Alzina Fok’s Interview With Dimitrios Pavlidis
Patricia Ann Mendoza’s Interview With Lefteri Theodorakis
Ellie Theodorakis’s Interview With Kalliopi Theodorakis
Alzina Fok’s Interview With Dimitrios Pavlidis
Connecting Through Religion
“It’s a fire hazard, everyone has candles, real life, wax, wick fire candles” is one of the ways Dimitrios Pavlidis recalls his experience of Easter service (Pavlidis 4). As an altar boy captain, Dimitrios Pavlidis takes a leadership role among young Greek Orthodox Christians and actively participates in carrying out church services. Specifically, during Easter, which is the most important holiday in Greek Orthodox Christianity, he assists in holding candles during church services and is responsible for spreading this flame to the rest of the Greek Orthodox community. He offers vivid and humorous descriptions of the holiday—he referred to the candle as “the Resurrection Candle, which is a rather colossal candle It’s like the size of a man’s arm” (Pavlidis 4). But his commitment to his religion is serious. As an altar boy captain of his church, Dimitrios brings religion and community together and connects these practices to those he pursues at home with his family. Dimitrios Pavlidis’ religious experiences illustrates how church rituals, family traditions, and dietary habits during Easter bring Greek Orthodox Christians together.
Easter (Pascha) is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. To prepare for this holy day, Greek Orthodox people fast during the Great Lent, which is a forty-day period before Easter. Fasting symbolizes a sacrifice for God and reminds believers to re-evaluate their relationship with God. Fasting allows devotees to abstain from corrupt habits and draw closer to God. The fast includes a restraint from consuming meat, fish with blood, dairy and oil. This restraint is a significant dedication because these foods are essential to a daily diet. Besides fasting, rituals such as the “Challenge of the Red Eggs” carry symbolic meaning. This practice requires participants to break red eggs against one another to symbolize Jesus Christ’s conquer of the grave and breaking of the tomb where he was buried (Tsolakidou, 2012). In addition, traditional magiritsa, which is the lamb gut soup, is prepared on the evening of Holy Saturday. Food rituals, the community practice of breaking red eggs, and the gathering of the family are traditions that cover different aspects of a devotee’s life. All of these preparations for Easter demonstrate the deep involvement of religion in a devotee’s life.
Religion is deeply involved in Dimitrios Pavlidis’ life. He is an excellent example of “lived religion,” and he practices his faith through tradition, services and fasting. During the interview, he discusses how he was an altar boy for a majority of his childhood and adolescence and how he restricts his dietary habits to exclude meat and diary for the Great Lent in preparation for Easter. His familiarity with church practices and rituals provide valuable insight on how the church rituals for Easter are carried out, as well as interactions within the Greek Orthodox community during this holiday. Raised as a Greek Orthodox Christian, he brings out the intertwining relationship between ethnicity, culture and religion in his story.
The length and complexity of Dimitrios’ immigration history is an important context for his cultural and religious life. Both of his parents are American citizens, but he is not. Dimitrios’ father immigrated to the United States with his family when he was a child. His grandfather was an immigrant, and his mother was born in the United States. Dimitrios was born in the capital city of the Republic of Georgia, Tbilisi. Shortly after his birth, his parents brought him to Greece. From there he immigrated to the United States and has lived on Staten Island ever since. He is now a junior at Macaulay Honors College majoring in physics and engineering. He identifies himself as a Eastern Orthodox Christian of the faith Greek Orthodox. As seen from his description of religious and cultural experiences, many of the Easter food traditions he practices have their roots in Greek culture and are an interesting mixture of ethnicity and religion.
One of the most important religious experiences for Dimitrios is his involvement as an altar boy at his church, The Holy Trinity on Staten Island. He became an altar boy when he attended junior high school and continued until he graduated high school. He was appointed the captain of the altar boys. His role was to be in charge of coordinating activities and tasks during service. As the altar boy captain, he has a close relationship with the priest and often cooperates with the priest for church services. Dimitrios was also a member of Greek Orthodox Youth Association, G.O.Y.A. at his church. Although he attends church less often in recent years, one of the ways he still practices his faith is through fasting for the Great Lent.
Immersing himself in the religious experience as an altar boy, Dimitrios’ gains an understanding of Easter’s importance in his religion and spirituality through engaging in church services. In the interview, Dimitrios recalls his task during Easter services:
The main draw to that is just to get the Holy Flame… there is something that altar boys and the priest will call the Resurrection Candle, which is a rather colossal candle. It’s like the size of a man’s arm…so the first flame that he lights is there, and then the altar boys would light more candles, normal candles. Then they would distribute these flames to the entire populace of the church…It’s supposed to represent the Holy spirit, as represented as fire over people’s heads, so to speak every language. (Pavlidis 4)
Here, Dimitrios’ role is to serve as a bridge that links the church and the community together. According to Dimitrios, Easter is always the most popular day for devotees to attend church service; the church is usually packed and filled to the maximum capacity. Dimitrios’ job of lighting candles and distributing the holy flame to such a large population of believers allows him to experience bonds of community through religious practice. The collective experience of distributing the flame and healing prayers of the Greek Orthodox community brings the people closer to God as well as to each other. Easter does not only have a historic significance in this church, but it also continues to unite and connect believers through its religious practices today.
Besides the heavy focus on Easter in church, Easter tradition is also the center of a Greek Orthodox family. After attending Easter service, “almost every single person I know would probably then go to their grandparents’ house and eat…” (Pavlidis 5). Having a feast together is the activity that strengthens family bonds by giving the platform and space for relatives to reconnect with each other on this holy day. Food preparations for Easter also bring the family together and reinforce their ethnic identity. “It’s less about being Christian and more about being Greek,” he explains. “Just because of the fact that lamb is an ethnic and culturally significant dish in Greek community” (Pavlidis 6). Here, there is a blend between culture and religion. Greek Orthdodox devotees prepare an iconic dish from their culture in order to honor this religiously meaningful holiday. They regard both religion and culture as the center of their lives, and their actions show that their religious and ethnic identity are interconnected and inseparable. Dimitrios recalls the procedure to prepare the lamb for the family feast. “We would have a spit, put on an entire lamb on it and cook it on a rotisserie,” he says. “It’s a time-consuming thing. You’d have to first take out all the organs of the lamb… You wrap the lamb in its intestines and you will glaze it with literally whatever you want… if you leave it on one side, overcooked, everyone’s disappointed. [You’re a] family disgrace” (Pavlidis 6). This tedious and complicated procedure to prepare lamb requires family members to collaborate towards one goal, which is to assemble a feast that everyone enjoys. This feast serves as a reminder of their cultural identity that they share as a family and draws an individual’s attention to his or her family on this spiritual day.
Although fasting for the Great Lent is an individual activity that one chooses to do, it provides a common ground for one to share his or her fasting experience with less experienced devotees and care for other Greek Orthodox Christians. Dimitrios recalls the time when he first started fasting: “I was almost all the time cranky because I really didn’t know what I could eat,” he said. “This was before I met my vegan friend, but um… I would essentially just be drinking water for the entire day and eating pretzels” (Pavlidis 7). He had no experience then, so he turned to his vegan friend and learned about foods that can supplement necessary nutrients during the fast. Instead of just drinking water, eating pretzels, and starving himself, Dimitrios now searches for other foods he can eat during the fast, such as shrimp, shellfish, clam, soy milk with cereal, and baked potatoes (Pavlidis 8). With the experience and tips he learned from his friend, Dimitrios now knows the best way for him to fast during the Great Lent.
The Great Lent brings the community closer through shared experience. Fasting is a common practice among Greek Orthodoxy. Dimitrios recalls his experience at church during Holy Week, which is the week before Easter. During the service, he says, “…in church—‘cause you can tell during Holy Week—everyone was tired and cranky and stuff” (Pavlidis 7). Despite being unwell from the fast, devotees would still attend church during Holy Week. The feeling of going through same difficulties that devotees experience at church is a powerful awareness and motivation to endure the last week of the Great Lent. Fasting is a strenuous commitment, and devotees are able to endure the difficulties when they know that many others who share the same faith are also sacrificing for the same reason.
Dimitrios Pavlidis’s narrative of his involvement in church services and his descriptions of his family traditions for Easter illuminate the compelling force of religion to connect members of the religious community. Dimitrios Pavlidis’ responsibility as an altar boy allows him to take an active part in the church. He reveres Easter, a time when his role allows him to connect people within the church through Easter rituals. He also applies religious practices at home and contributes to the family as they prepare for Easter celebration. For him, fasting for Easter is a practice that joins members of the church together as a collective experience of sacrifice for religion. The stories told by Dimitrios Pavlidis provides a detailed, subjective view of how religion joins people together through ritual and spiritual experience.
About Alzina
Alzina Fok is a freshman at Macaulay Honors College at College of Staten Island. She loves studying science and intends to major in Psychology. She loves to draw and paint.
Patricia Ann Mendoza’s Interview With Lefteri Theodorakis
Exploring Health in Greek Orthodox Fasting
Nosebleeds–this was the main theme of one of Lefteri Theodorakis’ experiences during his time as a nursing student at Kingsborough Community College. Several years ago, Lefteri Theodorakis, then a student at Kingsborough Community College, chose to commit to his religion’s fasting period of 40 days before Pascha also known as Greek Easter. Despite his friends advising him against fasting because he was starting to look “pale” and they believed he was going to get “sick,” he remained adamant about his decision to fast for the 40 days and blew them off. “It’s the principle,” he said. “I can’t quit now. I’m okay.” He didn’t quit, but his poor health soon caught up to him. With the absence of meat from his diet, he wasn’t consuming enough protein–which is why he felt exhausted and weak, like he was about to faint, and why his nose would start bleeding suddenly. As a result, he chose to eat meat to address his protein deficiency. In spite of this bad experience, Lefteri still finds the significance in religious fasting, but also emphasizes the importance of caring for one’s health. Lefteri Theodorakis advises that in addition to showing one’s devotion and deference to God through fasting, it is also important to maintain a well-balanced diet with respect to the guidelines of the fasting traditions of the Greek Orthodox religion. His experience illuminates the challenges of negotiating a long-standing commitment to religious fasting with current knowledge about the health impacts of these demanding traditions.
In order to understand this idea of maintaining a balanced diet during the fasting period, one must first understand the fasting traditions within the Greek Orthodox religion. According to Reverend George Mastrantonis of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, the 40-day fast before Pascha is a “period of time when one delves into himself with the light of the Holy Spirit in order to rid himself of the impediments which hold him back.” In other words, it is a time when one frees himself or herself of vices or selfish habits. As Lefteri said, “fasting is supposed to be a…spiritual, physical cleanse.” Through fasting, Greek Orthodox Christians are free to rediscover their spirituality and their connection and devotion to God, which they demonstrate through their 40-day sacrifice of certain foods. The food groups that Greek Orthodox Christians prohibit from consumption are meat, dairy products, fish with backbones, oil products, and wine (“Fasting and Great Lent”). According to Lefteri, abstaining from these foods is meant to emulate the suffering that Jesus Christ underwent.
However, in Lefetri’s view, gaining spirituality through fasting is important within his religion, but so is one’s health, which he believes Greek Orthodox Christians must also consider when one chooses to undergo fasting. Lefteri Theodorakis offers a unique perspective because he is a Greek Orthodox Christian and a nurse practitioner. Not only was he able to provide the perspective of a Greek Orthodox in terms of spirituality and religious fulfillment, but also provide the perspective of a health professional who is aware of the possible detrimental health effects of fasting.
Brooklyn born and raised, Lefteri Theodorakis grew up in a Greek Orthodox neighborhood and lived only two blocks away from his church. He is the son of parents who were both born in Greece, and his parents made sure that the family maintained their Greek culture and traditions, even thousands miles away from their homeland. Lefteri and his siblings regularly attended church, practiced Greek Orthodox Christianity, went to Greek school, learned the Greek language, and were highly involved in Greek holidays such as Pascha. Starting from a young age, Lefteri also learned about and took part in fasting. He mentioned that during fasting, while he would sit with all his American friends, they would have hot lunch while he had to eat peanut butter and jelly every day. “You’re eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch for 40 days,” he said. However, abstaining from certain foods from such a young age allowed him to become used to fasting. Later in life, he entered Kingsborough Community College to become a nurse, and then a graduate program at Wagner College to become a Nurse Practitioner.
During the interview with Lefteri, he emphasized the importance of maintaining a healthy diet when fasting. When asked, “Do you know if there are any health risks that come along with fasting?”, he said,…you’re ideally supposed to obtain all your, you know, recommended daily allowance of vitamins and nutrients and protein from eating…and you’re supposed to have a well-balanced diet with meat, vegetables, and dairy products…if you don’t get your protein, you’re at risk of having catabolism and muscle breakdown and wasting. So you’ll be eating the protein from your own stored muscles and you’ll build up ketones and that would be released into your bloodstream from the kidneys…too much [ketone] is not good.”
In his view, the absence of the necessary, everyday nutrients and vitamins is tantamount to serious health risks and effects. By recommending alternative food sources, Lefteri further stresses the seriousness of preserving a balanced diet when fasting. He highly suggests that people find other alternative sources of the required nutrients and vitamins so that they “can get through the fast,” as Lefteri said. This phrase, “getting through the fast,” further shows that fasting can be a difficult practice that some people may not be able to endure. To obtain the necessary amounts of calcium and protein, he recommends that people consume a lot of green leafy vegetables and spinach which “hold very high sources of calcium” and beans and legumes which contain protein. However, he explained that these alternatives are still not the same as obtaining calcium and certain fats that come from yogurt or cottage cheese and the complete chain proteins that come from meat. Therefore, some people should also take multivitamins to compensate for the lack of protein and dairy.
From his own experience, Lefteri learned that he should have eaten nutritious food that would have helped him balance going to school, working out, and fasting. Since he was, as he put it, “a broke, full time college student”, his “diet wasn’t that diverse” to begin with. This situation was exacerbated by his choice to fast because meat and dairy, main sources of protein and calcium, were eliminated from his diet as well. He relied on a low variety food selection at his school cafeteria like “low mein” or “eggs in a piece of bread.” In addition to his poor diet and his responsibilities as a nursing student, he didn’t get enough sleep and would still exercise a lot. These choices led to his paleness, weakness, exhaustion, and random nosebleeds. In retrospect, he realized that he should have made a different diet would have helped him remain healthy throughout the fasting period. Since he was already putting his body through so much stress by going to school, exercising, and not sleeping well, fasting put even more stress on his body and led to negative health consequences. In his own words, he was “demanding more and more from [his] body.” His health was in such bad condition that he had to end his fast early and eat some meat. Now that his younger sister, a full time college student who also exercises, chose to do the fast for the fourth year in a row, he advised her to ensure that she maintains a balanced diet and take supplements like multivitamins to counterbalance the lack of other sources of nutrients that can’t be properly obtained through alternative food options.
Considering the possible damage to one’s body caused by fasting, he discussed another relevant question: Should there be a specific range of ages when it is acceptable to fast? His response was that “the really young children and the elderly generally allowed not to fast.” Most of the elderly who he knows, like his grandma are “hardcore fasters” because in addition to the meat and dairy restrictions, they also restrict themselves from oil products. This led to many elders, like his grandma to feel week or sick. Despite his family telling her that its okay to “relax a little bit,” his grandma is still always very resolute about her decision to fast. This commitment that most Greek Orthodox elders have to the tradition of fasting can be attributed to the generational differences as well. Lefetri mentioned that some “old school priests” would say, “No, you have to fast. You have to get the principle, you know. Christ fasted and did it, why can’t you do it?” These elders were usually much stricter about the fasting practice than younger priests. He mentioned that younger priests are happy with disciples even if they just going to church and abstain from only meat. With this generational difference, it justifies the strict, dedicated attitude that elders and older priests exhibit. Children usually start to fast after 7th or 8th grade, he said, “when they can understand the principle of fasting.” This demonstrates that, in Lefteri’s opinion, one does not and should not passively fast. One should fast, he said, because they understand the purpose and meaning behind it–to sacrifice and show devotion to God. Still, Lefteri thinks that the health of young children should be taken into consideration and also their ability to understand their purpose for fasting and make their own choice to fast.
Today, fasting continues to be a significant part of Greek Easter tradition. Like many other Greek Orthodox Lefteri chooses to fast because “it connects [him] to Christ and it helps [him] be more involved in [his] Greek heritage and tradition.” Still, through Lefteri’s story, health is a substantial factor that some Greek Orthodox Christians consider when choosing to fast to show devotion to Christ. Showing devotion to God through fasting is, for Lefteri, a major display of appreciation. However, in his view, fasting doesn’t have to mean nosebleeds.
About Patricia
Patricia Ann Mendoza is a freshman at Macaulay Honors College at the College of Staten Island. Her intended major and minor are Biology and Spanish (respectively). Her favorite hobbies are badminton, karaoke, and eating.
Ellie Theodorakis’s Interview With Kalliopi Theodorakis
Unification Through Food: Relating Pascha to Family
Nothing matters to Kalliopi E. Theodorakis more than caring for her children and grandchildren. Whenever family visits, she always makes sure to cook for them by preparing traditional Greek dishes and fussing over the quantity that they ate. “I cook because it is my passion, and because I am very good at it,” she said. “It makes me happy seeing everyone eat.” Kalliopi Theodorakis proclaimed that the holidays are her most favorite time of year, as she is able to cook large quantities of food while seeing all of her children and their families gathered around her dining room table. Characteristically the people in her family rave about her cooking, although she said that she is sometimes reprimanded for overcooking. “You know that your mother yells at me when I send you home koulourakia and sweets!” she exclaimed. “She claims that you all eat too much of my food!” Regardless of the culinary feedback she receives, Kalliopi Theodorakis always has her full family in attendance for Pascha, the holiest day of the Greek Orthodox calendar. After singing praises for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, she holds a meal at 1:00 am in her house, where her family assembles for a late night meal, laughter, and cultural traditions, such as tsougrisma. “I love my religion, and I love my family,” she sighs contently. Using the culinary talents that she was given, Kalliopi Theodorakis brings her family together and shares her religious devotion, given the opportunity to celebrate holidays together. Food traditions in Greek Orthodox Pascha (Easter) are a means used by Kalliopi Theodorakis to unify her family.
Dietary restrictions commonly practiced during Greek Orthodox Pascha (Easter) serve as a means of expressing sacrifice prior to the Anastasi, the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Members of the Greek Orthodox faith are given the opportunity to follow a forty day fast, which is similar to the dietary sacrifices of Jesus Christ, as well as spiritually opening the hearts of the devotees to the Holy Spirit. Animals with blood including meat and fish, dairy, and olive oil are all foods which are restricted during the fast, subjecting devotees to a mentally and physically challenging restriction on their diets. Approaching the end of the fast is the Holy Week of Greek Orthodoxy, where church attendance surges as the most important holiday of the religion commences. Attendees usually attend church masses every day of the Holy Week, as well as preparing meals for the festivities that commence when the day of Easter begins. According to Gaifyllia, “The traditional Easter bread, tsoureki is baked, and eggs are dyed red [to symbolize the blood of Christ]”. Additionally, on the day of Holy Saturday, it is customary to cook traditional mayiritsa soup (composed of rice and lamb offal), which is meant to symbolize the lamb of God (Gaifyllia). Once it reaches midnight of the Saturday of the Anastasi, churchgoers gather outside the church to praise the resurrection of Jesus. Once this rejoicing finishes, the end of the fast officially occurs. Families join together to finally eat meat again with a light meal of Greek delicacies, the traditional mayiritsa soup, and the broken hardboiled eggs. Finally on the day of Pascha, a lamb (usually whole with its entrails preserved) is roasted on a spit and eaten in a festive family gathering. These food traditions are performed annually with little variation amongst Greek families, signifying their importance towards religious and ethnic culture.
The food practices of a religious institution make a very rich and interesting topic of study, as they expose the history of practices in a non threatening and deeply fascinating light. In the case of Kalliopi Theodorakis, the immense wisdom and passion that she exhibits when asked about Greek food and religion are what made her an ideal candidate to discuss Pascha’s food traditions. As someone who maintains close contact with her spiritual life, Kalliopi Theodorakis features unwavering devotion towards her religious beliefs, which makes her very knowledgeable about her religious practices. Kalliopi Theodorakis also wrote a cookbook, showing her attentiveness to detail and her willingness to preserve the timeless recipes that she recreates. Kalliopi Theodorakis cooks daily, showing her dedication to the art that she mastered and continually practices. The study of food within religion exposes the beliefs of the religious, as well as defining religious culture.
Greek Orthodox heritage, an unwavering focus on family, and regular attendance of church are the defining factors of Kalliopi Theodorakis’ life, influencing her devotion to her beliefs. Mrs. Theodorakis is an immigrant from Greece who immigrated from Kardamyla, Chios when she was 32 years old. Family is especially important to her, as she married her late husband when she was only 19 years old, bearing her first child at 20. Religion held a very important place in her early life which she maintained as she raised her family. Kalliopi Theodorakis brought her three children and husband to church every Sunday, attending more frequently around holy days. As a stay at home wife she was able to develop her talent for cooking through constant practice, rearing her family on home cooked meals and prayer. Her constant attendance to church allowed her to memorize extensive portions of the Bible and of religious hymns, which she recites with astounding accuracy and clarity despite their Ancient Greek lyrics. With this lifestyle Kalliopi Theodorakis became both an active part of her religion and of the upbringing of her family, making her very knowledgeable about what she was raised to believe.
Food practices play an important part of Kalliopi Theodorakis’ everyday life, where she develops her cooking habits around the recipes that she views. Upon inquiring about her love of cooking, she stated:
I knew that I loved to cook and bake sweets ever since I was young. It was my hobby, and I loved it a lot, and I always do so now. Every day I will cook a sweet that I see on television, and everyone will ask me to teach them recipies they want to learn. I like to learn how to make new recipes, and my kids like them as well. I like to cook them really well, you know the rabbit stew that everyone loves, and the gemista (a traditional greek dish of baked vegetables stuffed with rice and meat) with tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, squash, and all the rest. The pastitsio that I make they like, the mousaka, and the other food that I cook are sweets… You know, everything I make has a purpose, it is for you guys to eat at home and at my house. I like to see you all eating. (Theodorakis 2)
As evident through her love of cooking, Kalliopi Theodorakis provides for her family through her cooking, which is composed almost entirely from traditional Greek dishes and sweets. She does not only cook Greek dishes however, as she draws her inspirations from other sources such as the television and her friends. By watching external sources for new recipes, she is solidifying her talent, as well as gaining new variations for her work and her own recipes. This adaptability to new recipes while maintaining the tradition of old is what makes her cooking so invaluable. According to Mrs. Theodorakis, the members of her family often ask for her recipes, wanting to learn how to cook dishes that were made by Greek peoples for thousands of years. Kalliopi Theodorakis unites her family through these traditions of cooking ethnic foods, not only through the recipes are taught by her, but through the snippets of culture and history that each food dish maintains through its authenticity. By sharing her cooking talents with the Greek community, Kalliopi Theodorakis passes the Greek culture down through generations of family members.
Fasting prepares the body and mind of Greek Orthodox devotees for Pascha, which requires it to be a very strict and guided process for all of those partaking in the tradition. Kalliopi Theodorakis partakes in the fast every year, even going as far as to maintain fasting traditions outside of holiday restrictions. “I fast everything when it is time to, as you and hopefully your family are fasting now for Pascha,” she said. “I also fast every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year, and I always follow the word of God… We fast because it is very important in the case of Jesus, where he ascended onto the mountain of Alaion and prayed while not eating for forty days” (Theodorakis 3). Kalliopi Theodorakis highly believes in the teachings of the Bible, and as such she maintains the discipline it takes to fast. She also acknowledged that people in her family are fasting, and as such she passes on the religiosity of the fast through her interview to solidify why it is done. When asked about possible foods to eat during Easter, she lists, “ You can eat lentils, chickpeas, beans, legumes, leafy greens, potatoes… I gave everyone tahini so they can eat during the fast. I also cooked rice and chickpeas for you all so you can eat well.” Providing food to her family allows Kalliopi Theodorakis to spread the culture and religion of Greeks through her teachings.
The day of Pascha is the most involved with food throughout the entire Paschal holiday. The early morning of Pascha is when Kalliopi Theodorakis’ family unites for the festivities of Pascha, and one of the few times in the year where she is able to see them together. “I cook all of Saturday to prepare for this morning, making the mayiritsa, even though I know most of the young kids won’t eat it, boiling and dying the eggs for tsougrisma, and cooking pasitsio for the family,” she said. “I love seeing everyone together because I work hard to cook food for everyone” (Theodorakis 9-10). Kalliopi Theodorakis’ dedication to cooking for her family is evident in the time she takes to prepare the food, maintaining Greek tradition by cooking the gut soup and dying the eggs for her family. Cooking guts so that they lose a large portion of their bitter flavor is a difficult task for any chef, and it is evident in her abilities that she does so extremely well. The message of Pascha with the dying of the eggs is preserved with the continuation of the tradition, where family members are able to actively participate in reenacting a scene from their religion. Kalliopi Theodorakis unites her family through enticing and traditional cooking, which she work arduously to prepare for the celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
The role of food in the celebration of Pascha is undeniable when observing the different ways that food is structured into religion. In order to preserve the ideals of family and of the value of religion, Kalliopi Theodorakis cooks traditionally her family and preaches about the history behind her religious dishes. Food is used by Kalliopi Theodorakis to unify her family and to involve them in religious practices in an enjoyable and memorable way. Even through the difficult times of Pascha while undergoing the fast, Kalliopi Theodorakis is still able to integrate culture and health into the meals that she creates, which is a means to unite her family and to pass on her values to younger generations.
About Ellie
Ellie Theodorakis is a freshman in Macaulay Honors at the College of Staten Island. As a member of the Greek Orthodox faith, the exploration of her religion’s food practices served as a very interesting topic of study.
