Spice Wanderer

Journey with me to Greece…

Picture yourself sitting on a small wooden chair at a square table with the view of the sparkling blue mediterranean sea in front of you. On the table lies a bowl with juicy tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and onions with a big fat square piece of feta cheese on top. Oregano is sprinkled on top and olive oil is drizzled over everything. Welcome to Greece! It’s the oregano and the fantastic Greek olive oil that make this simple Greek salad known as horiatiki flavorful. Whether fresh or dried, oregano is used frequently in recipes across the Mediterranean but believe it or not, oregano was first cultivated in Greece. 

Bet you thought we were heading to Italy when you read that we’d be exploring oregano, huh?! While oregano eventually made its way to Italy, it didn’t originate there. Everything about oregano’s origin story is Greek, even its name; “oros” is Greek for mountain and “ganos” means joy. So oregano literally means mountain of joy! Take one bite of that horiatiki I just described and the literal translation of oregano will ring true. 

According to Greek mythology, the goddess Aphrodite created oregano as a symbol of happiness. Ancient Greeks adorned newlyweds with garlands of oregano as a blessing of happiness. When the Romans conquered Greece, they too fell in love with the spice and they are credited for spreading oregano across Europe. This explains why so many think of oregano as an Italian spice and why oregano is common in dishes across the mediterranean. 

In addition to its delightful flavor, oregano also has medicinal attributes. Hipocrates, yes the same God known for the Hippocratic Oath, brought attention to oregano’s medicinal properties. He was the first to use oregano as an antiseptic and to treat various skin ailments. It was Aristotle who first discovered that oregano could be used to treat snake bites. Oil of oregano is also known to have many benefits, read more here. 

As I alluded to earlier, Greek olive oil is another love of mine. It isn’t a spice so it doesn’t get a full blog post about it but I can’t write about my time in Greece without writing about my love affair with Greek olives and olive oil. At the age of 22, fresh out of college, my twin sister Paloma and I decided to embark on an adventure across the seas. I graduated with a degree in psychology having no idea what I wanted to do with it and my sister graduated with a degree in teaching. She had known she wanted to be a teacher since we were kids and she had spent her senior year of college researching exciting teaching opportunities. She found a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate program in Greece. I decided I’d go too! 

The program began in August so in the summer months leading up to our post-college adventure, we did all we could to prepare for it. This consisted of watching movies and reading books that took place in Greece. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was a highlight, as was Captain Correlli’s Violin. This also consisted of me trying to cultivate a love for olives. I suppose this was the very first sign that I would become a foodie and lover of international cuisines. I hated olives growing up but I had heard that the olives were fantastic in Greece and I really wanted to be able to appreciate them. So, I slowly introduced various types of olives to my palette and by the time I set foot in Greece, I was an olive lover! As an international educator now, I cringe at the thought of my self directed pre-departure orientation but I am thankful that I had the foresight to train myself to love olives!

I ate some fantastic olives in Greece but what I fell in love with more was the olive oil. Every meal in Greece is served with a big basket of bread and fresh olive oil. I loved the olive oil so much that I’d drown the bread in the oil before every bite. I practically drank olive oil for the 5 months that I lived there. Even the cheap olive oil sold in plastic bottles at the corner store was good! Like oregano, olive oil is well loved across the Mediterranean and Italian and Spanish oil are the most well known but in my opinion, it’s the Greek olive oil that is superior! Search for it the next time you go to the market. 

Aside from the delicious food I consumed, my time in Greece was challenging and far from dreamy. It was nothing like any of the movies and books I had read prior to my trip. It was the first country outside of the US that I lived in and I arrived not knowing the language and full of expectations of frolicking along the Mediterranean, teaching English to eager students, and eating lamb and chicken souvlaki and Greek salads frequently. I went on to live in seven more countries over the next 10 years but Greece had a profound impact on me and shaped the way I set expectations and experienced each new adventure. 

I lived on the island of Euboea on the Aegean Sea in a small fishing village called Oreoi and worked in the neighboring town called Istiaia. It was nothing like the magical islands of Mykonos or Santorini. There was nothing particularly picturesque about the fishing village, although I did use the word “quaint” in one of my early journal entries. I learned that Greece gets cold in the winter months, even on the islands. In fact, most islands become deserted in the winter months. Unless of course you live there full time like I did. I arrived in Greece without a jacket and had to buy one as soon as the temperature began to drop. I battled the cold daily November – December and spent many nights sleeping with one eye open watching my space heater to make sure it didn’t spontaneously catch my bed on fire. 

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My teaching job wasn’t quite what I had envisioned it would be. While my students were full of energy, they were not as eager to learn English as I had hoped for. I taught them English (or tried to) and students named Zeus and Hercules taught me about Greek mythology and tested my patience daily. Life was a struggle for me and I have pages and pages of journal entries about my trials and tribulations there. Every day was a true adventure.

I once ended up on a mountain top in the middle of the island instead of at a fishing village because I misinterpreted the bus driver’s response to whether or not he was going to Aidipsos (the fishing village). The yes and no gestures are almost exactly opposite of those in the US. To indicate nai (yes), Greeks move their head slightly to the right and to indicate ochi (no) they move their head up. It took me many wrong moves before I was finally able to override my American interpretation of the gestures. It’s funny to think about now but those two gestures caused me countless tears!

While Greece turned out to be a true adventure for me in all senses of the term, I am thankful for all that Greece taught me about myself and about life in a new place. I left knowing that teaching wasn’t for me. I also left with the intention of not creating specific expectations in my mind of what an experience will look like prior to embarking on it. Finally, I left with a deep love for Greek food and a fondness for Greece that I carry with me to this day.

I left the country before Spring came which means that I didn’t get the pleasure of eating much lamb because lamb is commonly served only when it’s in season which is in the Spring. I did eventually return during Easter a few years later and finally got to enjoy copious amounts of lamb. I was with a few friends and we decided to take a day trip to Hydra. We travelled from Athens to Hydra on the fast ferry. The journey was only a couple of hours which made visiting the island for a day doable. Cars are banned on Hydra. Narrow cobblestone streets wind through cement and stone buildings all through the island. Around every corner was a picturesque view. A donkey carrying a heavy load. A bright blue and ornate wooden door or window. If you don’t have the time or money to travel to Mykonos or Santorini, go to Hydra. You will not be disappointed! 

After a few hours of exploring the island, we decided it was time for lunch. We walked up to a taverna near the water and spotted a lamb on the spit and took a seat ready to take full advantage of lamb season. The server asked us how many kilos of lamb we wanted to eat. We had NO idea how much lamb we could/wanted to eat! Someone made an executive decision and told him we’d take 2 kilos. For those of you not familiar with the metric system, that means we ordered nearly 4.5 pounds of meat! There were 6 of us but it was still a TON of lamb. We were served a platter with a pile of lamb and bones. The lamb was good but what I remember most from the meal were the pile of bones on the platter after we had consumed every last bit of meat. 

I’ll leave you with a few recipes so you can cook up your own Greek feast!

Recipes

Horiatiki – The traditional village style Greek salad. Try to find a big square block of feta to put on top of the salad. There’s something really magical about breaking off pieces of feta to eat with each bite of olive oil and oregano soaked tomato, onion, or cucumber.

Tzatziki – This yogurt dip is as common to Greek cuisine as hummus is to the Middle East. Every restaurant serves it but every cook puts their own twist on it or prepares it slightly differently. I loved comparing the tzatziki from taverna to taverna.

Chicken Souvlaki – The word “souvlaki” means meat on a skewer. Chicken or pork souvlaki stuffed into a pita with tzatziki and the occasional french fry is a common street food all over Greece. Oregano is a key ingredient in the marinade.

Greek Style Roasted Lamb – Full of fresh herbs and garlic, this roasted lamb recipe sounds (and looks) delicious! Seriously, the photos scattered throughout this recipe made my mouth water.

Melomakarona – Oregano isn’t an ingredient in these cookies traditionally made around Christmas and New Years, but I fell in LOVE with them when I lived in Greece and since it’s the holiday season, you should try to make these! Main ingredients: honey, cinnamon, and cloves.  

Restaurants

One of my goals for this blog is to inspire you to travel, when possible, and to use spices to create an international experience at home. However, since it’s a really tough time for those working in the food industry right now due to the pandemic, I want to highlight a few of my favorite Greek restaurants, or restaurants recommended to me by friends who truly know what good Greek food is. If you live near one of them, consider ordering takeout and put it on a list for a post-pandemic sit-down meal.

Stamatis (Astoria, NY) – I moved to New York just a few years after living in Greece and one of the first things I went hunting for was a good Greek restaurant. The food at Stamatis is really good and spot on and the Greek staff make you feel like you’re no longer in New York. It gives off a real family vibe. The grilled octopus seems to be the most popular item in the Yelp reviews. I remember the moussaka – an eggplant and meat dish, being really good!

Local Greek (Princeton, NJ) – A Greek friend of mine recommended this restaurant to me so I trust it’s good. With a Greek owner and chefs at the helm, the team at Local Greek serves up traditional meze (tapas-style) dishes. A quick glance at the menu and my suggestion for a dish to try post-pandemic when you can sit down and eat there is the saganaki – flaming Greek cheese with ouzo drizzled on top!

Souvla (San Francisco, CA) – If you’re looking for quick and good Greek food (they label it “fast-fine Greek cuisine”), this place is great. It’s an order at the counter type of place that often has a line out the door. Don’t expect a fully authentic experience but the lamb is really good and they’ve done a great job of capturing a snapshot of the Greek street food experience. Their “Juicy Potatoes” feature fresh oregano and are delicious and so is the “Superior Farms Lamb Leg” as a salad.

Taverna (Palo Alto, CA) – This place is pricey but aesthetically speaking, it is as close to Greece as you’re going to get, minus the mediterranean sea in the distance and an all-Greek staff. The Greek music, small square tables, and the outstanding parklet (outdoor dining set-up) they built truly does transport you back to the old country. Although outdoor dining is currently closed in the Bay Area, I have no doubt that their sidewalk dining infrastructure will be around for a while. They’re currently selling a “Family Meal” in which you can choose your meat and it comes with a selection of meze, meat, and dessert and can feed up to 4 people.

Papas Cristos (Los Angeles, CA) – Family run since 1948, this Greek market and restaurant is an institution for the Greek community of Los Angeles. The food is really good and their secret spice mix is so popular with patrons that they sell it! This was my go-to spot for olive oil, spices, and melomakarona when I lived in LA! Definitely check it out if you live nearby.

Ya mas (to our health)!