C Cuisine of the MR

Introduction

• When the refugees arrived in the Monastic Republic, Lebanese and Greeks in 1885 and Greeks from Turkey in 1922 and 1923, they brought their cuisine with them. However, all the ingredients from their homelands were no longer available to them. It was difficult to import food in those days and they had to use what was at hand. In time a distinctive Athonite cuisine emerged, a blending of Greek and Near Eastern cuisines.

Ethnic Cuisines

• Ethnic or national cuisines are defined by certain ingredients and the combinations of them that are used.
  • The Middle East
    • The Middle East is the cradle of wheat and barley, chick peas and fava beans and the olive. Sesame seed is used, not as a flavoring as in the Orient, but as a thick paste. The yogurt of central Asia is common, as is their tradition of spit-roasted meats.
    • A variety of flavorings is used. Most important are fresh parsley, dill and mint. Sadly, cinnamon disappeared from the cuisine because of its unavailability. Lemon (or lime) juice is used in place of the vinegar or tamarind of other cuisines. And the tomato, once it became available, has become a staple of Athonite cuisine.
    • There are two basic flavor principles in the Middle East. The first is tomato/cinnamon with variations from lemon and dill. The second is lemon/parsley with variations from garlic and mint. It is this second that is used exclusively in the Athonite cuisine.
  • Greek cuisine is a subset of Mediterranean cuisine and the olive defines Mediterranean cuisine.
    • Flavoring include onions, garlic, parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, anchovies, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts.
    • The tomato and the bell pepper were added after the discovery of the New World. Interestingly, this cuisine did not choose the hot varieties of the capsicum pepper, but the milder bell pepper.
    • Especially Greek is wild thyme, also called oregano. Together with olive oil and lemon, it characterizes much of Greek cooking.
• There are restaurants (ρεςτοράν) in the Monastic Republic that serve Greek or Near Eastern or Turkish cuisine, but the taverns (ταβερνάκ) and inns (χαν) and B&B’s (πανςιόν) and coffee bars (καφενί) and tea houses (τεϊοποτί) and kiosks (κιόςκ) serve only Athonite cuisine. Consider yourself fortunate to be invited for dinner to the home of a citizen.
• The signature of Athonite cuisine is the use of tomatoes and eggplants, often with fish or shellfish, flavored with lemon (or lime), olive oil, olives, oregano and garlic.

Athonite Food

Bread (ψωμ)

• Virtually all the bread consumed in the Monastic Republic, with the exception of pastries, is flat bread, i.e., unleavened bread, a simple concoction of flour, water, and salt (pita is leavened). In the Monastic Republic it is known by the Lebanese name saj (ςατζ). The Turkish name is yufka.
• Saj kiosks can be found throughout the towns, selling sweet-and-sour eggplant (with various additions), wrapped in saj or as sarmádh. They also sell baba ghanouj and, for drinking, ades, beer and wine. The Athonites are not enamored of soda (pop).
• Because this food item is the staple of the diet in the Monastic Republic every available hectare is devoted to the growing of wheat. This means virtually every hectare outside of the limits alloted to the three towns. The only buildings outside town limits are the prison and the Aoun Brewery.
• The Greeks from Turkey brought with them the concept of the tandoor oven (τάντιρ). Virtually every household has one in the courtyard (αύλ). Since wood is scarce, they are fired with imported charcoal.
• The Orthodox nuns in Aktí bake a thinner saj that is used by the churches for the Eucharist. The monks bake their own.

Meat

• The only source of red meat is goat or kid from the large flock on Amoulián. When one is available it is usually sold to an eatery in the town and is served as chevon or cabrito.
• Chicken is available. Many households raise chickens and often sell them to local eateries. When the chickens of the monasteries are no longer able to lay eggs, they are sold in the Lowland.
• Egg dishes are common in the Monastic Republic.

Seafood

• Seafood is the main source of protein in the Monastic Republic. Each town has a fishing fleet and they bring home a large catch of fish and shellfish. Many recipes that originally called for meat have been recast for seafood.

Dairy

• The only source of milk is goats. Some of it is sold for drinking, but the larger part of it is used to make cheese.
• The dairy on Amoulián makes three types of cheese:
  • a firm cheese (χέλιμ), fresh or aged, much like mozzarella, which is firm enough to fry;
  • a crumbly cheese (φετ) similar to feta;
  • and a whey cheese (μίζιθ) similar to ricotta.

Fruits and nuts

• Grapes, fresh or dried, are served.
• In season, there are fresh oranges.
• Lemon and lime juice are used as flavorings.
• The Sericulture Association, which has a monopoly on the mulberry bushes, sells fresh mulberries and makes mulberry preserves.
• Chestnuts are harvested by the Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul and what is not used for their chestnut liqueur is sold in the Lowland. These are used frequently in recipes that originally called for almonds.
• Monks throughout the Holy Mountain harvest the seeds from the pine Pinus pinea, the pine nut, to sell in the Lowland.

Vegetables

• Some householders have a vegetable garden in their courtyards (αύλ).
• Each town has a large area for hothouses which grow an assortment of vegetables hydroponically.
• Most of the hothouse space is given over to tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants.
• The two most often used vegetables in the Monastic Republic are tomatoes and eggplants.
• One complete hothouse is used to grow herbs. Fresh herbs are always available in the markets.
• Experiments are underway to grow mushrooms in artificial caves in the foothills of the Lowland.
• There is a cannery in Prosforion where the homemaker may take her fruits and vegetables for canning or drying.

Desserts

• A variety of pastries are made in the Monastic Republic, the supreme example of which is baklava (μπακλάβ): layers of saj and pine nuts, sweetened with honey and rose water.
• Since ice cream must be imported, most of the eateries prefer to make and serve sorbets (ςέρμπετ): lemon, lime, orange and wine flavored.
• Chestnuts are candied.

Drink

• Although they must be imported, tea and coffee are drunk, with tea outdistancing coffee four to one.
• Of course, there is the wine produced by the monasteries and the citrus liqueurs made on Amoulián.
• The Monastic Republic has its own brewery, the Aoun Brewery, which brews a light brown wheat beer. *Ades are made from the citrus fruits and bottled.

Some Typical Dishes

• sarmádh (ςαρμάδ < Turk. sarmak, to wrap) (The Greek dolma < Turkish dolmak, to be stuffed, is properly applied only to vegetables that are stuffed, e.g., eggplant, squash, peppers, etc.) – The rice must be imported; no cinnamon is used. Either grape leaves or cabbage leaves are used.
• terbíye (τερμπίγε) – This Greek soupa avgolemono (egg-lemon soup) is made with fish stock and bits of fish and/or shellfish. It may also be made with chicken or vegetable stock. Lime juice may be used instead of lemon.
• souvlák (ςουβλάκ) – the Greek souvlaki, diminutive of souvla, skewer, < Latin subula, awl. Chevon, chicken, swordfish or shellfish may be skewered.
• hummus with tahini (χούμους με ταχίν < Arabic hummus, chickpea) – Chick peas (ρεβιθί) are grown in one of the hot houses. Lime juice is often used instead of lemon juice. Since the sesame paste (tahini) has to be imported, the paste added is often made from pine nuts.
• baba ghanouj (μπάμπα γανούδζ) (Greek, μελιτζανοςαλάτα, eggplant salad) – Essentially the same as hummus, but made with eggplant instead of chick peas. Lime juice is often used instead of lemon juice.

Menus

• There are three cuisines prominent in the Monastic Republic. Though the immigrants have intermarried and moved about within the MR, each of the demes reflects the cuisine of the original immigrants. In 1885, Lebanese refugees, Arab and Greek, were welcomed to the MR. They established the deme of Aktí on the the east coast, which has remained the center of the Lebanese culture.

• In 1922, 90 Greek refugee families from Caesarea (Kayseri) in Turkey, on the north coast on the Black Sea were welcomed. They founded the deme of Prosforion on the west coast and brought their Turkish culture with them. They started the carpet industry and Prosforion retains a Turkish flavor.

• In the following year, 1923, 23 Greek refugee families from the island of Paşalımani, in the Sea of Marmara were welcomed. They were permitted to settle on Amoulián Island and founded the town of Amoulián. They started the fishing industry and the Amoulián fleet is the largest of the three. They also covered the interior of the island with citrus groves. More Greek than the refugees from Kayseri, they gave a Greek atmosphere to Amoulián, the smallest of the demes.

• There is also a Chinese restaurant in each deme owned and operated by the Lin family.

Sample Lebanese Menu

• μεζ (meze or mezze) – a selection of appetizers.
  • Choose any three of the following:
    • For vegetarians:
      • Baba ghanoush – grilled eggplant, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic puree
      • Hummus – a spread made of blended chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic, served with pita
      • Fried cauliflower – served with tahini
      • Tabbouleh – diced parsley salad with bulgur, tomato, onion and mint, tossed with olive oil and lemon juice
      • Fattoush – salad of toasted pita, cucumbers, tomatoes, chickweed, feta, and mint
      • Labneh – strained goat’s milk yogurt seasoned with thyme and olive oil
    • For non-vegetarians
      • Any of the above plus:
      • Kibbeh – fried bulgur croquette stuffed with minced cabrito (milk-fed kid)
      • Shish taouk – skewered and grilled chicken cubes served with toum (garlic sauce)