starvation. Not only in ancient times but even during Second World War people used lupines flour for their bread. This legume is also known for its special role in the Cynics’ diet. Since Cynical ideal for a self – sufficient life calls ascetic diet, inexpensive sources of food, as legumes in general, and the lupine especially, hold an important role.

Untill 1970, the farmers of Peloponnesus and Crete used to boil the fresh lupines in mess kettles, by the sea, or by the rivers. Then they soaked them in seawater, or in riverwater for 8 –10 days, till the water wash away their bitterness and they laid them out to dry.

The fresh lupines are very tasty and for a long time was a typical Lenten appetizer. In nowadays it is a food tending to disappear, although it is found in some markets during Fast. They are eaten as a snack, sprinkled with salt and black pepper.

In Europe since 1997 lupines and lupines flour are officialy considered as traditional food.

“During the Great Fast, we eat only once at about the ninth hour (i.e. 3:00 P.M.) taking only dry food and vegetables without oil; we do not drink wine, except on Saturday and Sunday, when we are also permitted to eat fish.” St. Theodore Studites, founder of Stoudios monastery (d. 826), Chron. Catech. 9.

“During the 40days Lent we can find several customs of social character, such as the offering special foods to neighbors and children. For istance at Sinopi, a so called ‘sour food’ is offered to neighbors; chick- peas, beans, chestnuts, raisins, bulgur and thick molasses, are boiled together for a long and then they are fried with onions in some oil.”

Megas G., Greek feasts and customs of popular cult, p. 131 (Athens 1988).

We cannot determine when and where this fast was established. We are only know that untill the third century A.D., the Easter Fast was extended to the week known to us as the Holy Week. It was the fifth Canon of the Council of Nicaea (325) which mentioned, for first time, the Forty Days Fast. Thirty five years later, the Synod of Laodicaea imposed the obligation of fasting for forty days before Easter.

The Easter Fast, which is also called Great Fast, follows the Carnival and ends on the Friday before the Saturday of Lazarus. According to the Byzantine tradition, Holy Week is considered as more important and it is not included in the Forty-Days Fast. During Lent corporal and spiritual fast are necessary for the spiritual renewal. In addition to cleansing the body and spirit, Easter Lent is also the traditional time for spring house cleaning and freshening.

Although the Lenten foods are restricted, because the fasting diet was developed mostly under influence of monastic discipline, they are quite appetizing. Even on Clean Monday when the most food is uncooked and meant to be plain, the variety is remarkable. Wet raw broad-beans, beans ala Piaz, lupines, pickled bulbs, very tender baby and young antichokes, a lot of fresh onions and garlic, many lettuces, eaten without oil and salt, tomatoes sprinkled with salt and oregano, olives, pickled vegetables, snails, shrimps, oysters, squids, octopuses, carp roe spread, dates

Fasting is the voluntary abstinence from eating foods that contain blood and dairy products, or even another food, over a period of time out of the ordinary. The purpose of fasting is to cleanse both body and spirit. This practice has its origins in the ancient Aegyptian religion. Ancient Greeks adopted this custom and not only involved it in the rituals of their mystery cults but they also used it for different purposes. At the temples of Asclepius, the semi-devine son of God Apollo, who was skilled in medicine and surgery, the long day fasting, accompanied by religious rituals, contributed to the healing treatment of sick people. At the oracles, fasting helped the provocation of visions associated with the prediction or the explanation of the enigmatic past. Mystery cults as Elefsinia, Thesmophoria and Kaveiria involved strick fasting concerning the purification and expiation of the faithfuls.

Hebrews also adopted the fasting from Aegyptians. Although according the Old Testament fasting provokes the divine forgiveness, Hebrews were not strick about this matter. The main hebrew fastings are associated whith the anniversary of great disasters, such as the destruction of Jerusalem by Navouhodonosor. The Christians adopted the fasting practice from the Hebrews, and they used it as a means of spiritual training, self-discipline and purification of soul and body, a means of approaching the god and his mercy or as punishment for serious sins.

During the Byzantine years not only the monasteries restricted their monks to the severe diet of abstinence but fasting rules were also widely practised by the most Byzantines. The effects on everyday life, on the the economy of Empire and on Byzantine cuisine, not forgetting the successor cuisines of later times, are quite remarkable.

During the Ottoman occupation of Greece ordinary people followed fanatically fasting. The poor used to eat only olives, greens without oil, paximadia and rarely salted fish. Because of this kind of diet, the foreign visitors connected the severe fasting with many diseases.

Food does not simply keep us alive· it is at the centre of social life.That’s why it links us to others or separates us from them. Flora and fauna, ideological and social orientations, religious beliefs, traditions, prejudices bring us together through food. At the same time food discriminates regions, social classes, religious teams, men, women and children. Greece is a mountainous, rocky landscape with a few pieces of fertile land. This means that Greeks had to use the production of this land quite inventively. In some areas meat and dairy products played the primary role, in other areas olive oil, legumes and greens· cooked in different ways. In that rocky country many Greeks found much of their food in the sea. The lack of fertile soil had another result: it formed the immigration as an important characteristic of Greek history. But immigrants, as merchants and conquerors, adopted elements from foreign culinary cultures and imported them to Greece. They imported new kinds of fruits and vegetables, too. Long lasting conflicts, invasions and a four hundred Ottoman domination also left their marks, although the influence was mutual. So, for a very long time Greek cooking was heavily dependent on its local products and religious dietary laws· the influence from other cultures and factors such as wealth and power are worth mentioned. Unfortunately today modernism and a mediocre ‘international’ cuisine have taken a lot of traditional foods eaten by Greeks. Nevertheless in some remote villages you can still find the tasty cooking which links to the culinary past.