Greek Life
As you walk into the kitchen, you can smell the oregano in the air dancing alongside the citrus smell of lemon. Your mouth starts to water and you can taste the sourness of the lemon against your tongue. There, sitting on the stove, is a large stainless steel pan and in front of it is a lady dressed in her best Sunday clothes with an apron over her to make sure that nothing ruins her flowing black shirts and ruffle white top. Her hair is made into a French twist and her nails are bright red. Her name is Maria Psatha and she is cooking a “light” family meal for when she returns from church.

Coming from a Greek culture you learn that there are two important things: family and food. Both intertwined with each other and both just as important. Food not only nourishes life, but is life in a Greek family. Over the years it has become obvious in my mind that without these two key ingredients, the Greek culture would not have been the same and I would not have grown up the way that I did.

A small family get-together in Greece consists of at least 35 people and two weeks of perpetration. Everyone’s kitchen is lined with dishes made with only the freshest ingredients; preferably home grown fruits and vegetables (from the garden out back) but never with frozen food. Each Dish has been tended to as if it was of the greatest importance. Food is more than just the regular household necessity; it is the chain that binds everyone together no matter what the circumstance may be. My grandmother would always tell me that “no man or women can resist the aroma of Souvlak and Pastichio that has been freshly cooked and served with Zaziki and Humus.” This combination she says brings together even the most callous of enemies and no fight continues when there is the lingering scent of her cooking in the air.

As a Greek woman, I will learn how to cook these tradition recipes by the words of my grandmother and aunts alone. No cook book will be passed down to me, no set of index cards, and no online recipes will be used. I will learn to cook them with a hands-on experience that is even more important, because it is the pivotal bonding moment for any Greek girl to have.
Then, just like my Aunts, Cousins, and Grandmother I will be put to the test. I will be taught what I need to know, told that I will need to cook a dish for my Grandfather, and then based on what his reaction was, my family will know whether or not I am a cook.

Without experiences like these I would never have learned why food was so important to my family. It is not the food its self, it is the process that you must go through, the bonding experience you will gain and the satisfaction of knowing that you have been able to bring people together. I see food now as the roots of my family. Now that I have grown and moved away to college I find myself longing to cook for my friends, family or even just because I get home sick; all because cooking is the best way for me to show the people in my life that I care for them.

To me food heals pain and illness. Food makes us smile and laugh. Food brings together family that has once been lost and food reminds us of our bond. Food is love, and without it, our love goes unspoken.

Now that you know why I love food, I would Love to share one of my all time favorite recipes from my Greek life:

Pastichio with Crema Sauce:

INGRETIANTS

2 lb Ground beef

2 ts Salt

1/4 ts Pepper

1 Onion; chopped

Chopped parsley

4 tb Butter

1/2 c Tomato sauce

1/2 c Water

1 lb Macaroni

1/2 c Butter

4 c Grated Romano cheese

Bread crumbs

CREMA SAUCE

1/2 c Butter

8 tb Flour

4 c Milk

6 Egg yolks

PREPERATIONAdd salt and pepper to ground beef. Fry until meat juices are absorbed. Add chopped onion, parsley, and 4 tablespoons butter; brown well. Add tomato sauce and water, and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Cook macaroni in salt water 10 minutes. Do not overcook. Rinse, drain well. Grease large baking pan, 11" x 14" with melted butter; sprinkle with bread crumbs and grated cheese.Combine macaroni with 1/2 cup melted butter; arrange half of mixture in pan. Sprinkle with grated cheese, and cover with meat mixture, spreading evenly over enture surface. Cover with remaining macaroni and grated cheese. Prepare Crema.

CREMA: Melt butter, add flour and stir until slightly brown. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Slowly add slightly beaten egg yolks, and cook over very low heat until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread crema evenly over macaroni. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. (Cream sauce should be thick enough to form a top layer. Thin sauce will seep through macaroni.)

Κρασί: Wine

In the small village of Ayios Theodoros the wind whispers and the weather is always mild tempered. Here the sunshines down and feeds the wild growing fruit and the small gardens. George Georghiou is an urban man, a lawyer, a father, and an uncle; but to those who know him well he is still a farm boy from K. Dhikomo, Cyprus.

Mr. Georghiou owns a summer house in Ayios Theodoros, it’s a quite place where he is free to have family over and spend the day by the pool or grilling in his hand made brick oven. He had designed the house and oversaw the construction creating a terracing of the land where all the fruit trees are planted. However when he travels to the village to find some peace from the city, he spends his days curating wine, in a small village looking wine cellar that is tucked away behind tall vibrant green hedges. The wine cellar was built by Mr. Georghiou with help from a local mason. The building is dressed in stone to give it the authentic mountain cottage look that matches the surrounding houses. Here inside this wine cellar there isn’t much, there are stainless steel tanks and other equipment to ferment the grapes, large wooden oak barrel, so the wine can age perfectly, and a small bottle tree to dry the bottles, a label maker, and a wine rack; but from these simple things Mr. Georghiou creates his own personal brand of wine, spirits, and Zivania, which is the clear drink that is 100 degrees proof, but his is a beautiful shade of light pink, which makes it different from all the others.

This wine is darkest shade of ruby red, with a dry taste that tickles your tongue, while leaving behind a rich potent flavor of an acidy sweet grape, after consumption. For his family it serves more than just the function as a beverage of unique flavor, it is the laughter, the jokester, and the celebration starter. It is the one wine bottle that is passed around and as the wine disappears from the bottle, the memories of that night flow back into the deep green glass bottle. For ever bottle that comes from Mr. Georghiou there are stories of good time, bad times and times that are both. So if you ever come to my house and drink my uncles wine, know this, you drinking more than just a wine.

Quary Letter to Preface

October 18, 2009

Christine Le
1 Camino Santa Maria St San Antonio, TX 78228


Dear Christine,

“As you walk into the kitchen, you can smell the oregano in the air dancing alongside the citrus smell of lemon. Your mouth starts to water and you can taste the sourness of the lemon against your tongue. There, sitting on the stove, is a the large stainless steel pan and in front of it is a lady dressed in her best Sunday clothes with an apron over her to make sure that nothing ruins her garments. Her hair is made into a French twist and her nails are bright red. Her name is Maria Psatha and she is cooking a “light” family meal for when she returns from church.”

I would like to offer Preface, an article about Greek culture titled Greek Life. This article will be covering the impotence of Food and Family, and how Food brings together a Greek family more than anything. Within this article I will talk about personal experiences that I have had in my childhood which have stayed with me and showed me that my life as a Greek woman was not only shaped by tradition, but have also brought me to the realization that food is the foundation in a Greek family.

This article will be a personal narration story between 800 and 900 words, with a smaller article that contains the traditional Greek recipe for a dish called Pastichio attached at the end of the story. Within the smaller article it will be a step by step cooking recipe with a small introduction of the dish itself. I will also include three pictures with the article of the dish itself and photographs of my favorite places in Greece, Porto Heli, Greece and the beach at Paphos, Cyprus.

I very much look forward to hearing from you. I can have the article ready within two weeks of your response.

Thank you,
Chrystalla Georghiou



DO 117
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio Texas, 78228

Greek Life Final Draft

Greek Life
As you walk into the kitchen, you can smell the oregano in the air dancing alongside the citrus smell of lemon. Your mouth starts to water and you can taste the sourness of the lemon against your tongue. There, sitting on the stove, is a the large stainless steel pan and in front of it is a lady dressed in her best Sunday clothes with an apron over her to make sure that nothing ruins her garments. Her hair is made into a French twist and her nails are bright red. Her name is Maria Psatha and she is cooking a “light” family meal for when she returns from church.

Coming from a Greek culture you learn that there are two important things, family and food. Both intertwined with each other and both just as important. Food not only nourishes life, but it is life in a Greek family. Over the years it has become obvious in my mind that without these two key ingredients, the Greek culture would not have been the same and I would not have grown up the way that did.

A small family get-together in Greece consist of at least 35 people and two weeks of perperation. Everyone’s kitchen is lined with dishes that are made with only the freshest ingredients; preferably home grown fruits and vegetables (from the garden out back) but never with frozen food. Each Dish has been tended to as if it was of the greatest importance. Food is more than just the regular household necessity; it is the chain that binds everyone together no matter what the circumstance maybe. My grandmother would always tell me that “no man or women can resist the aroma of Souvlak and Pastichio that has been freshly cooked and served with Zaziki and Humus.” This combination she says brings together even the callous of enemies and no fight continues when there is the lingering scent of her cooking in the air.

As a Greek woman, I will learn how to cook these tradition recipes by the words of my grandmother and aunts alone. No cook book will be passed down to me, no set of index cards, and no online recipes will be used. I will learn to cook them with a hands-on experience that is even more so important, because it is the pivotal bonding moment for any Greek girl to have.

Then, just like my Aunts, Cousins, and Grandmother I will be put to the test. I will be taught what I need to know, told that I will need to cook a dish for my Grandfather, and then based on what his reaction was, my family will know whether or not I am a cook.

Without experiences like these I would never have learned why food was so important to my family. It is not the food its self, it is the process that you must go through, the bonding experience you will gain and the satisfaction of knowing that you have been able to bring people together. I see food now as the roots of my family. So now that I have grown and moved away to college I find myself longing to cook for my friends, family or even just because I get home sick; all because cooking is the best way for me to show the people in my life that I care for them.

To me food heals pain and illness. Food makes us smile and laugh. Food brings together family that has once been lost and food reminds us of our bond. Food is love, and without it, our love goes unspoken.

So now that you know why i love food, I would Love to share one of my all time favorite recipes from my Greek life.

Pastichio with Crema Sauce:

Ingredients
2 lb Ground beef
2 ts Salt
1/4 ts Pepper
1 Onion; chopped
Chopped parsley
4 tb Butter
1/2 c Tomato sauce
1/2 c Water
1 lb Macaroni
1/2 c Butter
4 c Grated Romano cheese
Bread crumbs
CREMA SAUCE
1/2 c Butter
8 tb Flour
4 c Milk
4 -(up to)
6 Egg yolks

Preparation
Add salt and pepper to ground beef. Fry until meat juices are absorbed. Add chopped onion, parsley, and 4 tablespoons butter; brown well. Add tomato sauce and water, and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Cook macaroni in salt water 10 minutes. Do not overcook. Rinse, drain well. Grease large baking pan, 11" x 14" with melted butter; sprinkle with bread crumbs and grated cheese.
Combine macaroni with 1/2 cup melted butter; arrange half of mixture in pan. Sprinkle with grated cheese, and cover with meat mixture, spreading evenly over enture surface. Cover with remaining macaroni and grated cheese. Prepare Crema.

CREMA: Melt butter, add flour and stir until slightly brown. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Slowly add slightly beaten egg yolks, and cook over very low heat until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread crema evenly over macaroni. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. (Cream sauce should be thick enough to form a top layer. Thin sauce will seep through macaroni.)