March 17, 2004

The local Greek minister, Dino Tzanetos, wanted to show me some of the Greek countryside so he graciously invited Jim, Nell, and I to lunch at a Steakhouse in a community South of Athens. To get there we drove down the beautiful coastline of the Saronic Gulf, named for a former king of Greece.

It was a great break from the frantic pace of the city. Sail boats playing in the blue-green water and rugged cliffs all along the shore made for a picturesque and pleasant drive.

The steakhouse is located in a community named Kalivia where some of Mata's (Dino's wife) family live. So, as usual, everyone knew Dino and went out of their way to make us welcome. The place started as a small taverna and has grown to include 4 buildings and is capable of seating several hundred people.

Jim and Dino ordered steaks and Nell and I ordered small filets. They brought Nell and I a half a cow each and Jim and Dino each had their own cow. I managed to eat half of mine and took home enough for two more meals. It was excellent steak. I understand they raise their own beef. I don't see any way those cows could have ever walked, they were much too tender.

In addition to large amounts of lamb and pork, Dino said that they serve about 750 pounds of beef each day. That sounded like a lot until I saw what they served us. They only need about 7 or 8 people to use that much meat.

Of course, we were there during the Greek Orthodox season of Lent when they "fast" which means they don't eat beef or poultry or their products. Since the vast majority of Greeks claim to be Greek Orthodox, they probably only serve about 745 pounds of beef a day until Lent is over.

That's Jim standing with hands in his pockets wondering how he is going to get that cow home he just finished eating.

Just down the street from the steakhouse is this beautiful little Greek Orthodox church building. This is very typical of many of the church buildings scattered all around and in Greece.

It is very common to see the faithful making the sign of the cross as they pass these buildings while riding on buses. They always do it three times. They also immerse their babies three times.

You can't transliterate "baptizo" into Greek and there is no translating to do so that rules out sprinkling. It is too bad our English translators can't/won't see that.

Across the street from the church is a little hole-in-the-wall bakery where all their breads and cookies are baked in this wood fired oven that is about 100 years old.

His products are so good that he has had requests to mass produce them for sale in the States. He refuses to do it because it would require him to modernize and that would take away the uniqueness of the flavor he is able to produce in this old-world oven.