One of the staples of the French kitchen is Croque Monsieur sandwich. The story goes back in 1900’s and the Boulevard des Capucines. It seems that at that day the restaurant ran out of baguettes and the chef had the idea of slicing a loaf of pain de mie which is similar to the American...
“Pasta filata (Italian: “spun paste”) is a technique in the manufacture of a family of Italian cheeses also known in English as stretched-curd, pulled-curd, and plastic-curd cheeses. Stretched curd cheeses manufactured from the pasta filata technique undergo a plasticizing and kneading treatment of the fresh curd in hot water, which gives the cheese its fibrous...
Queen Elisabeth of Austria, very well known as Sissi, felt in love and got married at the age of 16 the Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph. Although one may think that the life of young Sissi would be like a fairytale, the reality was far from that. The young girl was very much stressed by...
Messina is a part at the southwestern part of Greece at the Peloponnese Peninsula. It has a long history that traces back to the prehistoric period and it was one of the most important centers from which Greek revolution against Ottoman empire has started. It is a place with many natural beauties among which are...
Once upon a time in the exotic land of Far East, Ali Baba, a poor logger, discovered a cave that was filled with gold and precious stones, a treasure that was stolen and gathered there by the 40 thieves. All he had to do was to shout at the cave’s door: “Open Sesame”. And just...
Since the 5th century B.C., bread was made from barley here in Greece since the morphology of the land discouraged any cultivation. From 5th century B.C. and forward, thanks to trade with Egypt, the cultivation of wheat begins to expand in Greece. Bread was a basic and very important element of the Greek diet from...
Atalanta was the daughter of Iasus (or Mainalos or Schoeneus, according to Hyginus), a Boeotian, or an Arcadian princess. Her childhood was pretty dramatic according to myth. When she was born, her father was so disappointed for having a girl instead of a boy, that took the infant and left it in the woods. One...
In Greece, it used to be a custom, children to take the names of their paternal grandparents. For example, my name is Katerina just like my father’s mother and my brother’s name is John just like my father’s father. They did it mostly to keep the generation’s name alive and out of respect for the...
Greek pastries were very limited before 1922 when the Greeks of Asia Minor came as refugees in Greece. The country was very poor and the sweets people had, were based on simple ingredients they could find in nature. Some pastry shops that existed in big cities had French inspired sweets that could be enjoyed only...
Back in the old days families used to go to church every Sunday morning. In those days, there was no television or computers or smart phones or tablets. Even telephone was a luxury that few families were able to acquire. The place, where all neighborhood was gathering to see each other and socialize, was the...
