I OWE A DEBT OF GRATITUDE, MUCH MORE THAN I’LL EVER BE ABLE TO REPAY BY AN INVITATION to my Greek table, to many people for many things over the years, although Lord knows I’ve cooked for them time and again and have been grateful for every shared meal with friends and colleagues.
My Greek Table, this book, evolved out of My Greek Table, the public television series that debuted in 2017 across the United States. It was a labor of love to produce and host, and a lifelong dream come to fruition. The project began on a wintry day about three years ago, when Matt Cohen, friend and coproducer, and I met at Molyvos, New York Greek restaurant, and agreed to work together to create a show that would pay homage to my adopted country and ancestral land, Greece. Without the trust, faith, and commitment by the whole team at Maryland Public Television, our presenting station, none of this would have been possible. I specifically want to thank Larry Unger, Steven Schupak, Jay Parik, and Stuart Kazanow for supporting the show from its inception. Special thanks to production manager Gwenn Williams for always calling the shots like they are. Thank you to Juliette Dannibale for directing a great show and making it all fun, and to director of photography Chris Bierlien, aka Man of Iron, who was gracious enough to let us use some of the many seductive images of Greece he shot while we were on location. Thanks, too, of course, to Richard Dallett, for his expert eyes as DP during the second half of our filming. To our entire crew, including Andreas Economakis, Gabriel Loukeris, Carolina Doriti, Daphne Garcia, Vasili Parasamlis, Christina Panagopoulou, Vasilis Athanassas, and everyone else who shared our long days with such good spirits and excitement, it was a pleasure for which I will always be grateful. Special thanks to Ryan Kollmorgen, as well as to John Pappalardo, Dave Elphick, and Cameron Shipmen, for the countless hours they spent in the editing room stitching together all our amazing footage from Greece.
Many of the recipes in this book were collected on my travels for the show and over the years, but some were created either in my home kitchen or at the stoves of Committee, the meze restaurant in Boston I’ve been a part of since it first opened in 2014. To managing partner Demetris Tsolakis, chef de cuisine and fellow bull Theo Tsillipanos, and executive chef Jerry Pablo, thanks for always welcoming my ideas and helping to bring them to a delicious end. I owe a debt of gratitude to the myriad cooks and food artisans who shared their kitchens and recipes with me for both the TV series and the book.
Many other people and institutions made the TV series, hence this book, possible: Elena Kountoura, Greek minister of tourism; Lou, Joy, and Amber Moshakos; Pam Overton Skea; Stelios Vasilakis; Nancy McKinstry; Ron Rexroth; Greta Kamaterou; Maria Kalitsi; the inimitable Art Dimopoulos, executive director of the National Hellenic Society; and His Honorable Geoffrey R. Pyatt, United States Ambassador to Greece, and his wife, Mrs. Mary Pyatt, for graciously opening their residence to me when the series was first aired; and His Honorable Robert Peck, former ambassador of Canada to Greece and a quiet but steady support from the beginning. To George and Judy Marcus, Stelios Boutaris, Yianis Voyatzis, Maria Triantafyllou, Klairi Efkarpidou, Kostas Arkoumanis, Stathis Topouzoglou, Steve Raftopoulos, Ted Diamantis, Drake Behrakis, and Father Alex Karloutsos I owe many thanks for your embrace of the series and more. The series would not have been possible without the generous support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Wines of Greece, Flying Olive Farms and Vrisi 36, the Greek National Tourism Organization, Arthur Schuman Cheeses and Dodoni Feta, The Fillo Factory, Grecian Delight Foods, the National Hellenic Society, the George and Judy Marcus Foundation, the Chabraja Foundation, Klio Teas, Grecian Delight and Peter Parthenis, Jr., Esti Fords and Konstantine Ifantis, Diamond Importers, Chefs Warehouse, Selonda Fisheries, the Santo Cooperative in Santorini, George Skouras, Yiannis Tselepos, Titan Foods, Aegean Airlines, and Hertz Hellas.
Without Carolina Doriti, friend, chef, and food stylist par excellence, and Daphne Garcia, the food cooked for each photo would have paled. Special thanks to Vasilis Stenos for bringing so much grace to his beautiful food photography.
Without the watchful eye of editor Michael Flamini My Greek Table would not have ever been possible. I am grateful for how hard my agent, Janis Donnaud, made me work and for going to bat with such resolve when needed, and thankful for copyeditor Ivy McFadden, with her hawk eyes combing through the manuscript with such care and knowledge. It was also by a propitious turn of fate that I met Karen Stiegler, who brought her meticulous eye and chef’s training to bear when testing these recipes.
And, of course, last but never least, a deep thanks to my family, especially my kids, Kyveli and Yiorgo, and my sisters, Koko and Athena, and my entire family, who accept me warts and all and have been the best company anyone could ever ask for around the table and throughout life.
