Nothing distinguishes the cook from the poet; for each, invention is their skill,
Euphron the poet, 3rd century BC
Food
Those foods that come from nature represent at the same time the endeavour of all those who laboured to gather, cultivate, process, buy, cook and serve them. Their production, distribution and processing are always subject to rules about what is edible and what is not and attitudes towards what is tasty, healthy, dangerous, what we can or can’t eat, and when and how. In other words, food, aside from calorific values also represents cultural values and social relations.
Alexandra Bakalaki
In Thrace, in the various dietary habits of both its townsfolk and rural inhabitants are salvaged the traces of all the cultural upheavals and fertile influences that the people of this area have absorbed. The customs of the ancients and the culinary habits of the Byzantines were enriched during the Ottoman era by the cultural experiences of the nomads and urban dwellers of different cultural origins, who settled in the periphery of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Later, the culinary habits of the Greek refugees who came from Asia Minor, the Pontus, Cappadocia, Northern and Eastern Thrace to settle in the region of Eastern Thrace enriched its gastronomic map and produced a particularly flavoursome fusion. The elaborate preparations of the urban kitchen resulted from the search for sophisticated, pleasurable flavours and the creative imaginations of thinkers. In the countryside, cooking is at the centre of collective life, dividing time into days of fasting or otherwise, according to the feasts of the saints. The culinary habits of the country folk to a large extent continue to determine the economy of ingredients, a respect for hard work, nature and inventiveness. On the outside, all the preparations are simple yet impressive and delicious, keeping at the core of their flavour the intensity and uniqueness of the geography and people of Thrace.
People ask me: Why do you write about food, and eating and drinking? Why don’t you write about the struggle for power and security, and about love, the way others do. They ask it accusingly, as if I were somehow gross, unfaithful to the honor of my craft. The easiest answer is to say that, like most humans, I am hungry. But there is more than that. It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it.
M.F.K. Fisher
The place
A deeply mysterious place that holds on to its ancient parallels even today. You cannot understand what this place means if you do not come to this land, Thrace, as a traveller, from the Pomak villages of Xanthi to Ormenio, if you do not walk through the invaluable Thracian waterways, from the reeds of the rapid River Nestos to the watery border of silvery Evros. If you do not live in a fishing hut in the mythical Evros Delta and do not see the “rosy-fingered” dawn of Samothrace rise through the waters of the Aegean,
if you do not gaze at the seas from the corn and sunflower fields, which mingle with the mystical sunset,
if you are not lost in the virgin forests, with the shady foliage, in all colours of green, which protect the nests of the rare birds,
if you do not hear the Orphic sound of a hundred bagpipes at Didymoteicho and join heart and soul in the customs of the folk processions,
if you do not travel to the ancient landscapes of Thrace, there to the trees of the wishes, next to where the holy waters are, where the rags that have been given as offerings hang, and do not walk through its castles, witnesses to its thousand-year history,
if you do not watch the Pomak wrestling at Hilia and do not commemorate the dead with the elaborate kolyva of the archangels at Rizia,
if you do not find yourself at the kourbania festival or do not witness yesterday blending with today in a zonaradiko dance at the folk festivals,
if you do not escape to the local restaurants and little taverns, where you will encounter forgotten flavours, loved and authentic, that stimulate your sense of smell and your imagination.
Tradition
In this place, where even today wheat, the symbol of food, is described as birth, the women, bearers of life itself, of fruition and creation, have preserved the rich tradition of Greek rural society. The rapid changes to the “techno-economic basis of our civilization”, which brought about the end of popular culture as a system of life and led to migration, that great social fracture, permanently changed the trajectory of the local tradition. Within this new reality, where every expression of popular culture is considered restrictive, an impediment to “evolution”, it was the women of the rural areas who kept the traditions, salvaging basic codes of communication, which operate during the transfusion of collective knowledge and the management of collective identity. The most vibrant part of tradition, food and its preparation, cooking. Food. This condensed history of traditions, the residue of religious and cultural attitudes, knowledge and experience blended with memory and the possibilities of the ingredients. The constant reference point, dressed with the flavours that it reveals, the deeply-hidden nostalgic mood of the place that nurtured and raised us, which declares heartfelt relationships and bonds with the social space, that brings to light products that balance and underline the sense of respect and the harmony of things that are needed in the kitchen, just as life itself.
The gastronomic map…
Now that we have overcome the syndrome of French gastronomic baroque and Nouvelle Cuisine, the scrutiny of our social achievements through the table of a foreign kitchen, and are instead concerned about the transgenic foods of biotechnology imposed by the globalisation of flavours and the spread of McDonalds, we are able to redefine the value of local cuisine. We have reassessed the purity of our own flavours, the nutritional value of trahana and of varvara. The gastronomic map of Thrace and Evros, more than any other region of Greece, is a repository of flavours created by the “fruit-bearing varied earth and the flavours of the past that belong to its natives as they encounter the newly-arrived flavours of the refugees.” In the forested mountain areas, hunting abounds while the glina pig fat was once one of the main “oils” and was used in cooking until the war, when sunflower oil came in. Kavurma and sausages in various combinations as well as game with their intense flavours are transformed into gastronomic delights for the most discerning. On the fringes of Rhodope, in the Zonaian mountains, aside from tobacco cultivation, we encounter the native aromatic plants, the arsenal in the protection of human existence. Wild apples and pears, Cornelian cherries and blackthorns are used to prepare compotes and liquors.
From the fringes of the hills to the sea, the olive grove of Makri, one of the most ancient olive groves in the Mediterranean, with many olive trees as old as 2,500 years. Olive oil production here is documented from 600-700 years ago and its quality is acknowledged throughout Greece as is the preparation of edible olives. The Evros delta is full of cephalopods, sea bass, shellfish, eels and the salted fish of the coastal zone. In the coastal villages and in the capital of the Prefecture of Evros, Alexandroupoli, there are as many seafood mezedes and fish dishes as are in the sea. In the rich, wet soils of the plains you will find beets, cotton and wheat, organic vegetables and striped, fleshy fragrant melons that can deservedly compete with many imported exotic fruits. Cabbage, leeks, peppers and yellow pumpkins are the key vegetables in the dishes of Evros. The cultivation of asparagus, an emerging and highly nutritious produce, transforms the rural landscape. The cultivation of sesame seeds is returning to Thrace, along with the famous sesame seed pies. In Evros, bulgur wheat, amber-shaded couscous, trahana, the pastas made with artistry and passion encounter the wedding dishes with goat, the ritual dishes at the kourbania animal slaughter and the stuffed manti pastries of Samothrace. The Pomak rice pies, the puff pastry courgette pies and the vegetable pies are in a taste contest with the multigrain porridges, such as varvara and ashure. There is a special place on the gastronomic map of Evros for the seven-kneaded bread of Samothrace, it’s kaseri cheeses, fresh mizithra cheese with honey and plums, and spoon sweets. In the central and northern section of the prefecture, one of the most typical preparations are the spoon sweets. The amber twirls of the marrow, retseli jams and crunchy watermelon. Next come the exuberant haslamas and mahleb, syrupy kadaifi, balkavas, samali and kazan dibi, with the fragrance of Anatolia.
At Soufli in Alexadroupoli the vineyard landscapes bring to mind Pindar’s abeolessa, the Thrace of the plentiful vineyards, while the old grape varieties are gradually returning to the Thracian table, such as pamidi, mavroudi, katsouda, zoumiatiko and karnachalas.
Samothrace.
Place and history
Twenty-four nautical miles south of Alexandroupoli, in the Thracian Sea rises one of the largest mountain groups of the Aegean, the Saos. Its highest peak, the Fengari (moon), as the locals call it, reaches an altitude of 1611 m above sea level.
An area of 178 square kilometres with precipitous wild peaks, running waters and spectacular waterfalls gushing from the steep slopes of Saos. Medicinal springs and natural pools within an anarchic vegetation. Pebble beaches and churches in unexpected forested ravines that run as far as the shores. A mysterious nature that inspires awe even today and, for this reason, it has bred myths and churches even in modern times, with the inhabitants mentioning over 1000 chapels. According to mythology, it was from this island of the Aeolian that the god Poseidon watched the unfolding of the Trojan War, as Homer says. At the spot of Mikro Vouni, life is documented in a prehistoric settlement, an example of a proto-urban “city” in the Aegean region, from the late Neolithic period. The archaeological finds reveal continuous habitation of the island and, according to the archaeologists, the last pre-Helladic population was Thracian and its language remained as the language of the cult of the Great Gods till the 1st century AD. The archaeological site of 12 acres with its Museum at Palaiapoli is dotted with evidence that speaks of the island’s importance and confirms that the island of the Winged Nike of Samothrace, which today stands in a prominent position in the Paris Louvre, the island of the “Cabeirian Mysteries”, is one of the most important in the Greek world.
The ancient city, Palaiapoli, with its Cyclopean walls, is in the north of the island. In around 700 BC, the island was colonised by Aeolians. It was taken by the Persians and then passed into Macedonian hands until 168 BC. In Roman times it became an international religious centre, where crowds of pilgrims (dignitaries and ordinary citizens) flocked from all over the Roman world. The next rulers of the island were the Byzantines until 1204 and then the Venetians. The arrival of the Genoese family of the Gateluzzi or Gattilusi in 1355 was to bequeath the island an important monument, the Gateluzzi Tower. During the period of Ottoman rule, which for Samothrace began in 1457, the island was to suffer from desertification and destruction twice. The history of the island from then on is linked to whatever was taking place in the wider region of Thrace.
Of the island’s settlements – of which there are twenty, large and small – Hora, the capital, stands out for its unique architectural simplicity, while Kamariotissa, the port, is the most populated. The island’s geography, its vegetation with the forests of plane, pine, chestnut and cedar trees, the beaches, the castles at the foothills of Saos, the sanctuary of the Great Gods, the countless chapels, the pace of life of the island’s people and, especially, the fact that the island has remained immune from the uncontrolled tourist growth that other islands have suffered, create a different feeling of space and time on Samothrace.
Crops and nutrition
The island’s economy is based on livestock farming, agriculture, fishing and tourism. The sea around Samothrace is one of the richest in the Mediterranean for its marine life. Among the main crops of the island are cereals and olives; the most important food products, olive oil and cereals. The great value of these foods can be seen in their use as votive offerings. Olive oil is used as a treatment and a religious offering, from the lighting of candles to its use in the rites of passage. Wheat, barley, corn, and sesame seeds, which have received awards since the 1867 Paris World Fair, are the main cereals. The processing of these two precious foods, cereals and olives, as well as the passion of the local masons have left us with excellent examples of pre-industrial buildings, beautiful flour mills and olive mills.
Olive cultivation on the island was significant and we are reminded of it by the names that have remained for those places where olive groves once stood as well as in the contemporary Melmar Winery, built in the shadow of the imposing Saos. Located in the area of Dafnes, it has been open for wine exploration since 2013, so that you can discover the secrets of the soil of Samothrace. It also produces the superb Fonias beer. Vegetables, onions and pulses, lemons and mandarins in the south of the island, fruits from the wild pear and wild apple trees, terebinths (wild pistachio trees) and strawberry trees, Mirabelle plums and raspberries, mint, oregano and penny royals make up the topography of the island’s flavours. The famous goat meat and dairy products have a leading role in the cuisine of Samothrace, along with its fish.For the island’s kehagiades (livestock farmers), food is the meat that comes either from rearing pigs and poultry or from the famous Samothrace goat, which has been known since the time of the Roman writer Varro (176-127 BC), as Ioanna Maltezou mentions in her Samothrace: Gastronomy, Identity, Inherited knowledge. In the dairy products, the cheeses, such as kaseri and fresh mizithra, served with Samothrace honey, have been famous since the time of M. Melirritos; yesterday meets today and the result caresses one’s palate…