My last day of being in my 50s -- and it was a fun one, and also Alex and Melissa's wedding anniversary! We relaxed at home, did some more laundry, and I caught up on some grading. We had a 1:30 appointment with Anton, a sommelier who was hosting an olive oil and honey tasting. It was near Omonia Square, an area that we frequented for Greek classes 30 years ago. We found the address, and a young American couple but the door was locked and they hadn't had a response to their messages to the host. I noticed a door advertising wine tasting, and pulled it open. Bingo! We were in a storage-unit sized space, decorated top to bottom all in black with corks and a corkscrew attached to the walls along with lots of black cat stickers and some colored gauzy scarves draped across the ceiling. There was a long narrow table set for 8 with shotglasses and pretty trays. We sat down, the host learned our names and where we were from, and launched into an explanation. He had a couple of basic points:
1. Olive oil is a fruit juice, very different from a seed oil, and so it behaves differently.
2. Olive oil is a flavor carrier, or a bridge, more than its own flavor -- you can manipulate the flavor and it enhances the flavors it carries or bridges.
3. Because olive oil is a flavor carrier/bridge, you should choose based on the level of polyphenols, not for fruitiness. Polyphenols can be detected by the slight burn in your throat after you taste olive oil.
He had a lot to say about the health benefits of polyphenols, not all of which we fully trusted, but his point was made. He asked us to use a specific method to taste and evaluate the oil that is different than wine: we started by warming it in a small glass with your hands, swirling it around. Then we took it into our mouths, let it mix with saliva to make it more liquid, and spread it to the roof of our mouths. Then we drank it down (noticing any burning at the back of the throat) and took a big breath in through the mouth. He said that good quality olive oil will have a taste that lasts a few minutes, and lesser quality will disperse quickly. Honey is tasted the same way and with the same goal: a taste that lasts. Here are two of the glasses of olive oil we tried. His point was that it is often not the most expensive olive oil, or even an old-world olive oil that is the best. California uses newer technologies to harvest getting them a fresher harvest and more polyphenols, for example. So maybe we don't need to pack our check on luggage with olive oil....
He had several flavorings prepared: oil with zaatar, with cumin and thyme, and with tomato pasted, and invited us to taste how different the same oil was with different flavorings, illustrating it as a carrier. Then he asked us to try some ordinary house wine, which was a little harsh, and again after some olive oil -- and it was remarkably different, illustrating how it is a "bridge" for flavors. He argued (as a sommelier) that many wines are not made for sipping (the American way) but for eating with food, and having food with some fat (like olive oil) will bring out the best in the wine and soften its harsh edges.
Next up was honey. Honey also has health benefits, and he invited us to taste it in a similar way, looking for long-lasting flavor. We tried a bunch of different types, like herb, a very dark honey, a blossom honey, and one really special one that tasted like caramel.
We tried honey with nuts and dried fruit, with a mixture of yogurt and cream cheese over crushed up biscuits (like graham crackers, a facsimile cheesecake) and with plain Greek yogurt.
The piece de resistance was a sauce he made: 10% butter, 30% honey, and 60% olive oil. From meat to ice cream, it is delicious, he told us, and then poured a little over some basic vanilla ice cream and it was divine.
We left, feeling pretty full, though all we had were "nibbles" and decided, since it was 5 degrees cooler than yesterday, to walk through Kolonaki.
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| The sign says "Golden Visa Apartment for Sale" which sparked a long discussion about golden visas |
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| Here is the building Phil and I would like to buy for our Golden Visa |
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| View of Lykavitos up a side street |
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| The only thing open in the area on a Sunday is the flower shop. I guess that is the day you visit |
Naturally we ended up around the American School for Classical Studies. Alex and Melissa were very tolerant of our walk down memory land and our various stories. We took a photo outside the original "Taverna Kaplani" our basement apartment when we lived here for a year.
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| Phil and the anniversary couple |
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| The Kaplans outside of Taverna Kaplani |
We stopped outside the Gennadius Library and I was telling Alex and Melissa about my research there. It is across the street from the American School for Classical Studies and the guard came out of his air-conditioned space to ask us what we were doing. We quickly explained that we had been students there and were showing our kids. He said that he wondered because there was an exhibition at the Gennadius Library in honor of its 100 year anniversary. I said, that is cool, but it is Sunday. He said, "no it is open...closed Monday/Tuesday." So we went. The garden was beautiful and they had an exhibit of images from the travel journals that I had studied set up around the garden.
Inside, they had a lot of information about Joannes Gennadius and the foundation of the library.
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| An honorary degree |
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| An Edward Lear sketch from one of the travel books |
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| A map of Monemvasia, which we had just visited |
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| An Edward Dodwell volume, one of the ones I studied |
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| The Macedonian room, a traditional room from northern Greece |
We then walked down past the Fulbright Office into the National Gardens, which were cool and busy.
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| Phil at the Fulbright office door |
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| In the garden |
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| Bouganvilla |
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| Looked like a Jewish star to us |
There was some sort of game afoot, with pages of music tied up very high on trees. Not even sure how they got it there...
Phil and I left Alex and Melissa to wander through Plaka on their own for a bit while we went back to the Airbnb to make dinner. It was so nice to have a day's break from the oppressive heat -- five degrees made all the difference. It was such a fun day filled with unexpected delights.
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