Pontic Greek cuisine: the most common foods, ingredients, and dishes presented in cookbooks and folklore literature

Abstract

AbstractIntroductionThe Pontic Greeks, besides their long and distinguished history, have a special and important culture and identity, elements of which are still preserved and active by their descendants a century after their settlement in Greece. One element of their identity and culture is their basic yet diverse cuisine, which is an important and recognized local cuisine in contemporary Greece. This study aimed to identify the most common foods, ingredients, and dishes found in Greek Pontic Cuisine.MethodsSix cookbooks, two cooking magazines, four folklore books, and four folklore magazines were reviewed in this study. A considerable amount of data was collected and processed using a text analysis tool.Results and discussionThe study provides the most frequently encountered dishes, foods, and ingredients that feature in the publications. The most common dishes are soups, includingtanomenon sorva(soup with coarse grains, salty strained yogurt, and mint). Among other dishes,siron(a pre-baked filo-based pastry dish),chavitz(a thick corn dish resembling porridge), andfoustoron(an omelet with fresh cow butter) are quite common. Common staples are anchovies and greens. In cookbooks and cookery magazines, ingredients include butter, wheat, eggs, tomatoes, milk, bulgur, corn-flour, and cheese. Meanwhile, the study publications are an excellent way of passing down traditional food knowledge intergenerational, as they are largely descended from Pontic Greek progenitors.ConclusionAfter analyzing all the publications, it was declared that dairy products, grains, and vegetables were commonly used in Pontic cuisine. It was concluded that cookbooks are crucial for the preservation of the Greek Pontic culinary tradition.