Hi Everyone
The Lifestyle Food web-site is featuring some of my recipes on their web-site.
You can learn how to make Tirokafteri (spicy feta dip) – my favourite dip and other yummy recipe.
Vist the web-site at:
http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/chefs/mariabenardis/
If you love the recipes then share them on face book and twitter on the Lifestyle Food web-site.
Maria dressing loukoumades
Hi Everyone on 20 April 2011 I was invited to cook on the channel 10 show “the Circle”.
I made Loukoumades which is an Ancient Greek doughnut.
You can view the show and the recipe at:
http://www.youtube.com/greekaliciouscooking
Enjoy!!
I have being invited by SBS radio to do a regular feature on the SBS Radio Greek programme.
The SBS Radio “Kitchen Conversations” features English versions of SBS Radio’s regular food segments and will include my Greek speaking segment .
Listen and discover the unique stories and history behind multicultural dishes along with tips and techniques to help you better prepare delicious cross-cultural meals at home.
This week’s SBS food newsletter featured me and you can learn more at:
Recent interview:
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/4656/Featured_Foodie_Maria_Benardis?cid=23221
Radio programme and podcasts in English:
http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/food/kitchen-conversations/
Radio programme and podcasts in Greek:
Terra Madre Day 2010
This year, a key focus of Terra Madre Day is 1000 Gardens in Africa, Slow Food’s new project to develop community and school food gardens across this continent and many events are support this initiative by raising funds, adopting a project or establishing a twinning between their own community or school garden and one of the gardens in Africa.
Terra Madre is celebrated right around the world and I encourage you to join in.
You can learn more about Terra Madre day at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFgBkrrxChU&feature=player_embedded
There are many ways we can celebrate Terra Madre day and make a difference to the environment and ourselves:
1. create a garden in your backyard, balcony or local school
2. say not to GMO food products and do not purchase them
3. make a conscious decision to purchase food products that are organically and ethically grown
4. ask your local restaurant what practices they have adopted to respect the environment and your health for example do they use good oils such as olive oil for their dishes
5. start reading the labels on your groceries and choose products that care about the environment, people and communities for example choose fair trade products
6. Do you really know what is going into your food? Watch this video “Food matters” and find out the truth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4DOQ6Xhqss
Write to your local Member of Parliament and other related parties and tell them to change the poor labeling laws that we have in Australia. Why does our Government not identify the chemicals ingredients and products contain that we eat on a daily basis that could compromise our health?
Happy Terra Madre day and in the words of Greek Father of Medicine “Let food be your medicine and medicine your food”.
On the way to Terra Madre 2010 I stopped over in Jordan in the middle east. I was overjoyed to see so may religions living in one country in harmony and with the greatest respect for each other. The food was amazing and I was thrilled to see many Greek archeological sites and Byzantine churches. There were many places in Jordan I did not get time to visit and will do so on my next trip to Greece.
I then popped over to Greece to visit the family, to relive childhood memories and to eat lots of Greek food.
My trip began in Athens where the Parthenon stands tall on top of the Acropolis. I am still overcome with emotion whenever I look up at this marvel. My mornings always begin with a walk to the Athens central markets on Athinas street. This is where you will find everything you need to cook your masterpieces.
I love the energy of these markets. I love the buzzing noises of people shuffling by and the vendors calling out their stories with passion of why you should buy from their store. There is always a story to be shared here of how to best cook with a certain ingredient. I find great inspiration here to write new and old recipes. This is a must experience for any traveler to Greece. I dearly miss my morning walks to the markets followed by my morning Greek coffee in Plaka overlooking the Parthenon. There were many small restaurants to visit in the back street of central Athens and off course the lively and happening area of Gazi.
My next stop in Greece was Chios. Chios grows my favourite and most treasured ingredient; masticha. I always stay on the water by the port. I do not want to miss seeing the boats and fisherman coming in with their catch, the sun rising over the ocean from my balcony and the early morning church bells. I spent my days eating my favourite local ingredients – food cooked with masticha, mandarin juice, mastello cheese, masticha ouzo, the local yoghurt with thick creamy crust on top that you would not find in Australia, the local breads baked with local wood, kakavia made with the daily fisherman’s catch and the list goes on.
Chios island sunrise
I then popped over to Psara; the island where I spent many of childhood years. It was peaceful as always. The beaches deserted with not a person in sight. I could see the occasional wild rabbit or goat that came to inquire who I was and to say hello. There was an abundance of sea urchin waiting to be picked by locals. A wonderful environment to write new stories and tell Ancient ones – perhaps the sea might whisper some in my ear.
On my first day in Psara my uncle went fishing and cooked me Kakavia and BBQ’d some of the fish he caught. It just cannot get any better or fresher than this. My auntie Despina unfortunately cannot see so my uncle does all the cooking. I love helping him cook whenever I am there. A discussion of what to cook the next day is always on our agenda just before siesta time at lunch. I had many long walks around the island connecting with nature and the universe. There are many varieties of wild greens, mushrooms, snails, wild herbs etc to pick along the way and to cook with. I miss my adventurous ingredient hunting walks. Late afternoons were spent down at the port watching fishermen catch octopus with a fishing line. I would always ask them how they were going to cook the octopus and we would exchange recipes.
My last stop was Kalamata, my mother’s hometown. The first thing I always do is stock up my fridge with sfela cheese, the local loukaniko and the local meat pasto. Off course this is accompanied with the lalagia. This is a must. Every morning is spent at Athanasiou the best pastry shop in Greece. A Greek must always begin their day with a shot of Greek coffee and if you are me some ekmek kataifi or a local wild green pie or spanakopita. Most of my day was spent walking the local markets, speaking to the locals about what they were cooking that day and off course day dreaming and writing by the beach. A daily visit to the Ypapanti and Agii Apostoli to say a prayer and light a candle was also on the itinerary. I was also fortunate to have a room by the beach and to be accompanied each night by the soothing wave sounds and nature. I have some pictures below from my travels and hope they transport you back to Greece as they do with me whenever I look at them.
poem of Psara from Mayors office
Psara
Whilst in Terra Madre I met a remarkable woman from India , Kudarti Mitra Pravasan Kendra.
I attended the Indian regional meeting and she gave a presentation on the organisation she works with called SEWA. The organisation is a network that assists women to find employment and to become self-reliant. They have helped approximately 1.5 million women thus far.
I found her story, great work and achievements inspiring and enlightening. She is a true testament to what one can achieve by simply having a go and in the process changing many peoples lives.
You can view more information at:
I was privileged to be invited to attend Terra Madre 2010 (www.terramadre.org) . The event was held October 21-25, 2010.
More than 5,000 people attended from countries covering the world. The gathering brought together food communities, cooks, academics, youths, farmers and other foodies who have a common interest of promoting local sustainable food production in harmony with the environment while respecting knowledge handed down over the generations.
We all strongly all believed that “organic” and “biodynamic” type food production should be the norm not the exception and conventional food production methods using pesticides etc should be minimal or even better eliminated.
I was excited to meet other people who shared my vision and passion for good organic quality ingredients and the need to have ethical labeling right around the world. I met slow food members from Pakistan, USA, Canada, India, Italy, Iceland and many other countries. Although we all came from different countries and spoke different languages we all shared the same voice in relation to food and the environment – the urgent need to reconnect to nature and earth and to respect mother nature.
I attended many workshops and a tasting session at Salone del Gusto and some of the key themes that emerged were:
- the urgent need for us all to start showing respect for our environment by making ethical choices when doing food shopping. For example purchase products that are kind and respectful to us and the environment. We do not place pesticides sprays on our body as moisturizes so why are we choosing to eat products that have pesticides and chemicals on them thinking they will nourish our body?
-it is important to take care of our indigenous cultures and languages so that they do not become extinct
- a shift is required for us to return back to our Ancient ways and wisdoms which respected nature and human mankind. As technological advances keep developing we seem to be shifting towards the direction whereby we are losing ourselves and our spirituality.
- when it comes to cooking it should be about eco not ego. We need more eco chefs not ego chefs. My philosophy at Greekalicious has always being to cook with love and from the heart.
- there is a need to strike a balance and harmony between earth/nature, science, technology, traditions, and knowledge.
- all good policies in relation to food should be ethical.
- food is not a commodity it is culture. It is therefore important to respect local traditions and culture.
At the end of the day clean food and good health comes from a clean environment and its up to us to make a difference by making ethical buying decisions. Unfortunately our politicians do not appear to care about our health and the environment so it is up to us to take action and start making a difference.
Why don’t we all start asking our supermarkets and the restaurants we eat at where their ingredients came from and how they were grown?
