Showing posts with label greek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label greek. Show all posts
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
THE PA MELTING POT: KIOSKS NOW AND THEN PART 2 – WORLD WIDE KIOSKS/STREET VENDORS
KIOSKS NOW AND THEN PART 2 – WORLD
WIDE KIOSKS/STREET VENDORS
Western Pa’s ethnicity just cries out
for available ethnic street foods:
German, Polish, Hispanic, Greek, Italian, etc. Although traditionally western Pennsylvania’s
usual signature street food is the hot do , offerings by the Downtown and North
Side street VENDORS (aka kiosks) range from a creative German food cart which
offers Bulletten (meatballs served with an egg on top on a bun with grainy
mustard and a pickle) and Das Lamb (kebabs served on flat bread with cabbage,
roasted vegetables and a spicy mayo sauce) to a taco truck aka kiosk which
serves Mexican and other tacos: one
could be local ground beef w/ cheddar jack and fresh salsa or another could be
grilled chicken w/ cheddar jack, fresh salsa or spicy jerk chicken w/avocado-lime
cream or Thai peanut chicken w/sweet chili slaw. More food vendors serve from Greek
brisket gyros to Polish pierogies to Asian spicy
dumplings to Japanese seaweed salad and to Italian
Neapolitan style pizzas.
In larger cities in the world you
might find from spicy Middle Eastern falafel to Jamaican jerk chicken to Belgian
waffles. In Hawaii the local
street food tradition of "Plate Lunch" (rice, macaroni salad and a portion of meat) was inspired by
the Japanese plantation workers’ Bento Box. In Denmark there
are sausage and hot dog wagons.
Differences in culture, social status
and history have resulted in different patterns on how family street vendor
enterprises are traditionally created and run in different areas. For
example, few women are street vendors in Bangladesh, but women
predominate in the trade in Nigeria and Thailand. The Filipino
cultural attitudes towards meals is one "cultural factor operating in the
street food phenomenon" in the Philippines because eating
"food out in the open, in the market or street or field" is "not
at odds with the meal indoors or at home" where "there is no special
room for dining".
Walking on the street while eating is
considered rude in some cultures such as in Japan or Swahili cultures, although it is
acceptable for children. In India, there is a "marked distinction
between food that could be eaten outside, especially by women," and the
food prepared and eaten at home.
In Tanzania's Dar es Salaam
region, street food vendors produce economic benefits beyond their families by
purchasing local fresh foods which has led to a proliferation of urban gardens
and small scale farms.
In the United States street food vendors are
credited with supporting the rapid growth of cities by supplying meals for the
city's merchants and workers. Proprietors of street food in the United
States have had a goal of upward mobility, moving from selling on the street to
their own shops.
However, in Mexico, an increase in street vendors
has been seen as a sign of deteriorating economic conditions in which food
vending is the only employment opportunity that unskilled labor who have
migrated from rural areas to urban areas are able to find.
As of 2011, street
stalls/kiosks remain the primary outlet for consumer foodservice demand for a
large portion of the world’s population. Serving fast, affordable and often
local fare, street vendors are a key part of the foodservice landscape in many
of the world’s fastest growing markets. It is reported that there
is a special focus on opportunities for global food chains to leverage the
flexibility offered by kiosk formats which will continue to add to the street
vendor phenomenon.
Monday, August 4, 2014
THE PA MELTING POT: 6- 1B Greek Influences on western PA Cuisines - Photos, recipe links and videos!!
A look at the evolution of food in
southwestern Pennsylvania – MACEDONIANS: Greek influence on the cuisines of Romania,
Hungary and Italy. 6-1B
Since southwestern
PA, northern W VA and southeastern Ohio area are so linked by Greek
ethnicities, religions and customs, I thought I would talk about the influence
of Greek cuisine on the cuisines of Italy, Romania and Hungary. The Greek civilization began in the 8th
to 6th centuries BC, flourished
from Central Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea and provided the
foundation of modern Western culture.
Thus the cuisine of all those countries has been influenced by Greek cuisine.
I have chosen Italy, Romania and Hungary because of their
large influences on the population of southwestern PA. PAST NUMBERS BECAUSE THE US STOPPED ASKING FOR SPECIFIC NATIONALITIES IN THE 2010 CENSUS:
ITALY: Western PA’s Italian population is estimated at 15.4%/13.2% in Allegheny/Fayette counties respectively. Pittsburgh has one of the largest Italian-American communities in the nation.
ROMANIA: There are estimated to be 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 Romanian-Americans in the US. Pennsylvania claims approximately 150,000-300,000. An accurate account is unavailable.
HUNGARY: There are an estimated amout of Hungarians 1,700,000 in the US and 132,000-150,000 in Pennsylvania. The triad of northern W VA, SW PA and SE Ohio contains a large Hungarian contingent.
ITALY: Western PA’s Italian population is estimated at 15.4%/13.2% in Allegheny/Fayette counties respectively. Pittsburgh has one of the largest Italian-American communities in the nation.
ROMANIA: There are estimated to be 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 Romanian-Americans in the US. Pennsylvania claims approximately 150,000-300,000. An accurate account is unavailable.
HUNGARY: There are an estimated amout of Hungarians 1,700,000 in the US and 132,000-150,000 in Pennsylvania. The triad of northern W VA, SW PA and SE Ohio contains a large Hungarian contingent.
COMMON
FOODS:
Stuffed grape/cabbage
leaves (Greek
domades, Romanian and Hungarian dolma, and Italian cavolo tipieno) are very
popular. They may be stuffed with vegetables, meats, rice, mint, cinnamon,
cumin, allspice, dill, lemon, tomato paste, dried currants, pine nuts and other
and served with egg-lemon or garlic-yogurt sauces.
Vegetable
stews/soups (Greek
ellines stifado, Romanian ghiveci de legume, Hungarian zddseg leves and Italian
ciambotta) can contain, of course, vegetables such as peas/green beans, basil,
oregano, lemon, tomatoes and other.
Cucumber-yoghurt
soup/dip/sauce
(Greek tzatziki, Romanian castrarveta supa, Hungarian citrom es tojas leves and
Italian zuppa di uovo e limone) is served in warm weather and is made with
cucumbers, yoghurt, mint, garlic, lemon, etc.
Stuffed
peppers which have
always been popular in PA (Greek gemistets piperies, Romanian ardei umplute,
Hungarian toltott paprika and Italian peproni ripieni) are stuffed with
vegetables including tomatoes, rice/orzo, beef or lamb and onion.
Meatballs (Greek keftedes, Romanian
chifleluto, Hungarian derult egbol tasirt and Italian polpette) are usually
made of beef and/or lamb with mint, garlic, onion, oregano, lemon and other
herbs/spices. (Greek meatballs are
traditionally served with tzatziki, salata and pita or pasta.)
Shish
kabobs (Greek, Romanian
and Italian shish kebobs and Hungarian dogok sisteregtek kabobs) are usually
made with lamb, beef or chicken and vegetables (onions, mushrooms, cherry
tomatoes, peppers, etc.), marinated in a sauce and cooked on a grill
(previously cooked over fires).
Crepes (Greek krep, Romanian crep/clatita,
Hungarian crep palasinta and Italian crespo) are all-purpose flour/buckwheat
flour based French pancakes with added egg, milk, butter, etc. and cooked on a
griddle. Crepes can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Savory
crepes can include ham & cheese, seafood and vegetable fillings. Sweet
crepes contain fruits, are covered with powdered sugar and can be drizzled with
chocolate, etc.
Baklava (Greek/Hungarian baklava, Romanian
baclavaua and Italian il baklava) is a
rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts and
sweetened with honey and held together with syrup or honey.
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GREEK FOOD LINKS
ROMANIAN FOOD
HUNGARIAN FOOD
ITALIAN FOOD
Monday, May 26, 2014
THE PA MELTING POT - Part 9-2 - Southern Europeans - Calabria & the Griko People in Calabria and Puglia
Below the column you will find photos, video links, food links and more!! Enjoy!!
The Melting Pot: A look at the evolution of food in
Southwestern PA. Part 9 SOUTHERN Europeans Part 2 – CALABRIA
AND THE GRIKOS PEOPLE
The Italian
populations of Allegheny and Fayette counties are 17% and 14% respectively. The
main Italian groups who immigrated to western PA were from Sicily, Calabria, Abruzzi
and Campagna. Overpopulation, political and natural disasters were the main
reasons for immigration.
Calabrian cuisine: consists of salsicce (sausages) such as insaccati, capicolli,
sopressate and njudà (dried sausage with black/hot pepper and fennel seeds). In
addition, pork, goat meat and lamb are usually cooked in a sauce or on the
grill.
Pasta includes multiple
pastas and shapes with sauces of meat and tomato.
Fish is served in
coastal towns: prawns: shrimp, mackerel, calamari, octopus, swordfish,
carpaccio and mustica (sardines).The sardines are preserved in terra cotta
containers & the sauces are served with buttered bread.
Vegetables and
home-preserved vegetables are also typical of Calabrian cuisine: peppers (black,
hot and sweet) are used to flavor sun-dried tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini
squash) and wild mushrooms and are conserved in olive oil. Stuffed eggplants
and peppers are popular.
Three favorite
cheeses are caciocavallo (stretched-curd
cheese of sheep's or cow's milk in the shape of a gourd on a rope), buturri (small provolones with butter in the center) and
smoked Ricotta.
Wines such as Vibo,
Rossano, Bivongi, Greco di Biance, Lamezia, Melissa, Pollino, Savuto and Ciro
are musts when eating the food of Calabria.
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It is
impossible to talk about Calabria without mentioning the Grikos.
The Grikos people are an ethnic Greek community of southern Italy located in Calabria and Apulia (Puglia) and are believed to be
remnants of a once ancient and medieval Greek community.
Although most Greek inhabitants of southern Italy have become Italianized over the centuries the Grikos community has been
able to preserve their original Greek identity, heritage, language and distinct
culture to a degree.
Griko cuisine
is a blend of Italian and Greek cuisines:
The Griko
people are traditionally producers of cereals, vegetables, olives and legumes. Local Griko cuisine does not differ greatly from the local
Italian population, however there regional variations. Many typical Griko dishes
are still in use among the people.
Breads include
Pitta and Lestopitta. Also, there is Sceblasti (a hand-made bread), Aggute
(Greek-Calabrian Easter bread decorated with painted hard boiled eggs, similar
to the Greek Tsoureki).
Pastas and
pasta dishes include Ciceri e ttria (tagliatelle served with chickpeas), Cranu
stompatu (a wheat dish), Ricchiteddhe (pasta) Minchiarieddhi (long macaroni), sagnencannulate (a wide tagliatelle and triddhi (irregular shaped pasta used in broth).
Other dishes include Ricchiteddhe
cu lle rape (orecchiette with turnips).
Hot Chili peppers are popular and they are usually stored dry, or preserved in in jars of oil, with the addition of slivers of garlic, mint,
and capers.
Desserts/sweets
include Mendulata te cranu (a dessert pastry filled with cream cheese,
honey, sugar and vanilla), Le Cuddhure (Griko Easter cake) and Scardateddhi (Greek-Calabrian
wedding sweets made from flour, honey and anise seeds, shaped like small
doughnuts and sprinkled with brown
sugar).
Beverages are
wines and Greek-based: Retsina (Greek
white or rosé wine flavored with pine resin), tsipouro (brandy made from
Pomace - solid remains of grapes which are skins, pulp, seeds and stems)
or ouzo (combination of pressed grapes, herbs, berries including aniseed,
licorice, mint, wintergreen, fennel and hazelnut).
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Calabrian photos.
Calabrian food photos
Puglian photos
Puglian food photos.
CALABRIAN LINKS:
VIDEO (IN
ITALIAN): How to make sagne
ncannulate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYa5wLUyec
Images for
sagne ncannulate: https://www.google.com/search?q=sagne+ncannulate&newwindow=1&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=w5J_U9HkB4SNyASRzYCIDA&ved=0CDYQ7Ak&biw=1483&bih=700
Images for Calabrian pastas: https://www.google.com/search?q=photos+of+calabrian+pastas&newwindow=1&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=_ZZ_U462NsyYqAais4GoCA&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1536&bih=741
THE PUGLIA AKA APULIA LINKS:
THE GRIKO PEOPLE LINKS:
Grikos food photos
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