Theia Chryssoula Razos: Katsete Na Sas Valo Na Fate!!!

ΚΑΤΣΕΤΕ ΝΑ ΣΑΣ ΒΑΛΩ ΝΑ ΦΑΤΕ! 

This post is dedicated to Theia Chryssoula Razos and all those wonderful women (and some men)  in our Global Greek World, with their devotion to their families and their well-being, their innate sense of hospitality or filoxenia, and their love of tradition. 

The traditional art of cooking for the family and wider circle of friends, always  an inherent part of Greek families wherever they are in the world, is what has ensured the preservation of all the recipes passed down to us by our grandmothers and mothers,  from generation to generation!

Katsete na sas valo na fate... is a familiar phrase to all of us, a phrase which embodies the very essence of Greek hospitality, and very appropriately indeed, is the title of Theia Chryssoula's Cookbook of recipes from Ithaka and the world!  

Remember trying to escape with a polite, no thanks, όχι ευχαριστώ, when faced with a determined mother or aunt who said this to us. Instead we got  Φάτε! and promptly sat down to eat the good, traditional, home cooked dishes they specialised in... 

Remember how much our non-Greek friends  loved our parents' Greek hospitality along with each tasty morsel of our mothers' pastitsio, moussaka or kourambiedes?

Well, these are the recipes that Theia Chryssoula as she likes to be called,( a term of fond respect that we are all familiar with, and used for all those who were close to us) has provided us with in her cookbook. 

Born in Ithaka in 1929 to Evangeloula Giannoutsos and Michael Grivas, in 1948, at the tender age of 19, she left her beautiful island of Ithaka in the Ionian Sea, in a post war ravaged and politically divided Greece, and set out on her own personal odyssey to the other side of the world, to an island nation in the Pacific, New Zealand, where her husband-to-be Theofanis Razos awaited his beautiful Greek bride...

It wasn't always easy... 

Like many of the other Greek families who had migrated to New Zealand,the Boulieris family, the Gerondis family, the Karantze family or the Zavos family, the Razos family ran a restaurant. It was exhausting work but it was an occupation where the major drawcard was that, apart from the set-up capital, it required just a basic knowledge of the English language. Like all food businesses all over the world whether it is in Geneva or New York, Athens or London - migrants are able start up their own food businesses, from fish and chip shops to souvlaki stalls, from coffee shops to gyro stands, simply because they can start up having only the basic language skills and the capital, of course!

In 1958, after 10 years of what was a very different kind of life in New Zealand but one they would remember with great affection, Theia Chryssoula and Theofanis Razos took their little family and set off on the return journey to the land of their birth, back to Greece, back to their very own Ithaka...

Once back home, Theia Chryssoula, a dynamic, engaging woman but traditional at the same time, along with her ongoing commitments to family, spent most of her spare time and effort helping the island she loves so much.

Very tied to the rich history, traditions and culture of her island, Theia Chryssoula became actively involved with the cultural and community activities of her beloved Ithaka,

- as a founding member and President for seven years of Ithaka's Rural and Industrial Cooperative (Πρότυπο Αγροτοβιομηχανικού Συνεταιτισμού Ιθάκης), 

- as a member of various cultural groups such as Ithaka's Public Benefit Group (Κοινοφελές Όμιλο Ιθάκης), 'Penelope's Loom' - the Handcraft Cooperative named after Odysseus' faithful wife (Συνεταιρισμός Χειροτεχνίας Αργαλειό της Πηνελόπης), and

- as President of the Ithaka Women's Organisation 'Penelope'.

Other activities include organising Ithaka's Carnival (1960 - 1980) and Ithaka's Folklore Museum as well as gathering material for the museum's exhibits. 

In 1997 she helped organise a theatrical production 'Η Πούλια κι ο Αυγερινός γίνονται νύμφη και γαμπρός' which showcased the traditions of the Ithaka wedding rituals and celebrations.

Theia Chryssoula has gathered all her recipes together to create a fascinating cookbook which she has dedicated to her grandchildren and great grandchildren! 

Her book is full of great recipes! Recipes from her mother, her godmother, other relatives and friends, traditional Ithakan recipes, recipes from New Zealand and other countries of the world. Recipes from when she was a young woman learning to cook, recipes which are tried and true... 

We particularly loved the recipes for Kastanotourta (Chestnut cake), Butterfly Cakes and Prasopita (Leek Pie) 

as well as her recipe for the steak and kidney pie that used to be made in her husband's restaurant in New Zealand.

Theia Chryssoula has put a little bit of everything into this cookbook, but above all she has put in a lot of what we Greeks call 'meraki', and love, and that's what she wants from us, her readers, as she tell us at the beginning of her book:

I grew up in a family where dinner was a sacred event and where cooking was an expression of joy, love and affection.  Just as I collected these recipes from Ithakan housewives, Θιακές νοικοκυρές, I now want to pass them on to be preserved for the future generations, so that the Greek flavours and tastes can remain alive forever. On the joyous days that you will be looking through this book and cooking, I want you to be happy and remember me with love...

Thank you Theia Chryssoula for these wonderful recipes, your labour of love! We will definitely  think of you with love and affection each time we cook one of your dishes, and we will be sure to drink a toast to your health...

Στην υγειά σας, Θεία Χρυσούλα!! Να είσαστε πάντα καλά! 

Theia Chryssoula's cookbook is written in Greek and is available for purchase  from the bookstores Eleftheroudakis and Papasotiriou or by sending an email to the Design Shop. 

We recommend it wholeheartedly!

Global Greeks: Presenting Constantine Cavafy's Ithaka...Read by Sean Connery

Photo Source: Wikipedia

Since we mentioned Global Greek poet Constantine Cavafy in our previous post, and inspired by Heather T's Hail Cavafy comment on our Facebook Page,(see sidebar), we decided to share with our readers perhaps the most famous of his works, written in 1911 and translated by Edmund Keeley, another one of those special people whom we call, our honorary Greeks!

Ithaka

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don't be afraid of them:
you'll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
 
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you're seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you're destined for.
But don't hurry the journey at all.
 
Better if it lasts for years,
so you're old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you've gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, 
Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, 
so full of experience,
you'll have understood by then 
what these Ithakas mean.

Listen to Sean Connery reciting Cavafy's Ithaca to the  wonderful music of Vangelis. Truly superb! (Thanks Ilia R, Sweden for pointing it out to us! )

Ιθάκη

Σα βγεις στον πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη,

να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος,

γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις.

Tους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,

τον θυμωμένο Ποσειδώνα μη φοβάσαι,

τέτοια στον δρόμο σου 
ποτέ σου δεν θα βρεις,

αν μεν' η σκέψις σου υψηλή,

αν εκλεκτήσυγκίνησις το πνεύμα 
και το σώμα σου αγγίζει.

Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,

τον άγριο Ποσειδώνα δεν θα συναντήσεις,

αν δεν τους κουβανείς μες στην ψυχή σου,

αν η ψυχή σου δεν τους στήνει εμπρός σου.

Να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος.

Πολλά τα καλοκαιρινά πρωϊά να είναι που με

να σταματήσεις σ' εμπορεία Φοινικικά,

και τες καλές πραγμάτειες ν' αποκτήσεις,

και κοράλλια, κεχριμπάρια κ' έβενους,

και ηδονικά μυρωδικά κάθε λογής,

όσο μπορείς πιο άφθονα ηδονικά μυρωδικά,

σε πόλεις Αιγυπτιακές πολλές να πας,

να μάθεις και να μάθεις απ' τους σπουδασμένους.

Πάντα στον νου σου νάχεις την Ιθάκη.

Το φθάσιμον εκεί ειν' ο προορισμός σου.

Αλλά μη βιάζεις το ταξείδι διόλου.

Καλλίτερα χρόνια πολλά να διαρκέσει
και γέρος πια ν' αράξεις στο νησί,

πλούσιος με όσα κέρδισες στο δρόμο,

μη προσδοκώντας πλούτη να σε δώσει η Ιθάκη. 

Η Ιθάκη σ'έδωσε τ' ωραίο ταξείδι. 

Χωρίς αυτήν δεν θάβγαινες στον δρόμο.

Άλλα δεν έχει να σε δώσει πια. 

Κι αν πτωχική την βρεις, 

η Ιθάκη δε σε γέλασε. 

Έτσι σοφός που έγινες, 

με τόση πείρα,

ήδη θα το κατάλαβες 

οι Ιθάκες τι σημαίνουν.

We were going to restrict ourselves to just Ithaka, but we couldn't resist the temptation to add this earlier, 1904, poem of Cavafy's, Waiting For The Barbarians, simply because of it's timeless and oh so relevant commentary!

Waiting For The Barbarians

What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?

The barbarians are due here today.

-Why isn't anything going on in the senate?
Why are the senators sitting there without legislating?

Because the barbarians are coming today.
What's the point of senators making laws now?
Once the barbarians are here, they'll do the legislating.

-Why did our emperor get up so early,
and why is he sitting enthroned at the city's main gate,
in state, wearing the crown?

Because the barbarians are coming today
and the emperor's waiting to receive their leader.
He's even got a scroll to give him,
loaded with titles, with imposing names.

-Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?
Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,
rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?
Why are they carrying elegant canes
beautifully worked in silver and gold?

Because the barbarians are coming today
and things like that dazzle the barbarians.

-Why don't our distinguished orators turn up as usual
to make their speeches, say what they have to say?

Because the barbarians are coming today
and they're bored by rhetoric and public speaking.

-Why this sudden bewilderment, this confusion?
(How serious people's faces have become.)
Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly,
everyone going home lost in thought?

Because night has fallen and the barbarians haven't come.
And some of our men who have just returned from the border say
there are no barbarians any longer.

Now what's going to happen to us without barbarians?

These people were a kind of solution.

Constantine Cavafy was born in 1863 to Greek parents in Alexandria, Egypt. His father was a prosperous importer-exporter who had lived in England in earlier years and acquired British nationality. In 1870, following the death of his father, Cavafy and his family settled for a while in England. In 1876, his family faced financial problems following the crash, so, by 1877, they had to move back to Alexandria.

In 1882, disturbances in Alexandria caused the family to move again, though temporarily, to Constantinople. This was the year when a revolt broke out in Alexandria against the Anglo-French control of Egypt, thus precipitating the 1882 Anglo - Egyptian War. Alexandria was bombarded by a British fleet and the family apartment at Ramli was burned.

In 1885, Cavafy returned to Alexandria, where he lived for the rest of his life. His first job was as a journalist; then he took a position with the British-run Egyptian Ministry of Public Works for thirty years. (Egypt was a British protectorate until 1926.) His poetry from 1891 to 1904 was published in the form of broadsheets, and only for his close friends. Any acclaim he was to receive came mainly from within the Greek community of Alexandria. Eventually, in 1903, he was introduced to mainland-Greek literary circles through a favourable review by Xenopoulos. He received little recognition because his style differed markedly from the then-mainstream Greek poetry. It was only 20 years later, after the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), that a new generation of almost nihilist poets such as Karyotakis would find inspiration in Cavafy's work.

In a biographical note written by Cavafy himself, he states the following:

"I am from Constantinople by descent, but I was born in Alexandria—at a house on Seriph Street; I left very young, and spent much of my childhood in England. Subsequently I visited this country as an adult, but for a short period of time. I have also lived in France. During my adolescence I lived over two years in Constantinople. It has been many years since I last visited Greece. My last employment was as a clerk at a government office under the Ministry of Public Works of Egypt. I know English, French and a little Italian." ....

You can read more at Wikipedia

See also this excellent tribute site, http://cavafis.compupress.gr, to read more about our brilliant Alexandrino, or Alexandrian, poet as he is called in Greek, Constantine P Cavafy, his life and works.