Taste Athens: Lent on the Streets – Tahini Bread
Taste Athens: Lent on the Streets – Tahini Bread Almost there. Today I pressed send on the excel file that in a few weeks time will morph into Taste Athens, an app and food-lovers guide to the city. I’ll be posting regularly about the tasty exploits that have helped me rediscover Athens as an incredible […]
IKARIA nominated for 3 Awards!!
I am so thrilled and honored. IKARIA, my latest book, has been nominated for three awards this year: It’s a nominee for the “Books for a Better Life Award,” by the MS Foundation; it’s been long-listed on the Art of Eating Book of the Year award; and, most recently, IKARIA is up for an IACP award […]
What is Mastiha and How to Use it
Mastiha, or mastic, is a crystal, resinous spice and natural chewing gum that hails exclusively from Chios, where it has been produced since antiquity and long known for its medicinal value. It is highly aromatic and therapeutic — excellent and scientifically proven as a salve against stomach ulcers, effective as a gum in promoting oral […]
Nutrient-Dense Tarama–A Greek Superfood
Nutrient-Dense Tarama–A Greek Superfood Nutrient-Dense Tarama Tarama, the tiny beads of fish roe from cod or carp, is so nutrient dense that it could easily be labeled a superfood. The roe provides a boost of cancer-fighting vitamin D and brain-supporting omega-3 fatty acids. The high content of vitamins A and K2 work synergistically to prevent […]
Crumbs and Votes…Democracy for Dinner
CRUMBS AND VOTES…DEMOCRACY FOR DINNER. Athens. These past few weeks, I have worked to finish up a project about the food scene in the Greek capital, figuring that we’ll have a tourist season filled with people who will want to eat. For 20 years, I reviewed restaurants and wrote about food in this country of […]
Hawthorn Tea
Tea time with Hawthorn? Yes, if you have a sore throat, insomnia and heart problems. On Ikaria, hawthorn is also known to be good for dyspepsia and kidney stones. Goats love what the Ikarians call perikanthe — hawthorn. The rest of Greece knows this wild herb as Crataegus, which is its scientific name, too. Hawthorn was recommended to […]
Nuts Make Greek Sweets Healthy
Nuts are a basic ingredient in countless Greek recipes, from Ikaria and from Greece in general. Not too far from our village is a small mountain village called “Karidyes,” or “Walnut Trees.” We have walnut, chestnut and almond trees growing on our property; we pick the feathery blossoms of wild pistachio trees down the road […]
Ikaria Longevity Secret: Herbal Teas
Let’s talk about tea and longevity. Not just any tea, but the wide array of herbal teas that Ikarians drink. “We drank herbal teas like sage and fliskouni (pennyroyal). Those were the ‘antibiotics’ of our time! Our mother would prepare sage tea, honey and a clove of garlic if we had a cold or the […]
Ikaria Longevity Secret: Figs, Glorious Figs!
On Ikaria, the island of longevity, where people forget to die, figs play an important part in the local diet. They are one of nature’s late-summer, nutrition-packed gifts and, dried, are an important food in winter. For a few short weeks, we enjoy them fresh. One of my greatest childhood pleasures was to scurry about […]
Healthy: Purslane
Purslane, a weed many of us have growing in our gardens, is one of the healthiest foods on the planet.
Promoting Greek Cuisine in Tokyo
Promoting Greek cuisine in Tokyo.
In Season: Sea Salt
Sea salt, which I harvested from Ikaria, is naturally rich in minerals, which make it so delicious.