My Greek Kitchen

                      My Greek kitchen, or kouzina as it's known here. 

Our IKEA kouzina, bought and put together in 2008.

Quite a dramatic time.  K had 2,000 euro in his back pocket and he lost it somewhere in the parking lot.  By the time he realised what had happened it was far too late although he did report it and we searched and searched.

Remember, Jan?

It was someone's lucky day. I hope they needed the money. 

We had his *cousin the carpenter with us and together with the IKEA staff  they designed our kitchen cabinets and we bought it all, on credit card.  Hey ho.

It cost us less than 2,000 euros, back then. 16 years ago, IKEA was still something new and they were cheap.  We bought other furniture and essentials as well that fateful day and had them all trucked to Poros.

At least it was him that lost it and not one of us.  There would have been an eruption of grand proportions. 

The kitchen is in a  fairly decent state except for one cupboard which had a fire inside it.   We have a traditional little gas burner on which we boil greek coffee.  I must have put it away in the cupboard while it was still very hot and it touched the side and slowly smouldered.  Thank goodness it extinguished itself and by the time I discovered it there was a bit of soot and charred wood but nothing major!

* We 'imprisoned' his cousin for a month or so. He was an excellent carpenter and joiner but was wont to lose interest, down tools and wander off leaving half finished work behind him.  So he lived in our spare room till he finished.  He got home cooked meals, I washed and ironed his clothes, he had free  internet and he and K discussed and debated and recalled their childhood long into the night over glasses of wine or raki. 

Along the top of the kitchen cupboards, clay pots, a casserole dish, a slow cooker which doesn't work very well and an old pressure cooker.  They are deemed treasures by some.  We do use the clay pots a few times a year for bread and stews. 

Essentials in this greek kitchen.  They have a permanent place on the bench

- Marmite.  Always no. 1.

- Plastic oil pourer.  I hate it.  But K loves it.  Life is short.  It's not worth niggling over an oil pourer.  I would have preferred a small glass one with a nice olive design on the side, but they both do the same job.

- Olive oil spray.  A new addition.  We always poured our oil.  A spray is a fine mist which barely covers.  However olive oil is very expensive now and a fine mist will often have to suffice.

- Then the vinegar pourer.  At least that's glass.

- And..that little gas burner which burnt our cupboard.  It's used every morning to make a traditional greek coffee

It's a galley kitchen with a high beamed ceiling, flows into the sitting room and the dining room. 

 Dining room -  Big wooden table, handmade by carpenter cousin, with 10 'charmingly' mismatched chairs

On the other side of the bench is a candle, stuck in a brass candlestick.  K is of an age when his classmates are beginning to pop off.  If he hears of a death he will light the candle in memory. 

He also has vivid dreams, which he remembers in great detail.  If any of his dead relatives happen to pop in to pay him a nighttime visit he will light a candle for them the next day too.

Big, very heavy, brass urn, 'gifted' to him by a 'friend'.  On top of the cupboards.  It was once polished and shiny bright.

We have no idea what it was used for but another friend insists it's a baptism font.  It's big, but not that big, not for greek baptisms where the baby is dunked right under, yelling and splashing, and can be anywhere from 6 months to a few years old.

That's our well used kitchen where the grandkids make traditional biscuits, bread and brownies, where dear daughters Elli and Danae have spent backbreaking hours scrubbing dirty oven trays, where I make stuffed tomatoes and boil pigs' heads, but not where K fries fish or cleans offal or boils trotters, stews his greens or prepares  traditional but smelly greek dishes.

Thank goodness there is an outside kitchen for all his cooking with a gas stove, electric oven with a handmade door (one of his treasures), wood fired pizza-style oven, big bbq and a marble sink.

 Photos for Dave from the Northsider blog. http://northsiderdave.blogspot.com