Neos Kosmos — A cookbook compiled by a group of Greek heritage women in Perth WA, has proven to be a big fat Greek hit, selling out soon after its release.
The cookbook, From Our Greek Kitchen to Yours, celebrates traditional cuisine from the island of Kastellorizo and other parts of Greece.
The cookbook is a record of the Greek Australian community’s culinary and cultural journey and began with cooking classes run by the “Castellorizian Association of WA.”
The book with an initial print run of 1,000, was launched last October at the Greek Glendi Festival, and quickly sold out. The demand for the recipe book has seen back orders and a second and a third run of another 1,000 copies were printed last month with the cookbooks waiting to hit the book stores any time now.
The editor of the book, former Perth teacher and home economics expert Helen Anastasas, said it all started with Saturday afternoon cooking classes in 2011 with Greek women who enjoyed the chance to share their traditional recipes handed down through generations.
“Greek women love to talk and so we naturally shared stories and reminiscences about the recipes, where they came from, who made them in years gone by and anecdotes from past generations,” Mrs Anastasas explained, adding that most of the participants in the classes are children or grandchildren of migrants from Kastellorizo who came to Australia from the early 1900s but there are also women whose families come from other parts of Greece.
“Our grandparents and great grandparents brought their recipes and traditions with them and they were very much part of their identity in those early years, and still are today. For example, in the lead up to Easter this year we have had a class demonstrating traditional red egg dying and how one particular family incorporates Orthodox Christian cross stencil designs using leaves from the garden.”
“This tradition is unique to this family and it’s lovely that others can all share in it,” she said.
“A cookbook of recipes and personal stories seemed a very natural thing to do,” she enthuses.
“We know there are many Greek cookbooks out there, but ours is about more than the food – it comes from the heart and links us to our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and beyond.”
“We originally thought it would be interesting to people in our community, but suddenly there’s a demand that’s much bigger than we anticipated,” Mrs Anastasas continued.
