Greek Heritage Cooking
If you have a yiayia, if you dream of Pastitsio, if you can’t get enough Spanakopita and if you were born in Greece, then I have nothing to explain. If, on the other hand, you cannot raise your hand for any of these things, then listen up. Yemista, stuffed roasted vegetables (Photo: Phil McCreight ) Greek food and Greek cookery–the techniques and methods of Greek food preparation–are an essential part of growing up Greek. My heritage isn’t only the ruins of the Acropolis in Athens or the remaining statues in the public park in Sparta. My Greek heritage is more than the icons lined up in any Greek Orthodox Church; it is also the language of my mother, Dimitra, and father, Gregory, and of the vast number of authentically traditional dishes that my sister and I ate growing up in Greece and (as immigrants) in Australia. My mother was from the island of Samos but had moved to Athens when she met my father who was from the small village of Kalami three kilometers from Sparta. When they
