The Delicious Legacy

Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!Welcome back to another episode of our archaogastronomical adventures!I hope you're all well and healthy and had a lovely Easter.Today's episode is all about ancient vegetarianism.And the philosopher Pythagoras is the central figure on all these talk today.Pythagoras, the father of mathematics, was born and raised in Samos. around 580BCE. He is one of the most acclaimed pre-Socratic philosophers and the Pythagorean Theorem bears his name. Samos is a green island known for its mixed flora, full of mountains and plains. Olive groves are covering most of these plains, since the age of Pythagoras and even before, while the main varieties are the local Ntopia Elia, Koronéiki and Kalamòn. Even though Pythagoras spent more than forty years in his birthplace, he eventually decided to set sail for new seas; his thirst for knowledge led him to travel throughout most of the then known world, most notably Egypt and Babylon, centres of wisdom knowledge and secret mystical rites, before settling down to Croton, a town in Magna Graecia, modern Southern Italy. He may have found pupils to follow him, and welcoming ears to listen to his preaching....More on the audio if you press play!Notes for this episode:Theophrastus (c. 371–287 BCE) was a Peripatetic philosopher who was Aristotle's close colleague and successor at the Lyceum. He wrote many treatises in all areas of philosophy, in order to support, improve, expand, and develop the Aristotelian system. Of his few surviving works, the most important are Peri phytōn historia (“Inquiry into Plants”) and Peri phytōn aitiōn (“Growth of Plants”), comprising nine and six books, respectively.Aulus Gellius (c. 125 – after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome.Vetch: A member of the pea family, Fabaceae, which forms the third largest plant family in the world with over thirteen thousand species. Of these species, the bitter vetch, was one of the first domesticated crops grown by neolithic people. There are many different vetch species, the purple flowered varieties are all safe to eat.Credits:All Music by Pavlos Kapraloshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1Aexcept under Maltby and Greek promo; Song "Waltz Detuné" by Cloudcubhttps://cloudcub.bandcamp.com/album/memories-i-cant-readand under Ancient History Hound ad; Song by Aris Lanaridishttps://www.arislanaridis.co.uk/You can help with the costs of the podcast by becoming a patron on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/thedeliciouslegacySupport the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello all!What fabulous frolics and food fantasies are we exploring today? Ones made of figs and foie gras!Well these two items might seem unrelated to begin with, but there is a very close connection!Let's trace the history of figs in Ancient Greece and Rome, and foie gras - a technique for force feeding geese and duck - all the way back to Ancient Egypt, around 2500 BCE. (A controversial food, and technique that even then it was it's critics! We are not unique my friends!)Enjoy!Credits:Thanks to Richard B for the use of his studio, Area18 to record this episode!Music by Pavlos Kapralos for more of his amazing music go here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A/videosInstrumental music on the "Support me" break at 17min 40sec composed and performed by James R Bryden & Thom NtinasSupport the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello! What could call itself the first ice cream cup was found in Egypt in a tomb from the Second Dynasty (2700 BC). This was a kind of mould, consisting of two silver cups, one of which contained snow (or crushed ice) and the other cooked fruit. “Icehouses”, where snow was stored and ice deliberately formed, were undoubtedly an extremely ancient invention. Around AD300 in India they found a way to manufacture cheap ice: Porous clay pots containing boiled, cooled water were laid out on top of straw in shallow trenches; under favourable circumstances, thin ice would form on the surface during winter nights which could be harvested and combined for sale.Of course ancient Persians by 400BC have mastered the art and technique of creating ice in the deserts of Iran for their needs ie storing food and for pleasure in form of iced drinks! This practice requires an ingenious structure called a yakhchālThe emperor Nero had snow and ice transported from mountains or volcanoes such as Mount Etna, these natural ice being stored in ice-boxes and buried in wells to be preserved. Nero also feasted his guests with crushed fruit with honey and snow, practices that Seneca found very expensive.How long have these sorbets and frozen fruits been eaten ? Historians remain silent on the subject. It seems that these icy preparations lasted in the Middle East but not in the West.The famous Italian traveller of the middle ages, Marco Polo met Kublai Khan and had the honour of enjoying the royal treat. After leaving China, Marco Polo brought the technique of making ice cream back to Italia. Marco Polo is often recognized for bringing knowledge of Chinese ice cream techniques to Italy where it was perfected, but it seems clear that news about ice cream has travelled to Europe from the Arab world, also via a number other sources.Resources and further reading:"Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat" by Bee WilsonISBN: 9780141049083How Ice Cream Got Its Conehttps://www.seriouseats.com/2019/06/ice-cream-cone-history.html The Delicious History of Ice Cream:https://medium.com/@andersoncuellar/the-delicious-history-of-ice-cream-6a75938630f0 Martini Fisher Ancient History of Ice Cream: https://martinifisher.com/2020/10/30/the-ancient-history-of-ice-cream/ Saltpetre: Regency Refrigeration:https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/saltpetre-regency-refrigeration/Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Greek playwright Euripides said; "What is abundance? In a word, and no more, the wise are content with what is necessary". And we can all agree, what could be more necessary than bread, oil and wine?Hello! My name is Thomas Ntinas and this is the Delicious Legacy Podcast!Today I will sing the praises of bread! We'll see the history and myths and techniques of this delicious, nourishing magical food, going from a seed of a wild grass to dust and then to this warm, crunchy, chewy deliciousness that fed empires!Archestratus on where to find good bread: "First then I will list the gifts of Demeter of the fair tresses, my dear Moschus: keep it safe in your heart. Now the best to get hold of and the finest of all, cleanly bolted from barley with a good grain, is in Lesbos, in the wave-surrounded breast of famous Eresos. It is whiter than snow from the sky: if the gods eat barley groats then Hermes must come and buy it for them from there. In seven-gated Thebes too it is reasonably good, and in Thasos and some other cities, but it is like grape pips compared with Lesbian. Get that idea clearly into your head. Get hold of a Thessalian roll, rounded into a circle and well pounded by hand They themselves call this roll krimnitas, but others call it chondrinos bread. Then I praise the son of fine wheat flour from Tegea, ash-bread. Bread made in the market, famous Athens provides for mortals, of an excellent quality. In Erythrae which bears clusters of grapes a white bread comes out of the oven, bursting with the delicate flavours of the season, and will bring pleasure at the feast."Enjoy!with music from the amazingly talented Pavlos KapralosIf you like to support the podcast and get some exclusive content alongside with recipes do go to Patreon!Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Firstly,Apologies for some pronunciations! I think I've 'murdered' some words or place names. So sorry. Below, you'll find the a list with the food stuff I'm talking about on the podcast.Dorset Blue VinneyElversBath ChapsForntum Black HamBrawnHead or Pork CheeseGloucester Old Spots PigHogs PuddingApple CakeBlueberry PieChilli MustardThanks to the detailed research by Laura Mason and Catherine Brown and their books!A lot of info comes from The Experienced English Housekeeper, is a cookery book by the English businesswoman Elizabeth Raffald (1733–1781). It was first published in 1769.The book contains some 900 recipes for: soups; main dishes including roast and boiled meats, boiled puddings, and fish; desserts, table decorations and "little savoury dishes"; potted meats, drinks, wines, pickles, preserves and distilled essences. The recipes consist largely of direct instructions to the cook, and do not contain lists of ingredients. The book is illustrated with three fold-out copper plate engravings.The book is noted for its practicality, departing from earlier practice in avoiding plagiarism, consisting instead almost entirely of direct instructions based on Raffald's experience. It introduced the first known recipe for a wedding cake covered in marzipan and royal icing, and is an early use of barbecue. The book remains a reference for cookery writers.http://www.elizabethraffaldsociety.org/ Other bits come from Martha Bradley's book The British Housewife (1758)The title page of book version of The British Housewife, published in 1758,[a] outlines that the work contains information on cookery, pastry, puddings, preserves, pickles, fricassees, ragouts, soups, sauces, jellies, tarts, cakes, creams, custards, candies, dried fruits, sweetmeats, wines, cordials and distilled spirits. The book also contained a chapter on cures for common ailments, which included a recipe that included powdered earthworm to cure ague. The work was divided up into monthly sections, and showed a "sophisticated organisation", according to Davidson.Bradenham Ham (Or Fortnum Black Ham) originated in Wiltshire, England. The ham is first dry-cured in salt, then placed in a liquid cure of molasses, coriander, juniper berries, and other ingredients. After curing, it is aged for 6 months, then smoked. The outside skin of the ham becomes black and shiny. The meat inside is sweet and mild.You can see a great recipe for Brawn at Borough Markets website:https://boroughmarket.org.uk/recipes/brawn Thanks! Hope you enjoy!ThomSupport the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This August just passed, I had a wonderful chat with chef Gianni about all things food.Giancarlo Vatteroni aka Gianni, is an amazing Italian chef that has been cooking his delicious family recipes -and other yummy stuff- in London for over 25 years, working in Moro, Sugar Club, Salt Yard Group / Dehesa, The Modern Pantry, The Union Cafe amongst many.We go through all the troubles and tribulations of the professional chef's life in London of course, but mainly the fun stuff of food memories growing up in Tuscany, fishing, cooking and serving pizza! And of course secret recipes from his father, favourite dishes, ingredients and some pizza classified info!Gianni is starting a new exciting trip in his cooking travels, -this time a little more literally- with a mobile pizza van, "Pizza Squad" coming soon near you, serving amazing pizzas and the exciting farinata! A pie/pitta made from chickpea flour and really simple toppings like olive oil and salt. Simplicity and taste to the max! We talk about the freedom and fun having your own little food business and how one returns eventually, back to their roots; As a teenager, Gianni was working with his family for years in their pizza restaurant. And after a massive detour involving moving in London and cooking on some amazing restaurants he is back to pizza! And what is the difference between Neapolitan and pizza from the North of Italy, and of course delicious Italian cheeses; who does the best? Italians or Spanish?From December, you'll find them in Beresford square in Woolwich for lunch time trade!Follow them on Twitter and InstagramTwitter: @PizzaSquadUK1Instagram: PizzaSquadUK1and get in touch and check the menu:Website: http://pizzasquad.co.uk/E-mail: pizzasquaduk@gmail.comEnjoy!Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cheese!Greek Cheese in fact!Today, on this episode I am taking you on a virtual curd-y tour of Greece, through the medium of ...cheese!We'll travel across each region, each county, each geographical province that comprises Hellas today, and we're going to see one or two (or more!!!) cheeses that must be celebrated, known and tasted!In fact, while certainly Greece doesn't have the immense variety and the superbly complex cheeses of Italy, France and UK (and some Spanish cheeses too!) definitely has some that define the character of each place they come from, that taste different, unique, and are steeped into the thousands years old tradition of cheesemaking.A land that has high mountains, wild forests, thousands of islands and such a varied climate, surely can have cheeses tied to the specific microclimate of the region it comes form, the flora, the herbs and flowers that the animals eat. Well you'll find out here.Cheese made with fig sap, sun dried, cured in wine, or olive pulp, or bathed in sea water....Cheeses matured in massive goats skins...! Listen and explore the rich variety of Greek cheeses here, and I wish and hope once this pandemic is over, you can go and taste them yourselves!You can buys some amazing Greek cheeses in London from the following suppliers:Maltby and Greekhttps://www.maltbyandgreek.com/collections/cheese Odysea:https://www.odysea.com/products/cheese Credits: Opening and closing music theme: Cloudcub " Waltz Detunee" written by Sebastien Froment, performed by Cloudcub. https://cloudcub.bandcamp.com/ Additional Music composed, performed by Pavlos Kapralos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1A Except "Lasithiou and Pentozali" written, performed and mixed by Cretan Brioche folk ensemble: http://cretanbrioche.com/ Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a recipe or a particular ingredient to withstand the test of time? What P.G.I and P.D.O. foods can one discover in England?On this episode I tried to explore a few unknown -or at least relatively unknown- ingredients of traditional English cuisine; specifically from the North of the country. Recipes or food items that intrigued me, that sound delicious, unique or at least deserve a mention equal to others that we revived in the past, and need to reviving too!While other European - particularly Italian and Spanish- peasant, simple, food is (in my opinion) rightly praised by chefs in UK as tasty, hearty, healthy during the past decade or so a trend that accelerated the last couple of years, it seems to me that we completely sidestepped, disregarded or forgotten the delicious simple recipes from England. Is that on purpose? Is it some form of snobbery?Have a listen and see what you think about Ribblesdale Cheese, Cumberland Rum Butter, Herdwick Lamb Macon, Manx Logthan Sheep, Char from lake Windermere, Dock Pudding, Pickled Damson, Wilfra Tart, Hawkshead Wig and Cowheel!Bon Apetit!Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back in 2009 I had the idea to record some of my grandmother's old stories. For posterity reasons, but mainly for me to document some of the so many different stories that she used to tell us since we were kids, and over the years, during the family gatherings, be it Christmas, Easter or other holidays and celebrations. She was a natural story teller, and she was from an interesting family that lived during interesting times. ( to say the least!) Her name was Evangelia Ntina (taking the surname of my pappous {grandfather}) her family name was "Karali" -I should spell it Kar-a-lee perhaps to make sense phonetically? Ntinas by the way is pronounced "Deenas" as the letters N+T make the sound D in the Greek language.Anyway, she told us so many stories over the years; of course some of her opinions in actual historical facts contradicted what I was aware as real history, or even her stories were often confusing. I needed to have a definite record of her own words and her own world, even if it wasn't exactly absolute and real, at least it was her own reality! In any case having everything documented, forever, would have meant I 'd have the opportunity to examine her stories at a later date, share them with my uncles, aunties and cousins, and keep some family history alive, and not lost in the midst of time, and in the mouths and words of different people with different agendas! So when I had the opportunity for a short visit back home in Greece and my home town of Veria, I brought my laptop, an audio interface and a microphone with me from my studio in London and off I went to my grandmother's house! She was at that time nearly 85, so time was of the essence, I didn't know how many opportunities I'd had later on, and what would her mind be in the future, for her to give me her stories as she remembered them. And it was lucky that I did this when I did, as she sadly passed away in 2013, and the last couple of years of her life she was mostly bedridden. The whole aural documentary with my grandmother lasted about 4 hours, and I edited several bits to their own individual stories, one about her parents and grandparents, one about the second world war and civil war that followed and of course one about the diet, the foods, the cooking and eating back in the frugal pastoral daily lives of families in the mountainous central north west Greece somewhere between the prefectures of Grevena, Kozani and Trikala...So a bit of a context here: My grandma's father (from my dad's side) so my great-grandfather -which I met many times in the first 8 years of my life- was born in 1893, in what was back then the Ottoman Empire. His name was Dimitris Karalis. He subsequently became a teacher at a very young age in the local school, of the small villages in the area, age 16 (!!!), and then, later on, a priest. They lived in a village called Katakali, with the extended family his brothers and sisters and led a pastoral life mainly with sheep, pigs and some cattle, and of course cultivating the land too. No electricity, no petrol powered vehicles just donkeys, bandits roaming the mountains kidnapping people for ransom and so on...The area became part of Greece after the Balkan Wars in 1913. But, life for the peasants, the poor and the farmers didn't change significantly, nor the day to day toil...My grandmother had in total 8 siblings, some of whom died in childhood of course. As I was growing up I think I met 4 or 5 who survived to an old age.So to our story: ...And what did you eat in the big Lent periods of the year? Easter and Christmas grandma?We didn't eat oil , only on Saturdays and Sundays. In the winter we did not have vegetables such as peppers and aubergines that we have now. If we had pickled veg, like cabbage and peppers and so on, would eat these veg straight out of the jar, or we would fry them for a more tasty and salty snack. But mainly cabbages, endives, and leeks, with some wild poppies if the weather was good, which we would find growing in the fields... Chickpeas, peas and beans alongside with lentils that we used to grow, some yellow peas, and some other types of legumes ( called them "fakos" which I can't really decipher what she meant by this) we had a decent size croft/allotment around 500 square metres and we would sow one line with one type of legume, one line of another one and so on...we would not eat olive oil for the whole Lenten period... (alongside with any animal fat)-What type of oils did you use, that were common back then? Did you have olive oil?ah of course we had and used olive oil, we had always olive oil coming from south, Kalamata, Crete and so on...No bottles of course, glass bottles weren't common back then, but big tins, 16 okka in weight (this was an ottoman measurement equivalent to 400 dirhems per okka which was used by grandmothers well after WWII) This means that the 16 okka tin weights 20 litres today! A considerable size tin then, and one that had to feed a family of 7-8 for the whole yearFor the Christmas lent, we were eating fish a lot, as this was allowed. (it is not as strict lent as the 'Big Lent'; the Easter lent, which we used to only eat fish on two occasions, two big Christian celebrations that would fall in the early spring pre-Easter Sunday. This is Palm Sunday, and Annunciation of the Virgin) but of course back then especially in the mountain villages that my ancestors inhabited would have much fish to eat. Did you had rivers and did you eat sweet water fishes up there back then?"We had some small fish, from creeks and streams, but the main big river Aliakmonas was a little further away and the people back then they would throw a dynamite piece or some short of hand grenades (!!!) the fish would be stunned and they would be able to gather many with ease. One year my young brother Lambros went there to get fishes and it brought some big fishes with him which we roasted in a huge round oven dish the big ones we used to make pies in it. My mother would ask "where did you find these massive fishes then?" and Lambros answer was "we gathered them in Aliakmonas river"! It transpired though there was a family friend from a village near there, a hunter of rabbits, who had lost one hand from a previous dangerous fishing activity; He had thrown some explosive of sorts into the river and the boys went and gathered the fishes afterwards! From the shore of course, from the riverbank, whatever was coming towards them! The hunter used to bring some rabbits to our father (My great-grandfather the village priest) occasionally as a present. Our father used to bring us some small fry from the local rivulet or streams. Small but sweet fishes! Did you used to make pies?Yeah of course lots cabbage pies, cheese pies, with corn and cheese and pork fat/lard and "koolouropites" aka pies with milk eggs and butter and flour of course.We used to slaughter 100 okka pork and has 2-3 tins of fat and used it to cook with it over the summer. It was great to use, and tasty, and kept well, and preserved, as it was salted and when it was rendering in the pot over the fire... at the end when was nearly ready we also used to add a chopped onion, the onion was absorbing all the foul smells and thus it was good to use all summer long! ...Now we are afraid to eat lard ...I have a tin of it in the fridge...-Why?she laughs...Until a few years ago i used to put some in the pies...it was good!-How do you make the lard then?Look the pork meat is separated in two parts one white fat and one red the meat. the white would be separated and made in big cubes and in a pot with some salt over the fire and let it there to boil for hours until it became a golden liquid i'll saw you i'll bring you some your dad brought some here last year, look and try and smell it doesn't smell at all...!-And why you are not using it anymore? i have gall stones and getting older and all..{Sniffing the jar with the home made, well preserved lard}-Yeah it doesn't smell at all.if you take a kilo of olive oil and a kilo of this homemade lard will be in a similar texture and manner of the readymade spreads you get nowadays from the supermarkets and it's so fluffy and light in texture it feels like a feather! It's good ...Haven't used this unfortunately.(she laughs) -But the pure one you talking about rendered with salt and onion, it keeps and it doesn't go off as you say, for a year right? Then but know we have fridges...yeah of course. now with the fridges you can keep it there and it would be ok for longer. just add a little bit of that in the pies and the taste will be explosive! she laughsinstead of using spreads and margarine type...like this...people would find a way to preserve and eat everything from the animal.In the big can of this fat, we would cook big pieces of meat would be inside this fat and were kept in there throughout the winter months and during the summer time after a day in the fields would pick some and eat to give us a boost and stop the hunger. as we didn't have fridges the houses had a larder, usually cold, dark and dumb, generally underground, especially in not so warm summers, with no windows and thick stone walls, fat in these tins of preserved meat was still solid! we would take out as i said 2-3 big pieces of meat out, we were also adding salt, coarse salt, and we would cook it with wild greens and other summer greens...or make a batter or a mush with flour...Do you remember Filimon and Vavkida a myth from ancient greece.... Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple in the region of Tyana, in Phrygia, and the only ones in their town to welcome disguised gods Zeus and Hermes ), thus embodying the pious exercise of hospitality, the ritualized guest-friendship termed Xenia, or theoxenia when a god was involved.The old married couple were supposedly served them some smoked meat with bitter greens as this was the only food they had and whenever i used to eat this dish as a girl i always remembered this story...for years now i couldn't remember the names of the couple and now that i'm telling you the story their names finally felled into my lips! -And how do you make 'koolouropita' yiayia? what is it?you make dough, classic fylo, wet it with a bit of fat and spread crumbled feta, you could add beaten egg but without is good and then you make it in a spiral in the round oven dish. My mother used a massive round pie baking dish and didn't made the pie as one big spiral but rather individual loooong sticks and we used to grab one each and eat it greedily...! laughs.... usually they would make it with corn flour with a very fine sieve and and it was so so fine! and used this (she then goes on about some flour sieving techniques and number of pies which i have no clue how to translate )In essence there was a technique of making big quantities of fylo and have it ready made in the house to use when you need to make a pie and not make (or 'open' as is the grandma terminology in greek) every time from scratch ...it seems they were cooked over a griddle...then they used to 'wet' them with a little water and cheese and melted fat and some wild greens if they had and were cooking it like this. and made pies likes this!-I remember you used to make nettle pie hey?I did and still do, i did this year as well. i have some in the freezer ready to use. although your aunties had a rummage in the larder and shuffled and jumbled up my system! -What do you do with the nettles before you freeze them? How cook them?I steam or boil them till soft and tender, usually the stems of the nettles are tough and need some time to boil. one day we didn't notice how hard the stem was , from an old big plant and it wouldn't cook!We do put some leeks and some spinach as well. and we make the pies with this mix, alongside with some crumbled feta and becomes toothsome and very appetizing. Your aunty Soula made it big and fat as we were many and we only had one piece of the pie each so the filling was very generous and thick thick pieces!If you eat it greedily, fast and while it's hot straight from the oven then it's not really good for the stomach, but you can't really help yourself! -How do you make your fylo for the pie? We make little 8 dough balls for the bottom of the pie . around 6-7 for the top of the pie. we spread with butter on every fylo then we layer each one of the 8 balls. On top we brush the last fylo with a bit of oil too. That's how we did it. stuffing either nettles or wild greensI used to have nettles in the back garden back in the day and i used to prune them regularly and this made the soft and tender for the pies. -When you say "tsouknidia" you mean the actual nettles that sting right? how di you collect them?By hand as usual. they are the normal stinging nettles, it was a little painful, my mother used to collect them with the newspaper, and she was squeezing them inside them newspaper till the stems and leaves were crushed and wouldn't sting anymore. In the time of the great hunger in 1941-42, we had a family from Deskati (a village in the cluster of villages in the area that my grandmother used to live with her family) their father was a craftsman but during the war and the Nazi occupation of course there wasn't any work. as with many others they were starving. we would see the poor kids were going under the bridge in the local stream, were a lot of nettles would grow, and they were cutting the stems of the nettles, simply crushing them between two rocks with some salt and would eat just this. Sometimes thankfully the local farmers would always something little to give them even it was a bit of flour to make some bread, and this is how they survived .-In the war, nettles and snails imagine was probably all you ate right?We didn't eat many snails to be honest, but we weren't used to them and didn't eat them to be honest. The refugees used to eat them after the rains used to collect them. (the Greeks from Minor Asia after the 1922 pogroms) they were cleaning them by putting them in oats so they were cleansed and they were sauteeing them with wild greensIn the old days the locals in the area used to collect them and sell them in the local markets.Your father and his siblings didn't use to eat the snails, i was collecting them every day from the garden patch and cooking them, but everyone was refusing to touch them. I was collecting them and I was eating them by myself! The kids would even get near to them!(then talks about how to cleanse the snails from their slime)My little girls (her daughters, my aunties) used to be friends with the girls from a lady from my village and they used to put the snails on the hot ashes and cooked them this way...Your aunty Tasoula sometimes keeps telling these stories.../ENDI hope you enjoyed this regardless of the fact that is in Greek -and old grandma Greek for that matter- and for the Greek speakers amongst you, if you think I've missed something interesting from my grandmothers story do let me know and I will add it!Thanks!Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The most comprehensive archaeological excavation in Istanbul’s history, took place very recently in the 21st century; a 58.000 square meter area in Yenikapi region. Here was revealed one of the biggest harbours known in the ancient world dating back to the Byzantine Era, the Theodosius Harbour. Amongst the group of findings there were 36 shipwrecks dating between 5th and 10th century which is the biggest collection of Early and Middle Byzantine Period shipwrecks. These shipwrecks are important because of their very well preserved state. Several of them had been very spectacular, with a large number of amphorae still in position when they sank in the harbour. Their discovery, brings into light fascinating clues of the life in the late ancient city (and early medieval period) and offers some direct evidence of the foods and trading goods of the Byzantine Empire.Where do I begin with the cuisine and food of the Byzantine Empire? This is a daunting task as this was an Empire stretching 3 continents at its peak and with over 1100 years history!The Mediterranean trilogy of wine, oil and bread meets the flavours of the Orient and in turn this mingles with the gastronomic staples of the Roman Empire thousand years before, and thus creates the unique characteristics of the Constantinople's food character that made it to a de facto gastronomic space, having created its own culinary propositions and became established as the Christian capital of wine and gastronomic delights in the medieval world.Find out more, and everything you need to know of the Empire that would make the "Game of Thrones" books blush, with the feasts and murders and plots of their emperors and nobility here!Ancient & Byzantine music composed and played by Pavlos Kapralos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgAonk4-uVhXXjKSF-Nz1ATraditional Cretan Music by Cretan Briochehttp://cretanbrioche.com/Music theme"Indu" in the History Hound ad by Aris Lanaridis: https://www.arislanaridis.co.uk/Support the podcast on Ko-Fi and Patreon for ad-free episodes! https://ko-fi.com/thedeliciouslegacypodcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedeliciouslegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.