The Greeks celebrate life with food…
And when our loved ones pass away we prepare food to celebrate the memory life… and life to us.
Zoi Se Sas, Na Ton Thimaste.
Life to you, may you remember him.
These are the words that we say at a funeral, wake or memorial.
We celebrate his memory. We also celebrate life, for us.
Last week we said good bye to one of our elders. Our hearts are sad to say good bye but we are grateful to have laughter in our hearts of his memory.
After the church service, we feast together with family and friends to share stories and to celebrate his life.
The food that we prepared for the wake included Thea Sylvia's Tiropita – Cheese Pastries and Yiayia Barbara's Tiropita Pita – Cheese Pie.
Other food you will sometimes see at a wake include:
- Psomi – Bread
- Tarama – Fish Roe Dip
- Eliopitas – Olive Bread Sticks
- Elies – Olives
- Yiaourti – Greek Yoghurt
- Spanakopita – Spinach Pie
- Halloumi – Cypriot Cheese
All of the recipes that we mentioned in this post are documented in our Mezze cookbook. We feel so honoured and greatful to know that our family recipes can now be used and cherished forever, especially for celebration such as this.
May these recipes and the memories and stories of our family continue to be passed down from generation to generation.
Much love,
Chrystalla & Sia
xx
