Greek Customs and traditions wth Superfoods

1. 3rd
Gymnasium of Corinth
Greek Customs
and

2. APPLE
The bride to be in Thrace, all dressed up, expected
the groom before the wedding in front of her house,
holding an apple. When family, friends and neighbors
were gathered, the bride threw the apple to the
crowd. If a man caught it, the first child of the couple
would be a boy and if it was caught by a woman, the
first child would be a girl.

3. BACALHAU…ALLA GRECA
The 25th
of March is a national holiday for Greek people
commemorating the start of the Greek Revolution in
1821 which coincides with the Annunciation of Virgin
Mary. The traditional dish of the day is bakaliaros
skordalia, fried cod fish served with skordalia which is
a delicious garlic puree.

4. BERGAMOT
In many Greek regions, women make a delicious
traditional sweet with bergamots, called “ bergamot
spoon sweet”.

5. CABBAGE
On the Ionian Islands, especially Cephalonia, on
Christmas Day women cook a special meal
made of pork, cabbage and cauliflower, called
“poutrida”.

6. DARK CHOCOLATE
At Easter, godparents offer their godchildren a
special chocolate egg or rabbit.

7. EGG
.
On the last Sunday of the carnival in a town called
Kastoria, in the north of Greece, people tie a thread
up to half a meter long to the end of a rolling pin. At
the end of the thread they tie a well-boiled, peeled
egg. The egg spins quickly from mouth to mouth
among the people who play. The winner is the
person who manages to grab the egg with their
mouth.
According to the custom the egg is symbolic, as
with the egg, the mouth closes during Lent and
opens again on Holy Saturday. On that day, after the
Resurrection takes place, people play the game of
‘tsougrisma’,trying to crack each other’s red egg.

8. FIG
In the past Greek people used to have an unusual
kind of calendar. Lent was symbolized as a woman
with 7 paper legs standing for the seven weeks left
until Easter. Each week, people cut off one leg of the
“Lady-Lent” . When the last leg was cut, people
wrapped it in paper and hid it in a dried fig. They put
the fig in a bowl, among other dried fruit, and the
person that happened to find it, was considered as
very fortunate.

9. GARLIC
On the Cycladic island of Serifos, on May Day
people create a traditional wreath made with
flowers, garlic, nettles and barley .

10. HONEY
Since honey has been considered since Ancient times
the symbol of fertility, on the island of Crete, after a
wedding, the couple offers the guests a delicate
traditional sweet called xerotigana .This lovely crunchy
treat is made of a fried thin pastry sheet dipped in
honey.

11. HONEY
On New Year's Eve or on Christmas morning, in many villages in Epirus,in
the west of Greece, young women empty all the pitchers that are filled with
water at home.Then, they go to the nearest spring to refill them.
On the way there, they don’t speak at all and so the water is called
‘silent’.The strange thing is that they carry with them butter, wheat,
cheese, honey and other foods.In this way, they want to feed and humour
the... spring.
The girl who gets to the spring first will have the best of luck throughout
the new year.

12. LEGUMES
On the eve of the Epiphany, housewives used to
make fotokoliva, which was boiled wheat with all
kinds of legumes. The fotokoliva was eaten by the
people and also fed it to their livestock and it was
believed to ensure good health and fortune in their
homes.

13. LEMONS
In Epanomi, a village near Thessaloniki, on
Εpiphany, people decorate the Episcopical throne in
churches with lemon and orange blossoms,
according to the custom of the region .

14. MUSHROOMS
On many Cycladic islands, like Paros, Santorini and
Sifnos, on Assumption Day, August ,15 women cook
the traditional Cycladic “rosto”, a delicious stew
made with meat, potatoes, carrots and mushrooms.

15. NUTS
Children in Northern Greece, originating from
Pontos, Cappadocia when singing Christmas
carols in their traditional dialect, used to receive
nuts as a treat.

16. OLIVE
On New Year’ s Day, people in Greek villages
used to burn olive tree branches in their fireplace
to bring good luck to the house and the family
who lived in it.

17. POMEGRANATE
On the morning of New Year’s Day, in the Peloponnese, a peninsula in
the south of Greece, the whole family goes to church. The owner of
the house keeps a pomegranate in his pocket and returns with the
blessed fruit at home.
Then, he must wait for somebody else to open him the door and once
inside, he smashes it against the door with his right hand (right is for
luck, left is for bad luck). The more the seeds ,the luckier and more
prosperous the new year will be. After that, he enters the house with
his right leg and says many wishes for a happy New Year.
The pomegranate is a symbol of fertility related to Greek mythology, as
well. Persephone ,who was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of
harvest , ate six pomegranate seeds which committed her to return
to the underworld for six months every year.

18. QUINCE
In Pontus, Cappadocia, on New Year’s Day people used to cut a
quince into as many pieces as the members of the family. The
they hid a coin in one of the pieces, mixed the pieces in a bowl
and whoever got the lucky piece with the coin inside, should
wake up early in the morning, fill a pitcher with water from the
village spring and give half of this water to the livestock and the
other half to the members of the family to wash their faces and
drink.

19. RAISINS
On the Greek island of Naxos, on Lazarus
Saturday, people used to bake a special loaf
of bread filled with raisins.

20. SARDINES
Fishermen in Kalamaria, Thessaloniki,
grilled sardines on the eve of the feast of
Saint Paraskevi, wishing to have good
fish catches.

21. TOMATOES
For the celebration of Assumption Day , August, 15
in Oxylithos, Euboea, people prepare a special
traditional meal, with meat, onions and tomatoes for
the whole village to savour.

22. VINEGAR
In many villages of Crete, on Good Friday, people
fast so they eat traditional foods boiled only in water
and vinegar, like boiled snails with vinegar.

23. WALNUTS
Koliva is boiled wheat with almonds, ground walnuts,
pomegranate seeds, raisins, parsley and powdered sugar
ma. Koliva is made for memorials, typically on Saturdays of
the Souls, and according to different traditions, the 40th day
after death, 3rd month, 6th month, 9th month, annually, and
even sometimes just on “big” anniversaries only, such as 5
years, 10 years, etc.
Koliva is a dish with ritual significance made in
remembrance of the dead. It’s more metaphor than food,
symbolizing the circle of death and rebirth. The wheat
kernels represent the promise of everlasting life, the raisins
the sweetness of life, and the spices are symbols of plenty.

24. WATERMELON
For the feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, in the
Cathedral of Corfu, on the island of Corfu, the
priests split a watermelon and give a small piece
to each religious person in remembrance of a
miracle of Saint Vlassios who once cured the
children of Corfu from a disease.

25. YOGURT
The Momogeri is a very old custom with a history going back
to Ancient Greece.
During the twelve days of Christmas, in villages in northern
Greece, the Momogeri appear. They are seven men who get
dressed in animal carcasses and disguise as the bear, which
symbolizes strength, the old woman, who is a symbol of the
past, the bride for the future, the horse for development, the
doctor for health, the soldier for defense, the goat for food, and
Father Christmas symbolizes the year which will arrive in a few
days.

26. YOGURT
These disguised men wander in the streets all day, accompanied by
local musical instruments, and exchange jokes with the crowd that
follows them. If a momogeros approaches you, he won’t let go of
you and will keep teasing until you offer him something. If you
don’t, the momogeros will throw sour yoghurt at your face!

27. Thanks for watching!!