Greek culture celebrated at Pasadena
The Pasadena Community Centre hosted two cooking classes as part of World Greek Language Day last month.
Shared Plates, Shared Stories, supported by grant funding from Anglicare, brought together three local residents to share their Spanakopita (spinach, feta and pastry) and Kourabiethes (shortbread) recipes with the community.
Local residents Zaggy Paxinos and Helen Foumakis shared their tips on cooking the perfect Kourabiethes, a biscuit often served at Christmas, along with Greek music and dancing.
“We all have our own version and today we are using my mum Katina’s recipe,” Helen said. “They are dusted with icing sugar to represent snow.”
Helen said she enjoyed having the opportunity to share her culture with others in the community.
“I loved it and really enjoyed cooking,” she said. “I think people were genuinely interested; everyone was asking lots of questions.”
Sophie Papageorgiou shared her yiaya’s (grandmother’s) spanakopita recipe, a savoury dish created with layers of spinach, feta, ricotta and pastry.
“I married into a Greek family and I was lucky enough to learn some recipes from Yiayia before she passed away,” she said. “It was fun doing the class and hearing everyone’s stories about when they went to Greece and the food they enjoyed.”
The recipes will be added to Pasadena Community Centre’s Shared Plates, Shared Stories Community Cookbook, a recipe book dedicated to building understanding of the many cultures and traditions in the community.
Do you have a recipe to share? Pasadena Community Centre is seeking recipes that hold cultural, family or personal meaning. If you are a resident of Pasadena, St Marys or a surrounding suburb, please visit the Centre, or download the project template at www.mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au/pasadena