Agios Nikolaos: St. Nikolaos. In the Greek Orthodox Church, his Feast Day is December 6. Children leave out their shoes so he can fill them with coins and little tokens.
Agios Vasilis: St. Basil. In the Greek Orthodox Church, his Feast Day is January 1. He delivers gifts to children on New Year’s Eve.
Avgolemono: A soup. Literally means egg lemon, two of the ingredients.
Assyrtiko: A white wine.
Baklava: A layered pastry dessert made of filo dough, chopped nuts, and honey.
Christopsomo: A Christmas bread.
Diples: Thin sheets of folded dough served with honey.
Dolmades: Made with cabbage or vine/grape leaves, stuffed with rice, shaped into little rolls and boiled.
Galaktoboureko: Custard in a crispy phyllo pastry shell.
Gyro: Sandwich made from beef or lamb cooked on a vertical rotisserie. It is often served with onions, tomato, lettuce, and tzatziki in a pita.
Kala Christouyena: Merry Christmas.
Kalamata olives: An olive named after the city of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese, Greece. Usually preserved in wine vinegar or olive oil.
Kalimera: Good day or good morning.
Karidopita: A walnut cake with syrup.
Kleftiko: Marinated slow cooked lamb.
Koukla; Doll. A term of endearment in the Economos family.
Koulourakia: A pastry twisted into braids or other twists. Often made at Easter or to have with coffee or tea.
Kourabiethes: Cookies coated in confectioner’s sugar. Often made at Christmas.
Krasomelo: A mulled wine.
Lahanodolmathes: Stuffed cabbage rolls in lemon sauce.
Loukoumades: Pastry balls deep fried and topped with honey and walnuts.
Melomakarona: Cookies scented with orange and cinnamon, covered with honey and crushed walnuts.
Micro Hellas: Little Greece.
Moustokouloura: A cookie made with grape must or grape molasses, olive oil, cinnamon and clove.
Opa: An exclamation used to express enthusiasm, shock or surprise, or when one makes a mistake. It can be an invitation to join dancing and is exclaimed when saganaki is lit. It often is heard at celebrations.
Ouzo: An anise-flavored liqueur.
Papou: Grandpa.
Pascha: Easter.
Pastitsio: A baked dish with ground beef, macaroni and bechamel sauce.
Pilafi: Rice pilaf.
Rizogalo: Rice pudding.
Saganaki: A little pan. Floured, flaming cheese.
Skaltsounia: Crescent-shaped pastries filled with walnut, jam and apple filling.
Spanakopita: Pie made of phyllo dough, spinach and feta cheese.
Souvlaki: Small pieces of meat – lamb, beef or chicken – grilled on a skewer.
Taramasalata: A spread made of salted and cured roe of the cod, carp, or bottarga mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, and either bread, potatoes, or almonds.
Thea: Aunt. Could be a parent’s sibling or an honorary title bestowed on close friends and relatives.
Theos: Uncle. Could be a parent’s sibling or an honorary title bestowed on close friends and relatives.
Tirokroketes: Fried cheese balls.
Tzatziki: A sauce made from yogurt, cucumbers, spices and other ingredients.
Xinomavro: A red wine.
Yiayia: Grandma.
What is St. Basil’s Day?
Christmas Surprise introduces readers briefly to St. Basil’s Day and St. Nicholas Day, holidays celebrated in the Economos family.
For St. Basil’s, we eat the traditional vasilopita, a bread with a coin baked into it. Whoever finds the coin will have good luck all year. The bread is served to the head of the household first and then in order of age down to the youngest. That makes it a little complicated when we share the bread with my aunt and uncle’s family, Theos Demetrios is the eldest of that generation and Jennifer is the youngest of ours. – Chapter 24, Christmas Surprise
So what is St. Basil’s Day? The day commemorates St. Basil the Great (Agios Vasilis), a founder of the Orthodox church. He is associated with gift-giving, especially to the young or poor. Traditionally Greeks exchanged gifts on New Year’s Day instead of Christmas. The tradition continued into the 20th century, as I remember my grandmother sharing stories of her family exchanging gifts on Jan. 1.
Basil’s reputation as a gift-giver gave rise to the tradition of eating vasilopita, a bread that is baked with a coin in it. Whoever finds the coin will have good luck all year.
“Legend has it that tax collectors once overtaxed the people to the extent that they were forced to hand over all their jewelry to the authorities,” the Greek Reporter explains of the tradition. “Basil declared that this was unjust, and forced the tax collectors to give him the jewelry so that he could return it to the people. Of course, at that point, it was impossible to determine which jewelry belonged to whom. So he came up with the novel idea to bake cakes, with the jewelry placed inside them, and to distribute the cake slices amongst the populace. Each person received a piece of the cake with jewelry baked inside it, and the riches were thereby distributed back to the people.”
The bread is served to the head of the household first – after a piece is cut for Jesus and another for the Virgin Mary ‒ and then to everyone else in order of age.
Other traditional foods include pork, lamb or beef, or all three, salad, Kalamata olives, rice and vegetables.
What is St. Nicholas Day?
“Food traditions mostly,” I say, still annoyed, “because her family owns a restaurant. They also do a simplified version of St. Nicholas Day and St. Basil’s Day.” – Chapter 14, Christmas Surprise
St. Nicholas Day is probably the better known of the two holidays. It is celebrated on Dec. 5 or 6, depending on the country.
Nicholas of Myra was an archbishop who attended the Council of Nicaea. He is known for two things: his teachings getting him labeled a heretic in the Orthodox Church and his charity work. Today, we mostly forget about the heretic label and focus on the his generosity.
He also is the patron saint of Greece.
St. Nicholas Day is celebrated in many countries. In Holland, he is known as Sinterklaas and he and his companion Black Peter deliver gifts to good children and coal and switches to bad children. In the American colonies, he became Santa Claus.
In some countries, naughty children are punished not with coal in their stockings but by a person: Krampus in many central European counties, Knecht Ruprecht in Germany, and Père Fouettard in France.
The holiday is when “children are given special cookies, candies, and gifts,” Encyclopedia Britannica explains. “In many places, children leave letters for St. Nicholas and carrots or grass for his donkey or horse. In the morning, they find small presents under their pillows or in the shoes, stockings, or plates they have set out for him. Oranges and chocolate coins are common treats that represent St. Nicholas’s legendary rescue of three impoverished girls by paying their marriage dowries with gold. Candy canes, which have the shape of a bishop’s crosier, are also given.”
This article is part of the reader's guide for The Rock Star's Wife series by Melina Druga, a contemporary fiction series about sex, family, and rock & roll. The series follows Cassandra from her teen years into her 40s as she navigates relationships (both romantic and platonic) — all with music playing a prominent role.