Food for Thought

Paola , our wonderful Greek teacher, was telling the class on Friday night, some of the stories and folklore attached to Cyprus and the people.

The history is so colourful and interesting eg the people used to be called after the jobs of their parents eg George Butcher or Yiannis Woodman; if you had a member of your family who was a priest, you had “Papa” in front of your surname and if that religious person had worked in the Holy Land, you were “hadjipapa”…..

My favourite from Friday was “Kletiko”. I don’t eat it but this popular meat dish is called, Kletiko, meaning “food of thieves”. Apparently the soldiers used to steal meat, wrap it up in leaves and bury it in the soil so they didn’t have to set fires, sending smoke to attract the enemies. The meat cooked in the land.

There are so many stories and tales on this beautiful island. With such a mixed culture of people now, it will be very interesting to see what stories come out in the centuries ahead. I hope the angels are charting the fairy tales. I, for one, am really looking forward to reading them!