Greece; the tarama |
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Collection title
The cuisine of the sun
First broadcast date
10/20/1981
Abstract
Claude Robin, assisted by a Greek woman, prepares a Tarama salad. The Tarama is just fish eggs accompanied with lemon, olive oil, potatoes, an onion, eggs, black olives, tomatoes, green salad, bread and prawns.
Production companies
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France 3 Marseille - Own production
Audiovisual form
Magazine
Primary theme
Cooking traditions
Credits / Cast
- Robin Claude - Producer
- Ordines Jacques - Director
Context
Greece: taramasalata
Mayalen Zubillaga
The Greek word tarama means salted fish eggs or roe – and that is the basis of the well-known first course or appetizer, taramasalata. Found in many Mediterranean countries, the recipe is traditional and probably very old: a smooth, creamy paste made from salted fish roe (cod, mullet or carp), bread soaked in milk (sometimes replaced by mashed potato), olive oil, lemon juice and onion.
In Greece tarama is traditionally accompanied by fresh vegetables (lettuce and tomato). It is served as a mezze (an assortment of appetizers), but is associated with "Pure Monday" or katheri deftera during lent: after the excesses of the Carnival, "Pure Monday" marks the beginning of the Orthodox lent, or 40 days of fasting, and has become a major popular festival in its own right. Meat is not allowed for the midday meal on that day, so pride of place goes to traditional sea food dishes, among which is taramasalata.
Presented in a regional programme about "Cooking in the Sun", this recipe goes back to the Greek presence in France. Even though there have been Greeks in France since antiquity, during the First World War thousands of Greek workers came to work in the armaments factories at the request of the French state. From 1916 onwards there was a network of Greek communities spread across the country (mainly at Marseille and Paris), re-inforced by a second wave of immigration between 1922 and 1926. There was a third, though less important wave after the Second World War (1945-75)
But of course migration is not just about movements of people: migrants, like the thousands of Greeks who came to France, bring with them their own tastes, products and recipes, retaining their sense of community and rebuilding the national or regional identity wherever they happen to be. So for migrants, eating and drinking, two vital and daily activities, take on the additional function of linking the migrant with his or her own country, food for the soul as much as for the body (former black American slaves speak of "soul food"). Although usually migrants lose their mother language during the second generation, eating (and therefore cooking) habits remain until the third even fourth, even longer for festival food. Cooking and eating habits are often adapted to include the products and customs of their new country, but at the same time the migrants share their dishes with the local people either through friendships or food shops. The tarama shown in this film, as well as being nutritious and tasty, takes on a symbolism and deeper meaning for the Greeks living in France.
Bibliography:
BRUNEAU Michel, « Une immigration dans la longue durée : la diaspora grecque en France », Espace, populations, sociétés, 1996-2-3. Immigrés et enfants d'immigrés. pp. 485-495, Persée [En ligne], consulté le 19 mai 2012. URL : http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/espos_0755-7809_1996_num_14_2_1775
CORBEAU Jean-Pierre, POULAIN Jean-Pierre, Penser l'alimentation. Entre imaginaire et rationalité, Privat, Toulouse, 2002
HUBERT Annie, « Cuisine et politique. Le plat national existe-t-il ? », Revue des sciences sociales n° 27, « « Révolution dans les cuisines ».
Alexiadou Vefa, La cuisine de Vefa, Phaidon, 2011.