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BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Anastasia Miari: ‘I want everyone to live like a Mediterranean nonna'
Food writer and journalist Anastasia Miari's yiayia (grandmother in Greek) was 'not impressed' with her new cookbook, Mediterranea. 'She never learned to read or write, so was like, 'What do I do with this?' She was just looking for her photo in it,' says Miari with a laugh. 'But as soon as you walk into her house [in Corfu], she's got my three books on the back of her sofa and my wedding photo in the middle of them all – the biggest achievement for her in life. So I know she's proud of me.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anastasia Miari (@anastasia_miari) She's not the only grandmother who'll be looking for their photo in Mediterranea though, a book that preserves the recipes of grandmothers across the Mediterranean basin. These formidable, fascinating women and their food are captured by photographer Marco Argüello. Drenched in sunlight, the pages are patterned with ornate kitchen tiles, antique table cloths, hardworking two ring gas burners, alongside the beautiful wrinkles of these grandmothers who have racked up years of life experience alongside a repertoire of dishes. Advertisement Miari has been cooking with grandmothers for 10 years. Her last cookbook, yiayia, focused on Greek grandmothers, including her own. In Mediterranea she meets matriarchs from the 'usual suspects' like France, Italy, Greece and Spain but 'wanted to show that the Mediterranean is so much more than just pasta, olive oil and good tomatoes. It is also the Balkans, the Levant, North Africa.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anastasia Miari (@anastasia_miari) Miari was born in Corfu and moved to London aged 11. She lived in the UK until she was 28 and then returned to Greece six years ago to raise a family. 'My life has changed completely. Now I'm picking fruits at the market, able to actually squeeze tomatoes and smell them and know whether they're going to taste of something or not, instead of having things in plastic [from the supermarket],' she says, explaining that eating in the Med is about 'more than just fuelling your body. It's about communion, conviviality and sharing a passion for food.' (Marco Argüello/PA) The recipes – from a Greek-style risotto to a Tunisian carrot dip – are largely vegetarian ('There's no one better than grannies to teach us about zero waste, not eating too much meat and doing what you can with what you've got,') and Miari hopes they'll become staples. 'No one cooks like these women,' she says. 'If you've been making the same dish day in, day out for 70 years, you're going to have perfected it.' The simplicity and cost-effectiveness of this way of cooking – while still being delicious – is a blueprint Miari believes we can all benefit from. 'I need and want to cook like a Mediterranean nonna because I don't have time to look up recipes on Instagram. I want a repertoire of 15 amazing dishes my family will eat forever and I'll always go back to, and we're losing that in the dross of online content,' she argues. Advertisement View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anastasia Miari (@anastasia_miari) Also, these recipes are supremely achievable. 'I'm not a trained chef, I just want dinner to be easy and taste amazing, with minimum effort,' says Miari. 'Some of these women raised families of 10, and then their kids had kids, and they were raising them as well. They had to learn to do things quickly and find shortcuts.' It's also a matter of legacy. The invaluable knowledge and 'intangible heritage' contained within these recipes would be lost if Miari wasn't wrangling scales into these grandmothers' kitchens. 'They're always quite surprised when I show up with weighing scales and measuring jugs – the response is either, 'No way,' or they laugh at me,' she says wryly. For Miari, recording her yiayia's recipes was 'very special and important' for passing them down to her daughters (she's pregnant with her second), but more far reaching than that, in a world where history has often been written by men, her goal is to 'share the stories of these ordinary women, because they're extraordinary.' So the recipes are accompanied by snippets of the nonnas' lives, the good and the traumatic, be it tough childhoods, difficult marriages, lost children, absent parents or missed opportunities. 'When you're cooking, you have fewer inhibitions, your hands are busy, and there's a sense of nostalgia with the food you're cooking,' says Miari, of how these conversations happen. 'The stories are always quite profound. It is moving, I've sat and cried with them.' (Marco Argüello/PA) And this is the crux, beyond the food, Miari is interested in what these women can tell us about living and how 'the Mediterranean lifestyle is a better template' for doing it. 'Who better to show us how life is best lived than these women who have lived really long, full and happy lives?' she asks. It's also an opportunity to reflect on women's rights. 'Many of these women didn't really have a choice. They had to, for financial reasons, or because of pressure from society, get married and they had no option to have a career of their own,' says Miari. 'It's important to recognise that that threat hasn't just gone away. Look at Afghanistan, or Iran. When I spoke to the grandmothers in Turkey, they thought the future would be so much brighter for their daughters and granddaughters, but they're seeing things move backwards.' Advertisement (Marco Argüello/PA) She says that alongside the happiness and the joy in food, 'the biggest learning I have from all of these women is that life is very long. People say life is short, but your life can take so many paths. It's important to not waste that time, but it's also important not to sweat the small stuff.' She hopes this collection of stories and dishes is a chance for people to 'inject a little bit of Mediterranean living into their own lives. It's not just about eating well, it's about taking the time to just not do anything, to have a nap or to go for a swim or to go for a walk in nature,' she says, adding with a laugh: 'I want everyone to live like a Mediterranean nonna – or, at least a couple of times a week!' (Marco Argüello/PA) Mediterranea by Anastasia Miari with photographs by Marco Argüello, is published by Quadrille. Available July 31st.
National Geographic
19-06-2025
- National Geographic
9 essential dishes to try on your next trip to Greece
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Greek food sings of the summer — it's best enjoyed outside, from mainland mountaintops to island beaches. Mezze spreads celebrate punchy purple olives, garlicky dips and herb-sprinkled cheese, while salads of sun-ripened tomatoes, tangy feta and fragrant oregano are perfect with just-landed grilled fish or slow-stewed legumes cooked in outdoor ovens following recipes that date back to antiquity. Here are the nine essential dishes to try when in Greece. Lily Bellos sits at her Corfu home in Benitses as she showcases her pastitsada, or 'la pastizzada', as the island's Venetian colonisers called it. It's a dish that's been representative of Corfu for hundreds of years. Photograph by Marco Argüello Pastitsada is slow-cooked meat — beef, rabbit, rooster or, on occasion, octopus — stewed in a deep-red tomato sauce for hours and flavoured with the island's signature spetseriko spice mix. Photograph by Marco Argüello Pastitsada, Corfu Pastitsada or 'la pastizzada' as Corfu's Venetian colonisers called it, is a dish that's represented this Ionian island for hundreds of years. Slow-cooked meat — beef, rabbit, rooster or, on occasion, octopus — is served atop a pile of pasta after being stewed for hours in a deep-red tomato sauce flavoured with the island's spetseriko spice mix. This fragrant blend invariably contains cinnamon and cloves along with nutmeg, allspice, cumin and several more besides. Found across the island, pastitsada has a distinct flavour profile that scents the air, notably during Sunday lunch, its traditional foray. Like many of the island's 'native' dishes, pastitsada can be largely credited to the Venetians who put Corfu on the spice trail more than 500 years ago when they colonised it, forging commercial ties with Dubrovnik — another Venetian outpost. With them they brought powdered red pepper — both sweet and hot — and should you travel to Croatia's Dalmatian coastline, you'll find the same dish, known locally as pašticada, served with gnocchi instead of pasta. Corfu's olives are a prized Greek crop and can be found in many mezze spreads. Photograph by Alamy, Marco Kesseler Where to try it: The Venetian Well in Corfu Town, Klimataria on the coast, and Ambelonas, set on a hill around four miles from Corfu Town, each put their own spin on the dish. Where to stay: The Olivar Suites in Messonghi has double rooms from €230 (£193), B&B, and a restaurant, Flya, with a menu of local produce and traditional dishes. Sfouggato, Lesvos Eleni Chioti remembers her grandmother putting a pan on the brazier, embers glowing below, and preparing sfouggato to swiftly sate hungry stomachs at home. Today, as the founder of the Women's Cooperative of Petra on Greece's northeastern Aegean island of Lesvos, she oversees a team of cooks who dish out multiple servings of the nourishing, flourless dish of vegetables and cheese to holidaymakers. While sfouggato needs plenty of eggs, the traditional Lesvian dish is neither an omelette nor a souffle, but more a velvety pie. At the cooperative's restaurant, set in the northern coastal town of Petra, the recipe is straightforward yet strict. Shredded courgette and spring or red onion are sauteed in olive oil. Local feta, graviera cheese, eggs and a dash of pepper are added. Elena throws in a few tablespoons of tarhana — cracked wheat with sheep's milk — for the sfouggato to retain volume and absorb juices. Chopped dill and spearmint are sprinkled in for aroma then the mixture is poured into a pan lined with a little crushed rusk and baked in the oven. Once it's ready to serve, she likes to garnish the dish with fresh courgette flowers. Eleni remembers with great fondness the close friendships formed with guests over the years through the cooperative, established in 1983. 'The aim was to take women out of the home. You can't have equality if you don't have money,' she says. Where to try it: At the Women's Cooperative of Petra sfouggato is served piping hot with a little grated graviera, the sfouggato at this warmly-welcoming dining spot is considered among the best in town. Walk-ins are fine for lunch while dinner reservations are highly recommended. Open from early April till about mid-October. Sfouggato costs €5 (£4.30) and lunch for two, including drinks, is around €30 (£26). Where to stay: Archontiko Petras 1821, in Petra, is a romantic five-room boutique hotel housed in a stone-built mansion dating to 1821, where guests can enjoy a home-style breakfast often featuring sfouggato. Doubles from €106 (£88) per night, B&B. Craving skordalia? You can find it in Thessaloniki, home of the 15th century-built White Tower. Photograph by Getty Images, Panos Karapanagiotis Skordalia, Macedonia This potent garlic dip dating to antiquity is served throughout Greece, but its most eclectic version is found in the northern Greek region of Macedonia. Here, skordalia is traditionally made with walnuts – which have become a rarity due to rising costs. If you do find the dish done this way, it's most likely to be in the regional capital, Thessaloniki, at the fish tavernas of Kalamaria or the tapas bar-like mezedopolia of Ladadika. In Athens, chef Konstandina Stavropoulou says she considers walnut skordalia — on the menu at her fish taverna Thalassinos — to be exceptional. 'When crushed, walnuts release essential oils that balance out the flavours of the garlic and olive oil,' she says. 'It has quite a robust taste.' Today, however, across Greece the recipe usually combines garlic, olive oil, salt, and lemon or vinegar, with either boiled potatoes or stale white crustless bread. And skordalia is inextricably linked with Greek Independence Day, celebrated on 25 March, when it's served with bakaliaro – crisp-fried salt-cured Atlantic cod. Where to try it: Sample loukoumades-style cod with two types of skordalia — walnut and beetroot — at Thessaloniki restaurant, Maiami. Where to stay: Matriarch Mrs Loulou pairs walnut skordalia with fried cod, mussels or courgettes at Akroyiali, the seaside taverna dating to 1924 that forms part of family-run Hotel Liotopi, in northeastern Halkidiki. The dish is also a staple of the monks on Halkidiki's Mount Athos. Doubles from €131 (£109) half board. Many know mastiha as a digestif but, in Chios, its bitter-sweet, herbal flavour has long enhanced local desserts and pastries. Photograph by Getty Images; Iremtastan Masourakia, Chios On Greece's northeastern Aegean island of Chios, mastiha is king. Said since the fifth century BCE to aid digestion, this aromatic resin is gently coaxed by hand from mastic trees that grow in the south of the island. It has myriad uses, from chewing gum to face cream, while studies have found evidence of anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. Many know it as a digestif but, in Chios, its bitter-sweet, herbal flavour has long enhanced local desserts and pastries. And masourakia, buttered filo almond pastries, are by far the local favourite. Anna Moniodi, born in the mastiha-producing village of Tholopotami, says home cooks created masourakia around 1965. And, soon enough, the filo-wrapped tubes of almond and mastiha found their way to patisseries like Moniodis, owned by her family. 'Masourakia are unique to Chios. You can't find them anywhere else,' Anna says. Due to their shape, they're believed to have taken their name from the Greek word for spool. 'Traditionally, masourakia were served to guests at weddings and baptisms with a glass of soumada, a local drink made from bitter almond. But it's really an everyday sweet,' she adds. Chios has long been known for its excellent almonds, so it makes sense that many local sweets feature this ingredient. Masourakia are no exception. Anna offers three types of masourakia at Moniodis, all made with almond. Mastiha flavours the original version, while another has the addition of Chian thyme honey syrup, coated in a thick layer of finely chopped almond. Local mandarin adds zing to a third, equally popular version. Where to try it: Take your pick from Moniodis' masourakia, which come individually wrapped, or sample all three flavours. Track them down at one of two locations in Chios town (at 26 Voupalou St and 4 Psychari St). Where to stay: Pearl Island Chios Hotel & Spa, often offers sweet masourakia as a welcome at check-in. Doubles from €153 (£128) per night, B&B. This bakaliaros plaki recipe comes from Kalamata native Yiayia Niki, who has been making it this way for decades. Photograph by Marco Argüello Yiayia Niki's dish of bakaliaros plaki. Once known as the 'mountain fish' recipe, this dish can be tailored to vegans with an extra potato and red pepper in place of seafood. Photograph by Marco Argüello Bakaliaros plaki, Peloponnese This simple baked fish sings of the flavours of Greece's Peloponnese peninsular. The native dish was once known as the 'mountain fish' recipe, due to the salt cod used, which used to be cheap and wouldn't spoil easily — perfect for those living far from the coast in the remote hills of this vast southern region. The cod is baked along with some tomatoes, onions, garlic, potatoes and red peppers, flavoured with fragrant bay leaves, oregano, cinnamon, allspice seeds and sweet Kalamata currants (dried grapes). A perfect balance for salty cod, the currents are a prized commodity in this particular region of Greece, which is better known worldwide for its purple-black Kalamata olives. For those who aren't a fan of this preserved fish, the dish can also be made with fresh cod fillets seasoned with salt. Peppery green Peloponnese olive oil, which is another essential ingredient and a staple in the region, is added during cooking and also in a dressing flourish to serve. And for vegans, the dish can be transformed into a plentiful plant-based meal by omitting the fish and adding some extra potato and red pepper. Either way, it's usually garnished with some chopped parsley and served with a slice of bread to soak up the juices. Where to try it: On the west coast of the Peloponnese, in the village of Limeni, dine at either of the long-established neighbouring waterfront tavernas, Takis and Kourmas, while watching turtles splash about in the bay. These seafood restaurants have frequently changing menus, but often include various local baked and grilled fish dishes, from around €25 (£22). Where to stay: Over on the far east of the Peloponnese peninsula, Kinsterna Hotel uses homegrown and local produce on the menus of its two restaurants — including in regional baked fish dishes. It also uses these in its lovely bathroom products, fragrant with olive oil and malvasia grapes, plus wines and tsipouro spirit are made in the estate's surrounding vineyards. Doubles from €180 (£154) B&B. Soufiko, Ikaria Eleni Karimali fell into the business of cooking classes after her family abandoned Athens for the northeastern Aegean island of Ikaria. Here, at their winery and farmhouse, she teaches guests how to make local dishes including the satisfying vegan stew soufiko. Ikaria is one of five places in the world where pioneering author Dan Buettner has studied why people live longer, healthier lives, many well into their 90s. His studies led to the concept of 'Blue Zone' cuisine, which revolves around fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Ikaria's organic plant produce is the cornerstone of its home cooking and is crucial to soufiko, a hearty, ratatouille-like stew of summer veggies. 'Our ancestors prepared high-quality, pure food, often without eggs or cheese because we didn't always have access to them,' explains Eleni. Legend has it that soufiko originated when an Ikarian woman threw some summer vegetables into a pot as an impromptu meal for her husband. She sauteed onions, garlic, potatoes, aubergine, courgette and tomato in olive oil, adding oregano, summer savoury herb and parsley. The story goes, says Eleni, that when the stew was ready, the woman was so taken with the result, she said to herself: 'Andra mou, na sou afiko, i na mi sou afiko?' (Dear husband, should I leave you some or not?). Today, soufiko is among the dishes Eleni demonstrates to guests, using organic produce from the family's farm. 'I cut the vegetables lengthwise so they retain their shape,' she says, adding: 'Soufiko shouldn't be mushy.' Where to try it: Mary Mary in Armenistis, an old school-meets-new restaurant, where chef Nikos Politis pays tribute to Ikarian tradition with tummy-warming soufiko paired with kathoura, a local goat's cheese. Where to stay: Family-run Karimalis Winery comes complete with a guesthouse and restaurant serving exemplary Ikarian cuisine. Doubles from €70 (£58), B&B. Six-day all-inclusive stays from €1,478 (£1,235) per person. Revithada is a baked chickpea stew traditionally served on Sundays and made in a skepastaria, the small clay bowl dedicated to its cooking. Thanks to its rich clay deposits, Sifnos has become known as an island for ceramicists. Photograph by Marco Argüello 'When I was growing up, many of the men on the island were potters,' says Maro, owner of To Maro boutique apartments. 'That left the women to farm the land and the children at home to prepare dinner. That's how I learned to cook revithada myself, from the age of seven". Photograph by Marco Argüello Revithada, Chios Thanks to its rich clay deposits, Sifnos is known as an island of ceramicists. Clay pots have been used to cook with for centuries resulting in dishes native to this wind-battered Cycladic isle, unique to the vessel in which they're slow-baked. None is more Sifnian than revithada — a baked chickpea stew traditionally served on Sundays and made in a skepastaria, the small clay bowl dedicated to its cooking. Left in a wood-burning oven overnight, the ultra-soft chickpeas are infused with lemon and bay leaves, and these few ingredients achieve a perfectly comforting dish that sings with the zing of local citrus. Island cook Maro, owner of To Maro boutique apartments, stresses the importance of baking on a low heat for a number of hours. She makes hers, sometimes for guests in the garden outside the holiday rental in Kastro, over an open flame in her specially built outdoor oven. 'When I was growing up, many of the men on the island were potters,' says Maro. 'That left the women to farm the land and the children at home to prepare dinner. That's how I learned to cook revithada myself, from the age of seven. 'Even on a Sunday, our parents would leave the house by donkey to go out and work while the revithada baked slowly, until they returned home.' This wholesome, hearty meal is often served with slice of myzithra or feta cheese, a couple of olives and hunk of bread. Where to try it: To Steki, in the bay of Platis Gialos, serves revithada alongside other Sifnian claypot-baked dishes such as beef stewed in a rich red wine sauce. Set almost on the water, this favoured local spot has its own vegetable garden, which provides most of its organic produce. Where to stay: To Maro has apartments from €45 (£38), room only. Verina Hotel Sifnos offers the opportunity to try your hand at the potter's wheel. The hotel organises classes in one of Sifnos's oldest clay pottery studios, alongside revithada cooking workshops. Doubles from €253 (£212) per night, B&B. Bougatsa, Thessaloniki Philippos Bantis is one of Thessaloniki's few remaining bougatsa-makers. Take a short stroll from the northern Greek city's crumbling Byzantine fortifications, and you'll find him working at hole-in-the-wall Bougatsa Bantis, which has been supplying the breakfast staple for the best part of a century. The crisp phyllo pie filled with vanilla-spiked semolina custard, says Philippos, arrived with Cappadocian migrants in the population exchanges of the 1920s. 'My grandfather said they were always made in a wood-fired oven,' he says. 'The pie of the poor people, in Byzantine times, women made it at home for their husbands to take to work — something you don't see any more.' There are probably only a handful of young bougatsa-makers these days, according to Philippos. 'To make a decent bougatsa you need to put in the time. It takes hours to make but doesn't have a shelf life of more than a day, so I suppose it's not the most cost-effective food item. The skill needed to make the phyllo exceptionally thin takes years or practice.' A good bougatsa has layers thin as tracing paper. 'Traditional 'sketi' bougatsa ('plain') have no semolina in the dough and the phyllo is so thin, crisp and full of butter,' says Philippos. 'By far the most delicious in my opinion. You have to eat it hot out of the oven and always with a sprinkling of cinnamon and icing sugar.' Where to try it: Bougatsa Bantis, at Panagias Faneromenis 33, Thessaloniki. Where to stay: Stately boutique hotel On Residence has double rooms from €157 (£131) per night, including breakfasts featuring hand-made sweet and savoury pastries, northern Greek cheeses and locally sourced seasonal produce. Published in Issue 28 (summer 2025) of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK). To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
