November 17, 2016 - The Bite of Shame

We had such a fantastic tour in Athens with Culinary Backstreets. We took a taxi to the meeting point at Monastirakis Square. The driver didn't want to use the meter because of the high taxes, around 24%. I will get to the food tour, but I do want to share my general observations of Athens. It is a big city of 5 or 6 million. There are very few tall buildings, so it is more sprawling than most large cities, but the overall look is very pleasing.

The Acropolis is on a high hill that truly dominates the landscape.

I can imagine what a powerful impression it would have made in ancient times.

 

But you can also see signs of Greece's tough economic times. There are abandoned buildings here and there. There are beggars and homeless people and people aggressively selling things on street corners. The streets and sidewalks were quite dirty. There is not only trash, but a black grimy veneer on a lot of the surfaces. 

 

There is a considerable amount of graffiti. It is on everything but churches and antiquities. It is on private residences, businesses, the awnings of kiosks, just about everywhere.

 

There is not quite the hustle and bustle you would expect in such a big city. I didn't see a lot of smartly dressed young professionals on their way to work. Maybe we weren't in the right part of the city.

 

Our tour was the Plaka tour. We had hoped to do the Culinary Secrets of Downtown Athens tour, but there was a demonstration scheduled in that area, so that tour wasn't available today.

 

When our guide, Constantine, arrived, we learned that we were the only guests on the tour today. While the interaction with others is always nice, having what amounts to a private tour is also nice.  

Our first stop was a little yellow kiosk with donuts and breads. I probably would not have bought something from one of these places on my own. We got some koulouris (guessing at the spelling). They are round breads covered with toasted sesame seeds, and they are awfully good.    

A sunny morning in Athens

Next, we went to a coffee shop. (We had already noticed that Greece does not seem to have much of a cafe culture. Many of the coffee shops had no seating whatsoever.) We learned the difference between Greek coffee and Turkish coffee (roasting temperature). It was very interesting to see how they make the coffee. It is even more of a production than coffee made in the Italian or French style. They grind it into a fine powder and put the powder and hot water into little copper pots. They put the copper pots in hot sand and swirl them around until the water is hot. You then pour it yourself into a small cup and drink it with or without sugar, but never with milk or cream. It is unfiltered, so you really can't drink the mud that settles to the bottom 1/2 inch or so. It is strong, but not bitter. Ken loved it. I could probably get used to it.          

A tray of hot sand heats up the coffee

We also tried a small eggplant that had been cooked forever in a sugary syrup. It was quite good. And we tried something that was specifically not "Turkish delight." It had a Greek name that I didn't get. There were three flavors. One was orange and it was delicious. The second one was _______, and it tasted exactly like soap. The third one was rose flavored.

Fortified by coffee, we wandered through the meat market and fish market.

For our third stop, we visited a 5-stool hole-in-the-wall inside of the fish market to enjoy some "mezze" and a strong drink similar to ouzo.

Lamb patties, sausage, fried cheese, awesome tomatoes

You are probably wondering about the Bite of Shame. Constantine told us that when there is one last piece left on a tray or plate is called "the bite of shame." People will say something like "Who is going to eat the bite of shame?" I have to admit I have eaten my share. Stop number four was a bakery that was so small we had to wait outside while Constantine went in to buy a few things. We had orange marmalade cake, spanakopita, sesame e-Edition candy, and "grape molasses" gelatin. The gelatin was interesting; it had a strong taste that did remind me of molasses. A little goes a long way.

Scrumptious spanakopita with fresh dill

Open (your mouth for) sesame 

After the bakery we visited a Greek Orthodox cathedral, St. Catherine's. It was beautiful inside, but not OTT like a lot of cathedrals we have seen elsewhere. The style was Byzantine, rather than Gothic, which may have been one reason it didn't seem quite as ostentatious. We saw St. Catherine's actual spine inside a beautiful reliquary.

The eye represents God. Where have you seen this before?

There are candles inside the circles. Notice the peacocks.    

This tiny church next to St. Catherine's is 1,000 years old.

Malotira was a small "deli" featuring local artisanal, sustainable foods. We tasted several, in clouding an award winning spread called Greek Salad in a Jar. We also tried an alcoholic drink made out of pine resin. It wasn't bad. 

Greek Salad in a Jar on toast

 I'm no longer sure of the sequence, but we also stopped at a tiny shop called Ellinikon to sample the souvlaki. It was outstanding, if messy to eat. What is the deal with the tiny little napkins they give you everywhere in the Mediterranean? After Malotira we walked around the Plaka neighborhood for a bit.

This is a very old, very touristy part of Athens. Soon we came to Anafiotika. This is a neighborhood built into the slope of the Acropolis - illegally - 100 years ago. None of the houses can are titled because of its illegal status. It looks like a village on one of the Greek Islands. It is peaceful and quiet and it has million-dollar views. 

Next up was a very charming restaurant where Jamie Oliver loved the meatballs. We tried their fabulous beef meatballs with "The Red Sauce" and also some dolmades. Excellent!

Grape leaves stuffed with rice

Often your check comes like this

We passed so many interesting historical sites on the way to our final stop.

The Library of Hadrian

Finally, we had a sweet made of semolina and cream and flaky pastry. Then we said our goodbyes and Constantine helped us navigate the subway system back to Piraeus.

Dessert

I can't say enough about how great this tour was! It was so much fun!