My Personal Greek Cuisine Teacher

My Personal Greek Cuisine Teacher showed me how to make Tasty Authentic Greek Recipes

This past summer I travelled to Greece where I spent almost two months, more than half of which in Xanthi.  I chose Xanthi because a law school friend of mine lives there with his lovely wife, Thomais Pasvanti, and their two children.

My friend, Diamantis Totief, has bragged several times that his wife is the best cook.  He’s mentioned that she makes the absolutely most delicious Greek Stuffed Peppers and Tomatoes, Authentic Greek Pasticcio and meatballs.  He then invited me to come learn how to make these dishes and more from Thomais.  Little did he ever suspect I would jump on this invitation and show up at their doorstep for a stay of more than one month!

Thomais graciously welcomed me into their home and patiently showed me how to make some of her favorite dishes. As Thomais is a natural cook who adds ingredients without weighing them but merely according to her own instincts, she must have been driven crazy by my constant questions of “how many grams of that did you put in the bowl?” Or “how long do you keep the pot on the stove?” She was used to doing these simple steps without any pre-meditation.

She smiled as I asked to stop a minute so I could take photos of each step even though my desire to record each act for eternity must have interfered with her natural rhythm of creating culinary art.  We did have fun together drinking wine and beer as we cooked. These informal lessons were a fun way to get to know Thomais as a new friend in her own right.

So far, I’ve posted three of Thomais’ recipes:  Greek Stuffed Peppers and Tomatoes, Authentic Greek Pasticcio and Papoutsakia – Greek Stuffed Eggplants.  I have a few more recipes saved up to share with you in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, I wanted to share with you a photo of Thomais and to thank her for sharing her recipes with me, and thus with all of you!

See more recipes and travels tales from my Journey to Greece by clicking here.

I’m extremely grateful to my Greek Cuisine Teacher, Thomais!  Grazie mille, Thomais!