athinaeos

fellow egulleteans! you are cordially invited to describe your best and worst food experience in a greek restaurant, taverna, street foodstand, or open market, in greece, or abroad please add your experiences from home cooking, if you have one! cheers

what a nice thread adam and fellow egulletians! i am sorry i have missed all this fun, nevertheless i would like even at this late stage to add a few points to this exciting topic at the macro level food and cooking are affected by major historical events the major 20th century event that affected greek food and cooking was the 1922 completion of the Minor Asia War that sent hundreds of thousands of Greeks from Minor Asia and other parts of Turkey to Greece the immigrants brought very little with them in terms of personal effects, but quite a lot in terms of culture and cooking their recipes gradually spread over the greek society of the times and what emerged was a much richer and satisfying cuisine the vocabulary of this fusion - cuisine contains many words that have turkish origin, but not necessarily the same meaning in culinary terms at the micro level, there are areas in greece where the fusion was strong and visible even before the 1922 events, but this is a topic of a book, not a message another exciting angle of research concerns the thread of tastes and recipes through the centuries one cannot underestimate the huge contribution of the Persian culture and cuisine to what we call today turkish cuisine - and respectively greek cuisine the enigma of Byzantine cuisine also needs to be addressed this is the second book to be written!

thank you fortedei, your contribution is not only relevant to my humble task, but gastronomic literature in the making have you ever thought of publishing the "La Buca" - type experiences you have collected over the years? cheers

thank you Bill, you have contributed to the creation of a 7-day trip without stops!

thank you Ore, for your insightful (literally) contribution. I am planning to go sometime in the Spring of 2006 and will let you know. One more question springs up: is it better to go for the "aged" or the "young" stuff? My experience from other products directs me towards the "old". What is your view?

they belong to "conger eels" (in greek mougri)

skates from the lavrion (near sounion) fishmarket what impressed me was the color - this combination of olive green and flesh pink with golden dots

alberto, i just had a look, and sant' agata looks very nice! it is also not one of the mainstream tourist destinations, while it is close enough to napoli! thanks!

marco, you are more than welcome! i will aim for the springtime (the year will be announced later) until then, i will manage with joselito! cheers

adam, talking about cod, you remeinded me of two memorable dishes from the basque country: 1. bacalao pil-pil 2. kokotxas (cod cheeks) with garlic and chili peppers and the San Sebastian market, where you can get the best cod in the world!

alberto, which wine do you drink with the dish? is there is dish which pairs the friggiarielli with meat or sausage? if yes, could you elaborate? awaiting eagerly the continuation of the story!

thank you alberto, one more thing: how about north - northeast of Napoli? cheers

thank you leslie, your post confirms the overall impression i have from guides and the press cheers

ann, thank you for making the suggestion Ercolano is now in the schedule! in these trips i am always pressed for time and need clear priorities to manage the conflicts cheers

thank you molly, il papevero sounds great! albiston recommended the oasis as a better choice compared to Feudi's restaurant i read ore's report, it definitely looks like a nice place but i have to choose between the two and the amerigo seems like a place to visit! cheers

the strange things of language! today in Grreece it is rare to hear a man on the street expressing his enthusiasm for a woman using the term "zargana" another fish name that is also used rarely in the same context is "melanouri", which is directed to women of rather darker, choclate-like complexity the fish name in english is "saddled seabream" (oblada melanura) the word "melan" in ancient greek means "dark" i confess that i do not know of fish names used by women to express their enthusiasm for men - sorry!

adam, the only other meaining of the word in modern greek is " a tall, good looking woman"! it is possible that the fisherman who named the fish was somehow thinking of his wife, girlfriend, ... cheers

adam, in greek they are called "zarganes" i deep fry them and serve with aioli and a green salad cheers

grazie anna, i will follow your advice!

O for a plate of culatello di Zibello! after reading your posts alberto and marco, i imagine that it would be perfect to set a table al fresco in the countryside, maybe in the middle of the fields immortalised by Bertolucci in "1900", hire the philharmonia orchestra of Bussetto, and experience the culatello splendors under the sounds of "libiamo", "la donna e mobile" ... mille grazie

dear alberto, many thanks for your feedback! i have an italian friend in Paris who insists on calling me Salvatore, because she says I remind her of Napoli! i therefore claim to be a Napolitano, even if it is by the declaration of friendly powers! going back to the itinerary, i am thinking of staying for three days either in Ravello, or near Paestum "Agriturismo Seliano", or near Melizzano "aAgriturismo Mesogheo" i plan to visit the eternal sites of Pompei and Paestum other than than, i have no more fixed commitments i am thinking of visitng "il torre del saracino" and the "feudi di san gregorio" estate kindly go ahead and make your recommendations! cheers

geoff, thank you for the tip i will look it up and let you know cheers

Marco_Polo, thank you for the wine suggestion! it reads like a poem! taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge you are offering, what do you think of the accommodation strategy? small place in a village, or hotel in a city like Parma? please note that i do not know the area near Parma i have only been in bologna cheers

Robert, i read your report on the cheaper Gambero Rosso it looks like a must! thank you

kevin, thank you for the encouragement! you are referring to the book Italian Food Artisans is by Pamela Sheldon Johns? cheers