Time for kakavia!

Last week I made a pot of Greek-style fish soup to celebrate the arrival of fall. That briny smell takes me right back to the Aegean.

In Greece, the dish is called “κακαβιά” and I’ve never seen it served in a restaurant. It’s the meal fishermen make when they’re camped on the beach at night. According to this recollection by the son of a fisherman, the seafarers always bring along essential cooking ingredients, such as a deep pot, eating utensils, olive oil, lemons, onions, tomatoes, bread and olives.

According to Greek food writer Diane Kochilas, fresh-caught fish are always used, but only small or unattractive ones that are unlikely to sell in the marketplace. The fisherman’s son says the best fish for kakavia are comber, painted comber, blotched picarel, parrotfish and ornate wrasse (all indigenous to the Mediterranean). He goes on to explain how the dish is made: The fishermen dig a hole in the pebble beach, build a fire with driftwood and place the pot over the fire. Then they throw in some olive oil, an onion, a few tomatoes, water, salt and pepper. After the veggies are cooked, they add some red vinegar, the fish and just enough water to cover. The last touch: a splash of lemon juice. Sounds crude, but it’s delicious.

Kochilas suggests the following for kakavia: scorpionfish, perch, grouper, bream or bogue. But I make it with shrimp and flounder, fresh caught from Whole Foods. If only I had a thimble of Aegean seawater to top it off.

Introducing Michalis Xatziyiannis

I read somewhere on the Web that Michalis Xatziyiannis is the Greek John Mayer, but that doesn’t begin to capture what a huge star he is in Greece or his brilliant lyrics and melodies. This is one of his most famous songs, “Ανάποδα” or “Upside-Down.”

I’m going to create my own world and live inside it

Here everything will be upside-down

For me reality is going to be a lie from now on

And the fiction will be the truth.

I’m going to turn everything on earth upside-down.

Me, a crazy and hurt kid.

When you say “go away”

Then I’ll be a shadow you can’t get rid of

And when I hear “come here”

Then I’ll go far away again.

When you say “no”

I’ll react as if I heard “yes”

Because I still feel it in my heart

And this way I simply won’t surrender.

I’m going to make my own world and you can come in freely

But I’ll do the opposite of whatever you say

It’s not just a reaction or egotism

It’s despair, it’s anger.

I’m going to turn everything on earth upside-down.

Me, a crazy and hurt kid.

When you say “go away”

Then I’ll be a shadow you can’t get rid of

And when I hear “come here”

Then I’ll go far away again.

When you say “no”

I’ll react as if I heard “yes”

Because I still feel it in my heart

And this way I simply won’t surrender.

Lyrics by Eleana Brachali.

Greek word of the day

ταχυδακτυλουργός

(pronounced “tachi-dakti-lur-GOS”) 

Magician.

I love to say this word, it is a typical Greek tongue-twister. I also love the fact that you can break it down very easily into its roots. 

“Τάχυ” comes from “ταχύς,” the word for speedy.

“Δάκτυ” comes from “δάκτυλος,” the word for finger.

And “ουργός” is a suffix that indicates what kind of work someone does.

Hence a ”ταχυδακτυλουργός” is someone who does speedy things with his hands professionally.

Another word for magician is “ελαφροχέρης,” which translates literally as “the light-handed one” or more colloquially as “fingers.” And our “magician” is derived from the Greek word “μάγος,” or “magos,” but that refers to someone who practices magic as an art rather than commercially.

One more great thing about “ταχυδακτυλουργός” is its provenance. Greeks love to boast about how 70 percent of the words in English are derived from Greek words. But you would be surprised how many Greek words are derived from foreign languages. According to this online dictionary, “ταχυδακτυλουργός” is probably a translation of the French word “prestidigitateur.” Which brings us full circle.

Note: the Greek “x” is typically transliterated as “ch,” but this is not the “ch” of chair. It is a guttural sound that comes from the throat, the “ch” of the Hebrew expression “l’chaim,” or “to life.” The "gos" in this word sounds like "ghost."

Greek slang of the day

Ε, ποτέ! 

(pronounced “eh, po-TAY!”)

Eh, never!

A term used in Kolonaki which expresses surprise, in the spirit of “go to hell” and many related expressions, such as:

Ay, caramba!

What the fuck!

Christ and the Virgin Mary!

Christ and his mother!

Get out of here!

It doesn’t add up!

Example:

--Guess who I happened to see walking hand-in-hand downtown on Saturday?

--Who?

--Soula with Heracles!

--Eh, never!

Source: http://www.slang.gr/lemma/show/e_pote!_13858

Why Greece should NOT return to the drachma

Sharp opinion piece from today’s Kathimerini, speculating that the people who are calling for Greece to return to the drachma are the fat-cats who have soaked up all the money and invested it abroad.

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. 

Introducing Christos Georgoussis

I am smitten by modern Greek poets, in particular by Christos Georgoussis, a retired schoolteacher who is one of the leading lights of Paros. Christos posts only poetry on his Facebook page, short snippets tossed off day to day. This one from yesterday was especially beautiful. He is describing Paros.

Lines and drawings in your notebook record the hills of the island. Straight lines and crooked curves and sharp endings of animal skins. Corners with all of the numbers of the fates, acute accents and grave, sloping planes, squares and threshing floors, cones and pyramids, the haunches of women and the peaks of femininity, hazy and domed churches, bodies that you dreamed of and you loved, the birthplace of rivers and sources, the hand-made art of a divine potter.

One of his friends posted a comment in response to this calling Christos “the most erotic poet ... writing about the most erotic island.”

Greek slang of the day

μούργα 

(pronounced “MURR-ga”)

There is no direct English translation for this word. Here is how a Greek online slang dictionary explains it (in Greek):


1. Every little bit of dirt that shows up somewhere.

2. A place with dirty people, threatening and shady characters. The word refers to a crowd of such people.

3. Party for men, with lots of drinking, traditional or folk music, with at the least drunkenness, vomiting, drunken philosophical conversations and some lost memories of the universe. Usually used with the verb “to make.”

Examples:

1. Clean up a little, bro, a crowd of bad boys have showed up at your house!

2. Oh, you jerk, look at these bad boys! Where did you bring us with all of these lowlifes? 

3. Whoa, we had a hell of a party yesterday at John’s house, something else!

Source: http://www.slang.gr/lemma/show/mourga_18817/#lemma_21120