Woman, With Hair
Gary Kirkpatrick
Double Take!
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St Nicolas Church of Piraeus
The lovely St Nicolas Church of Piraeus was finished around 1900. It stands near the main harbor in Piraeus, the port city next to Athens from which many ferries depart for the multitude of Greek islands. Of the Greek Orthodox churches we have seen, it comes closest to the magnificent Orthodox churches we saw in St Petersburg. There are good examples of the religious art typical of these churches. The Mary icon you see below, in gold, was kissed by multiple visitors during our visit, behavior that is common to the Orthodox, as is the sign of the cross which includes touching the floor.
On Greek cuisine
I am impressed with what’s on offer in Greece, both the raw ingredients and prepared foods either in restaurants or in the grocery stores. Commonly used spices include allspice, cardamon, cloves, coriander, mahlab, mastic (also an after dinner drink), nutmeg, saffron, and sumac. I suggest you forget about ordering mintroduced by Nikolaos Tselementes, a Greek chef who worked in the St. Moritz Hotel in New York. Greek salad is everywhere and not as good as I have had in Greek restaurants abroad, lacking the dressing that gives the salad its zing, also lacking the spicy jarred peppers. There is a slice of feta atop, which is quite good but I find it lacks integration, and would be better if cubed. I suggest skipping it and trying some of the other salads or even the cooked vegetable side dishes.
Not to worry about losing these three dishes! There is a great deal to enjoy as you explore this complex, sophisticated cuisine. The Greeks love grilled meats. These they generally call souvlaki, served on a skewer sometimes with grilled vegetables. The meat is very tender, often marinated. Throw it on a pita bread and you have an inexpensive lunch, about 2.5 euros. A gyro is the equivalent of the kebab, which is the meat grilled on a vertical spit then shaved. You will find beef, chicken, pork and to a lesser extent lamb. Sandwiches may have fries inside. They are limp, as are those ordered separately or included in quantity. Fries in Greece do not rank with those of France, Belgium and Nederlands in my book, where they know how to fry them: a second time to make them crispy.
Saganaki is a fried cheese, the name coming from the pan in which the cheese is fried. The cheese is usually graviera, kefalograviera, halloumi, kasseri, kefalotyri, or sheep’s milk feta. Mussels or shrimp saganaki are served in a superb tomato base. The mussels I tried were heavenly at a small place near the port. The shrimp was in one case superb and in the other the sauce tasted like an Italian was in the kitchen, very good but not it did not seem Greek to me.
We have had several stews that were outstanding and which cost no more than 8 euros at a non-tourist restaurant. One near us called their dish “pork bites.” I have no idea what it is made from but a very rich flavor and amazingly tender pork. There are probably hundreds of recipes. The meat in general has been very tender and juicy, a matter of good igredients and technique.
There is a variety of cheese pies, in addition to spanakopita. Tiropita (or tyropita) is made from the usual layers of filo dough filled with a cheese and egg mixture. There are dozens of versions of these pies, served as main dishes or as snacks from the bakeries.
I have tried several main course vegetable dishes. The eggplant at our local restaurant called the Olýmpion (
Bakeries offer a wide selection of crusty bread, not as crunchy a crust as the bread that you get in Italy (the stuff you get in the US called Italian bread is a pale imitation). I was surprised to find a huge variety of bread sticks, much better than the tasteless crostini you sometimes find in Italy and the US. In Rome and other Italian cities you can find an excellent bread stick, a thick crusty one with sesame seeds, that are still my favorite even after tasting many of the Greek varieties. The Greek versions are nearly as good but there are many more varieties to choose from and they are widely available, although they do not serve them in restaurants. The restaurant bread is generally of high quality bakery bread.
The desserts are amazing. They are primarily made with honey, nuts, cream and fruit. There is the usual baklava, large servings rather than the tiny diamonds one finds in the US. Bougatsa is also made with filo then filled with a creamy custard. Diples are fried turnovers. Halva is made with with semolina flour or sesame with raisins and cinnamon. Melomakarona are soft cookies dipped in honey or syrup then covered with walnuts. At the Acropolis museum I had a kind of nut cake. I think there was nutmeg. I did not taste any honey. Kataifi is made with a dough that lookes like shredded wheat. You add walnuts and perhaps other nuts), clove and cinnamon, and covered with a lemon scented syrup. Wow!
The dessert possibilities are nearly endless. Writing this is making me hungry so I am stopping here.
The market near our house is top notch. Olives, melons, figs. Greens! The Greeks love greens. There are several varieties of cicoria like in Italy. They sell beet greens, and various forms of endive and a variety of lettuces. And reasonable prices, if not sometimes dirt cheap.
Wine. The white is very good, even the inexpensive ones. You can get a half liter of the house white for 4 to 6 euros and not be disappointed. We have only found one good red house wine and have spent as much as 13 euros for a bottle and still not found anything worth mentioning. Per one commentary, ” For fans of lively whites like Sauvignon Blanc and Albariño, Greek white wines offer astounding quality for a reasonable cost. While Greek reds are not as uniformly compelling, the best bottlings are terrific.” Stick with the white or spend a lot.
After almost a month here I have barely begun to know the Greek kitchen. I certainly have a new appreciation for it.
Conversations
This is another in my Hopper series, this one inspired by Hopper’s Automat. Strong lines contrast with fuzziness in the figures, overhead lighting with the darkness outdoors, the comparative focus of the indoor scene with the night, a feeling of having conquered the uncertainty of the darkness but with but a slim barrier of safety.
See the others at Hopper inspired pieces
Art of the Con
The disaster continues
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A bit of the history of the Acropolis
The Acropolis overlooks Athens on a limestone outcropping providing great views of the city and inspiring views of the temples from below, the Parthenon being the most prominent. Its defensive properties no doubt appealed to early inhabitants. Evidence of their interest dates to the 4th millennium BCE. The Mycenaean Megaron palace was probably built here during the late bronze age. The temple to Athena Polias came circa 550 BCE, a bit after the Old Temple of Athena. A structure called the Older Parthenon was started circa 500 BCE but sacked by the Persians, who destroyed and looted the city. Elements of that structure were used to build the curtain wall still visible today. Pericles (circa 495–429 BCE) built the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike.
During the Hellenistic and Roman periods there were significant repairs to the temples. The Parthenon was used as a church during the Byzantine period. During the Duchy of Athens, founded by Crusaders, the Acropolis was the administrative center. The Propylaia, the monumental entrance to the Acropolis, was part of the Ducal palace. A large tower was added to the Propylaia but later demolished.
It was the Venetians who most seriously damaged the Parthenon. In 1687 it was largely intact until gunpowder stored in the Parthenon exploded after it was struck by a cannonball. Columns fell, the roof collapsed. This accounts for its appearance before the renovations began in the 1990’s.
In 1801 Thomas Bruce, the Earl of Elgin, transported sculptures to England with permission of the Ottomans. These were later sold to the British Museum where they remain to this day, much to the chagrin of the Greeks, who call it a theft. After the Greeks became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1830, anything from the Byzantine, Duchy (124-1500) and Ottoman periods were removed.
The columns of the Parthenon are now being restored and put in place. Some of the 19th century restorations to the columns are being redone as the columns were incorrectly assembled. Over 2000 tons of marble elements have been restored to date using new Pentelic, the same marble the ancients used. It is white so you can distinguish it from the older marble, which has a yellow tint. This marble comes from the region northeast of Athens.
For further information visit the Acropolis Museum to watch the excellent videos. Also click the links below.
Acropolis in Greek literally means “the highest point of the town”
Great timeline history of Greece Timeline
Keystone Kraps: Ukraine Scandal
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Best quality glicee print signed 1 of 50
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A Portrait of a Woman of Power and Judgment
A digital portrait, done from scratch on my Wacom tablet.
Gaudi Jazz
Inspired by the fabulous architecture of Antonio Gaudi, the turn of the century architect who gave Barcelona some of the most fabulous buildings on earth.
