The name basil is derived from Greek basileus “king”, because of the royal fragrance of this herb. Basileus “king” means essentially “people’s leader. Basil belongs to the family of Lamiaceae. Its leaves show an intense green color on the upper side and a green-gray color in the bottom side. Today, basil is cultivated in many...
Sun dried tomatoes are made from a variety of tomatoes that is very usual to several Aegean islands and looks very much alike the Italian pomodori. The tomatoes are dried under the sun until the water they contain evaporates. Usually, they lose between 88% to 93% of their weight depending on their shape, i.e. 88...
Last month I went for a very fast trip to France and more particularly to Arras. Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department, which is in the northern part of France at the confluence of the Scarpe river and the Crinchon River. Established during the Iron Age by the Gauls, the town of Arras was...
Garlic and onion have a common history, similar usage and common properties. Botanically speaking they are a short of brothers as they both belong to the allium category. Although garlic comes from central Asia, it was very well known in ancient Greece and Egypt as well. Herodotus mentions in his writings, that the slaves who...
During the course of history different cities have had the name of “Città Eterna”, for example Jerusalem or Kyoto, but Rome is the first and the only one to have preserved it for over two millennia. The naming of Rome as this is attributed to Albio Tibullo (A.D. 55-19-18 B.C.), a Latin poet that today...
While many kinds of merchandise traveled along the Silk Road, the name comes from the popularity of Chinese silk in the west and especially in Rome. The Silk Road routes stretched from China through India, Asia Minor, up throughout Mesopotamia, to Egypt, the African continent, Greece, Rome, and Britain. This Road was an ancient network...
What connects lemons with mob? Is it possible that all this illegal system started from lemon production? From a study in the “Journal of Economic History” we learn that all this craziness started back at the end of 19th century because of lemons. During the Napoleonian wars, scurvy was the main reason of sailors’ death...
One of the staples of Greek Easter is undoubtedly tsoureki. Tsoureki is a sweet bread that resembles the Jewish challah only with some variations. The word tsoureki comes from the Turkish word “corek” that means any bread that is made with yeast. There are several sweet and savory variations of corek depending on the area...
Agrippina the Younger was the great-granddaughter of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. Her parents were general, Germanicus, and Agrippina the Elder. Her brother was Emperor Caligula, and her sisters were Drusilla and Livilla. She was born at Ara Ubiorum (modern-day Cologne) on 6 November 15 C.E. In 28. A.D. at the age of 13, she...
Once upon a time, there was once in the northeastern part of Greece, Thrace, a beautiful princess called Phyllís. One day, a ship, returning from the Trojan war, dropped anchor where she lived. The ship’s captain and owner was Dimophóntas the son of Theseus. The two youngsters fell in love and eventually got married. For...
