By Anthony Gabriel

I arrived in Greece in 1982 working in the hospitality sector, and shortly after married a Greek girl called Paraskevi.

With Paraskevi came her whole family, half of which had left Aidini – now in Türkiye – in the 1920’s. The photo above is a combination of two photos taken by the photographer Nelly – who was born in Aidini – it shows my wife’s Grandmother Paraskevi and women working in the fields. 

Grandmother Paraskevi was a great cook and her daughters wrote down her recipes for her family to use, I am including here a page from their notes – which as you can see were not detailed – more of a guide – because herbs and flavourings are not exact, they depend on how each cook feels having tasted them.

The 1922 catastrophe had a massive effect on Greek cuisine; Asia Minor had been one of international melting pots, Greeks had lived together with Ottoman Turks, Armenians, Jews, Levantines, Arabs, and Europeans (especially French and Italians). 

In the melting pot of cuisine this meant that there were continuous exchanges of techniques and flavors, which together with Ottoman cuisine made great use of refined methods. There was huge experimentation with spices and sweetness, Asia Minor cooking was aromatic, slightly sweet and layered in flavour. 

All this was a shock to the then contemporary mainland Greek society, with 1.1 million refugees arriving in a country of 5 million – 100 years later, it is hardly noticeable –  nevertheless there are areas and restaurants in Athens even today that celebrate and remember their Asia Minor roots – as do many families – in their cooking.  .

Anthony Gabriel

Below one of Grandmother Paraskevi recipes as originally written and with a “modern” interpretation