Comments on: Thrace – Tolerance Through Food

By: J @ JFN

J @ JFN — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:20:45 +0000

Why don’t you pay Cape Town a visit. We have eleven nations under one flag, eleven cultures, eleven officially recognised languages, one schoooling system and eleven times the love and acceptance for one another because of that. Granted the politicians are doing their level best to sow discord and the world wide economy is whipping crime up to ’soft peak’ stage, but amongst the people there is only love and tolerance.

Oh yes, a cuisine that will make you purr – not to mention an active Greek community!

By: Sam Sotiropoulos

Sam Sotiropoulos — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:45:20 +0000

Ilias is well. I just drove down to see him and read to him a little. Now, I am on my way home.

As for Greeks and Turks and all the rest. Let me just say that I am hopeful that a day will come when the ploughshares will truly be fashioned out of the swords. Let us eat and drink to that day. I have no problem with people of like mind and spirit. Indeed, education is the key, but whose and what the curriculum I wonder? Selah.

By: J @ JFN

J @ JFN — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:20:07 +0000

Ouch! Now you HAVE given me food for thought ……..

How is your young son and heir this morning? I can’t wait to see him!

By: Sam Sotiropoulos

Sam Sotiropoulos — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:59:28 +0000

Jacoba, the same people you claim know Greece better than the Greeks are the same people who told us there were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq… And we are still waiting to see them!

As for our meals, yes, we eat as healthy as we can. It is one of the few freedoms left to us these days.

By: J @ JFN

J @ JFN — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:18:48 +0000

The food in Thrace is outstanding – above average – and I firmly believe that this is because it has always been what it is, a Bulgarian, Turkish, Greek, community of people that would live in absolute peace if it weren’t for power hungry politicians and vindictive nationalists that all have a point to prove, despite what the people really want. Unfortunately, Thrace became one of the far too many bones about which the Greeks and Turks fought so bitterly. Remember that it was only in 1913 that it became part of Greece for the first time. Does it really matter, though? The American Federal Bureau, the CIA, the National Stats Departments of the UK, America, Germany – most countries (except Greece) agree that there is a reasonably even balance between the two with the Greeks having a very narrow majority. I saw immense understanding between the people, natural co-operation and two nations living side by side quite happily. I went without politicians, without any authorities, simply as a visitor and absolutely by chance. The children were playing side by side without caring who was who and what one another’s bloodlines were. Shouldn’t racism belong to a best forgotten era?

As for the trakhanas – lucky you. It’s heartening to see how healthily your family eat – your wife is a lucky lady, indeed!!

By: Sam Sotiropoulos

Sam Sotiropoulos — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:01:20 +0000

Jacoba, the “Thracians” as you call them are Greeks and identify as such, all except the small Turkish speaking minority. As for the relations between and among them, I am afraid you are looking at the situation in a rather naive fashion. Trust me when I tell you that there is very little love lost between them. Think of how harmonious Sarajevo appeared when they hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, and then reflect on what happened shortly thereafter…

In any case, I forgot to comment on the excellent recipes you provided, particularly the roast chicken. Though, the Thracians are not the only ones who make chicken this way, the lemon-mustard combination is a pretty common recipe for kotopoulo throughout Greece. As for the trakhana, I am making some for dinner this evening.

By: J @ JFN

J @ JFN — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:00:15 +0000

Absolutely not!! The Boers, when they were ‘trekking’ through the mountains were forced to use extremely simple cooking methods because their situation dictated it. However, as far as I’m concerned the less fuss, the better. Allow the herbs and spices to develop – in other words, allow it to spend some time on, in and around the chicken and you will have a flavour to remember. I have this “ziploc bag method” of which I often write and which, I’m sure, you know by now – it really works for this kind of thing!

I hear what you say, Grey – but I’m adamant that given the education we are all so privileged to have received (well, most of us anyway), we should be able to realise what a waste of time it all is. How is it that people, like the Thracians and quite a few other nations, have managed to overcome so much prejudice and hate?

After all, should the past not be the parent of the future? Isn’t love what it’s all about in the end? And then, what better way to communicate than through food?

By: Grey

Grey — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:44:22 +0000

I like the idea of the thyme lemon zest and mustard seed on the chicken. Would roasting on a rotisserie over the potatoes (in a Weber) be too Boer’ish? I tried your Italian Roast Lamb this way on Sunday and it was delicious (added a few carrots and some butternut into the roast pan with the potatoes) and everyone raved.
The Greek vs. Turk thing will never go away as its as embedded as deeply as all the other cultural incompatibities our world is tasked with (even though you and I can see more similarities than differences in most).

By: stefano

stefano — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:09:55 +0000

The roast looks yummy, think I’ll try that when I return to cape town.

You two are funny, always at each other. Heheh, entertaining.

By: J @ JFN

J @ JFN — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:34:33 +0000

Hello!

Am I up late or are you up late? it’s 2h28 in the morning here. I can’t sleep.
I’m sorry that you are faced with sneers from friends about something you love so dearly. I would ignore them …. they don’t deserve you friendship.

I have a Cretan godfather, a fiery old man whom I respect greatly – he has a thing about the Turks as well and has to endure my constant teasing, which he also does good naturedly – as do you. It is there that I started to learn about Greek food. He lives outside Malia on the island of Crete.