"Pickled" Lemons

Lemons & Oranges at the local "Laiki"

Moroccan Preserved Lemons

The dog days of summer are still upon us in Athens, although the city – still somewhat deserted after the August 15 holiday – is now cooling ever so slightly after an interminable period of over-35-degree-Celsius days. In a couple of weeks, a new batch of American undergraduates will arrive at the semester abroad programme where I earn my daily bread, but now things are quite slow. What better time to talk about food?


Every week, only a few blocks away from our apartment, the neighborhood laiki agora (‘people’s market’) is held. Every region of the city has one, the Greek version of a farmer’s market, where vast amounts of fruit and vegetables are available according to the season. Quality varies but is mostly high; in fact, these markets with their marvellous produce were a factor in my wife and my abandoning the fog-bound rock of Newfoundland, where zucchini is sold in pairs under plastic and “vegetable” means potato or cabbage. Right now the stands, sometimes run by the farmers themselves, groan under mountains of eggplant, peaches, and the new harvest of grapes, with a hint of the coming Fall in the form of apples. But I’m not going to talk about these. And I’m not going to talk about Greek food, either, though the best ingredients do, of course, grow here.

Preserved Lemons (what I like to call Pickled Lemons) are a Moroccan condiment that we discovered a couple of years ago when a friend presented us with several kilos of lemons from a tree in her garden. Trawling the internet, we came upon this recipe: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2006/12/moroccan-preser-1/. They are dead simple to make, need no tremendously outré ingredients, last a very long time in the refrigerator (highly recommended), and taste absolutely delicious. The lemon peel is the quintessence of lemonicity without being too salty, since you need so little. There are lots of Moroccan recipes available, but don’t feel confined. We’ve discovered how marvellous they are with seafood. Try making a shrimp pizza with little bits of preserved lemons – you’ll never eat one without them again! Why write about them now? Because we've just opened the jar we put up in March.

Plans for Hymettos

Mount Hymettos from the Acropolis

Amid all the economic doom and gloom coming out of Greece recently, it’s nice to report a bright spot. On Monday August 9 the PASOK government presented a draft presidential decree to protect the great mass of Mount Hymettos, which lines the south eastern edge of Athens’ metropolitan area. With the horrific destruction wrought on Mount Parnes in 2007 lying to the northwest of the city and the subsequent damaging fires on Mount Pentele (to the east) and elsewhere in the Attic countryside, it’s become vital to keep at least one of Athens’ ‘lungs’ functioning. The previous New Democracy government showed its concern by proposing to drill a tunnel through the mountain and put another highway through it to connect with the interior of Attica where the new airport is located.

PASOK signalled its different vision by finally separating environment and development into two different ministries, and so it was the new minister of the environment, Tina Birbili, who announced a preliminary proposal in April that was followed by public consultations. The measures will not be a panacea, of course, but if they are implemented consistently (a perennial problem here) then the mountain’s future looks a lot rosier than anyone could have imagined just a year ago.

Most dramatic is the increase in the area (Alpha Zone) under the most rigorous protection from 76,000 stremmata (7,600 hectares) to 93,000 stremmata (9,300 hectares). No hunting or tree cutting will be permitted within this area, and all the marble quarries will be shut down – a very welcome outcome to anyone who has seen the great white scars these have caused on the mountainside. The most visible change that visitors will notice (if it actually comes to pass) is the removal of all the ugly radio & tv towers that have sprouted up, without any control, over the past years along the mountain’s ridge. At most two ‘arrays’ will be allowed on the mountain to satisfy the needs of Athens’ chaotic mass media. Outside this zone will be an area of lesser protection (Beta Zone), where some limited building will be allowed. An archaeological zone will also be created in the municipality of Koropi at the mountain’s south end.

Surprisingly, all the military camps on Hymettos except for two major ones will be dismantled (let’s hope). A few grey areas remain: the fate of ongoing road extensions, especially connected with the Attiki Odos, is unclear, and a huge 2.8 hectare development adjacent to the police school seems to be going ahead but without parking facilities (!)

At present all this, and more, is contained within a draft presidential decree, which the government intends to make law by the end of the year. Any philhellene will hope that this proposal does actually become law; but any philhellene will also know that things are never that simple in Greece. Hymettos is as much a part of Athens’ heritage as the Parthenon. On a summer’s evening the setting sun turns its western flanks a brilliant violet – ‘violet-crowned Athens’ has been the city’s description since the poet Pindar in the fifth-century BC. Let’s hope that that sight can be preserved for the next millennium.
(Details from Eleutherotypia, Tuesday August 10, 2010)

Ancient Messene

Gymnasium-Stadium complex

Tower near Arcadian Gate

Asklepieion East side

Ancient Messene is a hidden gem. Nestled in the folds of Mount Ithome in the modern nome (province) of Messenia, it was founded by the Theban general Epaminondas as the capital for the newly-liberated helots (agricultural slaves) , who had been enslaved by their eastern neighbors the Spartans over three centuries before.Virtually unknown even to archaeologists and historians as an archaeological site, it has been sensitively restored, with lots of explanatory signage. The setting is breathtaking, especially the wonderfully well preserved fourth-century-BC walls which run along the crests of the surrounding hills. There is a pretty village, Mavromati, nearby with a couple of good tavernas and a few rooms for rent. Unfortunately, the approach roads are rather confusing and the sign posting from Kalamata not very helpful. But, if you are in the area, the site is well worth a detour, as the guide books say.