Cook Spanakopita Spinach Pie – Greek Cooking Challenge Recipe 9

Greek Cooking Challenge

September 2014

SPANAKOPITA – GREEK SPINACH PIE

This weekend is Father’s Day (here in Australia). I’m planning to cook my dad a traditional Greek dish to show off all these new skills I’ve been learning on the Greek Cooking Challenge. So, I asked him for a recommendation.

Dad said that his favourite Greek dish is Pastichio but we already cooked that dish back in February. But, I do know that he loves Spanakopita so I’m going to cook this spinach pie.

What are you doing for your dad this Father’s Day?

 

Share your cooking photos on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Use the hashtag #GreekCookingChallenge

Spanakopita is a Greek Spinach Pie. It is the perfect vegetarian dish and it tastes amazing straight out of the oven. It is also one of those meals that you can portion and freeze or eat later. 

Some people make small triangle filled pastries, other people like to make rolls or fill pastry cups. Most of the ladies in my family make spanakopita in a large rectangular dish and then they cut it in to small diamond shape pieces. However I like to be a little bit modern and different so, I’m going to try a round pie cooked in a skillet.

Feel free to use any variety of spinach, feta and filo pastry to make your spanikopita!

Gemista Stuffed Tomatoes – Greek Cooking Challenge Recipe 8

How to Be A Good Greek Cook – Join the #GreekCookingChallenge in 2014

Greek Cooking Challenge

August 2014

GEMISTA STUFFED TOMATOES

This month we are making Gemista which is also known as stuffed tomatoes. You can use this recipe to make stuffed eggplant, stuffed zucchini or stuffed any kind of vegetable you like.

What I love about this dish is that it is that Gemista can be stuffed with your favourite meats or adapted to be a tasty vegetarian or vegan meal. It can also be cooked completely gluten free and is sometimes considered paleo.

The Gemista recipe I have chosen for this month is written by Panos from the blog Cook Me Greek. Panos cooks with his mother in their family taverna in Greece and writes about his family recipes and cooking tips.

Join the Greek Cooking Challenge and share your cooking photos with me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #GreekCookingChallenge

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Avgolemono Soup and Greek Potatoes – Greek Cooking Challenge Recipe 6 and 7

How to Be A Good Greek Cook – Join the #GreekCookingChallenge in 2014

Greek Cooking Challenge

June / July 2014

Avgolemono Soup and Patates

Today I am sharing not one, but two cooking challenges to catch us up for June and July – This month we will be cooking Avgolemeno Soup and Patates.

These meals are often made together at the same time, so technically there isn’t a lot of extra cooking to do.
In most Greek family homes, the soup is eaten as an entrée and then soon after you have eaten your second bowl of avgolemono, the roasted chicken will come out of the oven with some baked potatoes.

Delicious.

Yiayia’s Advice to Protect a New Mother from the Evil Eye

When a new baby is born, it is said that the infant needs to spend the first 40 days indoors in order for it to grow up healthy.

The same goes for the new mummy…

Yiayia’s Advice:

According to my yiayia, new mothers must stay indoors for 40 days after child birth. It is said that when a woman faces the world right after she has given birth, all nature will envy her.

The mountains, the sun and the sea envy her for being able to perform the miracle of life. The physical world looks at the new mother with such owe, so she needs to protect herself from the forces of all the energy.

The Evil Eye:

The Greeks call this the “Evil Eye” (to kako mati). The evil eye is not always evil. The mountains, the sun and the sky do not intend any harm for the new mother or child, but all that envy and energy can be overwhelming for a person.

How to be Protected from the Evil Eye: 

• The mother and child should stay in the house for the first 40 days of the child’s life. When they finally make their first walk outside, both the mother and the child should wear a blue eye – that is a little blue bead hidden under the clothes to protect them from the evil eye.
• The Greeks also use a small talisman to warn off the evil eye. This is a little blue bead with a black dot inside of it, assembling an eye – the mati.
• Some people will hang a blue bead or a mati with their cross or other religious icons.

Superstition vs. Religion:

It is important to note that this old tradition, encouraged by our yiayia’s is not formally recognised by the Greek Orthodox Church. You will find the mati in almost every Greek home and pinned to the back of new born children but it is important to know that this is an act of superstition and not a practice of the Greek Orthodox Religion. The Church encourages the pinning of an icon or a religious pillow to a child rather than the mati. I will write more about this in a future post.

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Do You Wear a Mati to Protect You From the Evil Eye?
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Related Posts You Might Love:

• Reading Greek Coffee Cups
• Celebrating Your Birthday Before the Date ~ Greek Superstition
• Greek Cooking Challenge Recipe 2: Pastichio

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Ioanna Aggelidaki is the Social Media Manager and Contributor of the Greek Weddings and Traditions Blog.
You can connect with Ioanna on Twitter, check her creative Cow Art and follow her blog, life portfolio.  

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Rice Throwing at Greek Weddings

“I am sure many of you have seen “My Big Fat Greek Wedding“, and speaking like a true Greek, I can tell you that it’s aaaaaaaall true! The huge family, the loud voices, the eating, family intervening in the kids lives, all of it, true. There was one thing though, I didn’t see in the film, and it is a major tradition that takes place in every Greek Wedding…“

Ioanna, Rhodes 2013

Rice Throwing during the dance of Isaiah

What does rice throwing really means?

The guests who are present at a Greek wedding ceremony throw rice at the newly married couple during the dance of the Isaiah in order for them to grow old together, grow common roots as the Greeks say. Rice is a symbol of fertility and prosperity, throwing rice at a couple is seen as one way to wish them a happy and blessed life together.

In Greece, up till today, rice throwing is an integral part of the wedding ceremony. From a touching moment when the bride and groom make their first steps as a couple together, it has become a rather funny moment everyone is waiting for… The moment people wait to “get back at the new couple”, to tease them and throw a rain of rice on their heads making everyone laugh!

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Would you have rice throwing at your wedding?
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Related posts you might like:

• Zebekiko – Greek Dance at a Wedding
• The Kiss is a Symbol of Respect at Greek Weddings
• Stuffing up the Stefana

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Ioanna Aggelidaki is the Social Media Manager and Contributor of the Greek Weddings and Traditions Blog.
You can connect with Ioanna on Twitter, check her creative Cow Art and follow her blog, life portfolio.  

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Want to Learn More About Greek Weddings & Traditions?
Subscribe to the Blog and Follow Us: