Katerina’s meatballs and rocket with parmesan
This column could have been titled “No more rocket with parmesan, please,” and yes, I have gotten away from Athens for a few days. We have all associated the Greek islands with certain traditional tavernas on a beach, in a remote field somewhere, in a pretty village or in a harbor looking out at the fishing boats. And almost every one of them had a grandmother doing the cooking in the kitchen and other members of the family running the rest of the business. The recipes were passed down from one generation to the next. Every holiday destination had a local legend like Katerina and her meatballs or Kyra-Eleni and her stuffed tomatoes, and a meal at their establishments was like a pilgrimage for regular visitors and an initiation into simple, traditional Greek fare for tourists. And all were left with a powerful memory like Proust describing a madeleine.
Things changed over the years – not necessarily for the worst, but also not for the better. A grandson would pick up the torch and soon you’d be listening to Johnny Cash and sipping on bottled wine from some artisanal producer he discovered over the previous winter. Or an Athenian who thought you could recreate Mykonos anywhere bought up a few such tavernas and tried to turn them into something else, stripping them of their culinary culture and their soul. Some businesses survived and have become enormously successful in continuing to do exactly what they do so well. Their resilience is admirable precisely because they were not tempted to become something else. In this day and age – worldwide – authenticity is the most powerful attribute that makes destinations like the Greek islands so unique.
And then you have the “modernists” with their rocket and parmesan or their risotto with squid ink and orange “dust.” All I have to say to these people is: “Let it go! Leave things as they were.” No matter how enchanting a taverna may look, it loses more than half its magic when it starts serving dishes that are completely off the mark or trendy.
Greece is at a crossroads, as thousands upon thousands of visitors discover our “secret” places all over the islands. Traditions, resilience and infrastructure will be put to the test, not to mention the particular identity of each place. For us visitors, the initiation always came through the paniyiri fetes, which is the ultimate test of authenticity and respect for local customs, and the local tavernas that stuck to their guns. Something tells me that because we are an adaptive and creative lot, we will find a way to safeguards this “added value” – and rocket with parmesan will be consigned to the footnotes as an ersatz flop.
