Melbourne's Greeks
Last night we had a quick meal at Melissa to celebrate a medical all clear. Actually we were mildly disappointed for once but it was nice to get out on a wet night and it was yet another opportunity to realise how multicultural Melbourne is. There are pockets here and there of particular ethnic groups, but on the whole we do mix and mingle pretty well. Melissa's is one of the pockets.
For it was full of Greek looking people and the band was just getting going on playing Greek music as we left, complete with the bouzouki. They are beautiful people, and always seem cheerful, although I have to say that I assumed that they were all Greek because Melissa is a Greek restaurant, although they could equally well have been from any other Mediterranean country.
I believe there were seven Greeks amongst all those convicts long ago, and quite a few came over in Gold Rush times, but the real influx was after the second world war and also the Greek Civil War, with a more minor influx recently after Greece's economic woes. And they predominantly came to Melbourne, so much so that Melbourne is the largest Greek-speaking town in the world outside Greece.
For the Greeks hang on to their culture and their origins. I have worked with several Greek Australians, all of whom were born here, and yet they always described themselves as Greek Australians, not Australians. They opened milk bars - in the process introducing the Australians to American foods like milk shakes and doughnuts. They were also very active in the greengrocer trade - and, of course, restaurants. Whilst they originally settled in inner Melbourne, they are now more spread out but still largely in little pockets - principally in Doncaster near here, Oakleigh, Preston and Coburg, integrated fully into Australian life, and yet still distinctively Greek. I think I am right about which are the Greek areas. Definitely Oakleigh which I gather is like a Greek town with the old men sitting outside cafés full of luscious Greek cakes. And I can vouch for Doncaster having several Greek restaurants and bakeries. When we first came to Australia back in 1969, Victoria Street, in Richmond, which is now predominantly Vietnamese was almost exclusively Greek. But with prosperity they moved out.
They came at the same time as the Italians and it is interesting to see the similarities and the differences. Both communities have stuck together and worked hard, and have contributed enormously to the culture and wealth of Melbourne. There is a Greek quarter in Lonsdale Street in the city centre, but it is not nearly as large as the Italian Lygon Street precinct. And I haven't noticed any regional Greek clubs like the Italians have. There are several large and fairly ostentatious Greek Orthodox churches though and they also tend to build large and ostentatious houses. No doubt this is a sweeping generalisation, but with a grain of truth at heart. And every year there is a large and lively Greek festival centred around Lonsdale Street in the city.
We love them and we love their food. It's simple but tasty. And people like George Calombaris have lifted it into haute cuisine. So what have they given us that we now regard as everyday kind of food. It's a long list.
It includes the thousands of things you can make with filo pastry from baklava to spanakopita, and filo pastry itself. Then there are dips - I'm pretty sure it would have been the Greeks who first introduced them with their classic trio of tzatziki, taramasalata and baba ganoush - though that, of course, is really more Turkish and Lebanese. After that the meaty things - slow-cooked roast lamb, souvlaki, gyros, and wraps. Pitta bread - also a middle-eastern thing, but I suspect it first came from the Greeks. All of these things are such standard Australian fare these days - witness the huge array of dips that you can buy in your local supermarket.
I don't cook Greek food a lot at home, but I do have some favourite recipes. There is a fish stew - Palamitha plaki, baklava, tzatziki, slow-cooked lemon lamb. And tomorrow I think I am going to go Greek in honour of their cuisine. My niece is coming to dinner so I might try Greek - or rather fusion Greek.
PALAMITHA PLAKI
2-3lb white fish
1/4 cup olive oil
2 finely chopped onions
2-3 sliced potatoes
2-3 chopped stalks of celery
2-3 sliced carrots
3 large sliced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
Handful finely chopped parsley
2 pints water
salt and black pepper
Heat the olive oil in a shallow pan and fry the onions until they are brown. Boil the water and slowly add this to the onions and simmer until these are soft. Pound the garlic and add this with the prepared vegetables to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes. Clean the fish and cut it into pieces, any size you like. Arrange these on top of the vegetables. Continue to cook for about 15 minutes or until the fish is tender. Arrange the fish in the centre of a platter and surround it with the vegetables.
