200th YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY

March 25th is a celebratory day in all of Greece. This year it’s extra special, because we’re raising a glass of ouzo, raki, Metaxa or tsipouro (dependent on where in Greece we are!) to 200 years since the revolution of independence from the Ottoman Empire. 

While under Ottoman rule, ethnic Greeks didn’t share the same rights as their muslim neighbours. While they could worship freely, they couldn’t bear arms and in a court of law, a muslim’s word was always accepted over the word of a Christian. Greek Orthodox Christians couldn’t marry a muslim woman, neither could they openly renounce Islam. Many were also required to give up their strongest, most intelligent children to be converted to Islam and serve the empire as a soldier or civil servant.

To many Greeks celebrating 200 years since the revolution, the weight of the Ottoman Empire still hangs heavy but there’s no denying that the legacy of the empire is deeply embedded within our culture and customs.

As Louis de Bernieres so beautifully captures it in his novel Birds Without Wings, there was a time (before the treaty of Lausanne in 1922 and our great population exchange between Greece and Turkey) that ethnic Greeks (usually Orthodox Christians) and Turks lived alongside each other in peace. On the islands in the Eastern Aegean, Greeks shared in the customs of their muslim neighbours. Muslim residents lit a candle to Panagia (Mary, mother of Jesus). We were all woven into the same rich tapestry.

Nowhere can this be more evident than in our food culture here in Greece. It’s no coincidence that ‘Greek’ and ‘Turkish’ coffee are barely distinguishable. Both are made with a very finely ground coffee powder and boiled slowly in a narrow pot with a long handle, called a ‘briki’ in Greece and an ‘ibrik’ in Turkey. Alongside that we might partake in a piece of baklava, oozing with honey. Our ‘national dessert’, - consisting of ultra fine layers of phyllo (Greek for ‘leaf’) interspersed with nuts and spices and dripping rose water syrup or honey - can be traced back to the sultan’s palace in Istanbul.

Thessaloniki in the north is famous for its bougatsa and galaktoboureko, indulgent semolina cream filled pastries that were borne of Konstantinople (modern day Istanbul) and are still enjoyed today by Greeks and Turkish alike. Meanwhile the Greek island of Syros in the Cyclades is famous for its ‘loukoumi’ (in Turkish, ‘Lukum’), but the Greek loukoumi  is actually Turkish delight, introduced by Greek

Orthodox refugees from Constantinople. A pink cube made from water, sugar and starch, flavoured with rose extract, it’s served at Greek weddings, funerals or as a side to tar-thick ‘Greek’ coffee but like many of our delicacies here in Greece, its origins were in the empire.

That’s not to say that all Greek food is Turkish, but rather, of two cultures that have long been intertwined and inseparable. So while we all celebrate our independence this 25th March, I’ll also be toasting to our multiculturalism here in Greece and to the power of food to cross borders, boundaries and ideologies to unite us.

Thank you to Anastasia Miari for sharing her thoughts on this special day celebrated in Greece.

Anastasia is a food and travel journalist who has just launched @GreeceMistiko - a go-to guide, a celebration of places, people and food in a Greece you never knew existed. Have a glimpse!