Fish in the Athens Central Market. (Milos Bicanski/GlobalPost)
Greek food in its rawest form
How Athens Central Market modernizes without losing its authentic flavor.
ATHENS — At the Athens Central Market, the air rings with the cries of traders hawking their wares. “Red mullet, fresh red mullet,” they call out to passersby. “Hello, my friend! Fresh meat, good price!”
The current building housing the city’s main fish and meat market, known as the Varvarkios building, was completed in 1886 and refurbished just before the Athens Olympics in 2004. New sanitation and refrigeration units were installed for meat traders to upgrade the market to European Union standards.
But inside, life continues much it has for more than a hundred years. In the fish market, the floor is slick from the water sprayed by traders to keep the fish cool and glistening. In the meat market, long tubes of intestines hang from hooks over piles of pig feet. It’s food in its rawest form.
Many of the stalls in the Athens Central Market are family-run businesses that have been passed down for generations. Fanis Korakis is the fourth generation to work in his family’s store, Spyros F. Korakis Ltd, which was founded by his grandfather’s uncle in 1926. He works with his father and will one day take over the business.
But many of the people working in the market — and many of the customers — are immigrants, from countries like Albania, Pakistan and Egypt. Although the wages are good — many make more than a teacher, for example — the hours are long and the work dirty. Korakis said most Greeks aren’t willing to do the work anymore.
The market has been a center of Athenian life for more than a hundred years. But increasingly, new American-style shopping markets have appeared in the city’s suburbs, changing the way Greeks shop and eat.
More GlobalPost dispatches on Greece:
Recent on Europe:
Video: Pirate-hunting headquarters
Teri Schultz - European Union - November 20, 2009 16:03 ET
The EU's anti-piracy Operation Atalanta fields distress calls from the Gulf of Aden and sees some success.
Croissants: Hours to make, a lifetime to master
Ben Barnier - France - November 20, 2009 06:29 ET
A Paris croissant addict learns the secrets of baking the buttery, crusty treats.
Outraged Ireland demands a replay
Conor O'Clery - Ireland - November 19, 2009 11:53 ET
A French hand ball puts Ireland out of the World Cup.
How can 39 million buffalo be wrong?
Jason Overdorf - India - November 19, 2009 06:30 ET
Indian farmers discover the beauty of mozzarella.
A journalist behind the Iron Curtain
Bruce I. Konviser - Czech Republic - November 17, 2009 16:05 ET
How Iva Drapalova reported for the AP in Czechoslovakia between the Prague Spring and 1989.
Greece braces for violence on uprising anniversary
Nicole Itano - Europe - November 17, 2009 06:32 ET
Experts worry that the traditional day of Athens riots will see worse violence as extremism has risen in the past year.
British National Party debates allowing non-whites to join
Gaiutra Bahadur - United Kingdom - November 16, 2009 11:07 ET
Britain's anti-immigrant party had won elections by reforming its image.
Reviving Turkish baths
Nichole Sobecki - Turkey - November 15, 2009 13:31 ET
How Britain's all-white party gained its following
Gaiutra Bahadur - United Kingdom - November 14, 2009 17:00 ET
The British National Party claims opposition status in the council of the London borough Barking and Dagenham.
Opinion: Everyone missed signs of change in eastern Europe
Tom Fenton - Worldview - November 14, 2009 16:43 ET
While reporters did not foresee the fall of the Berlin Wall, the on-the-ground reporting was important.
Kosovo's local elections offer hope of Serb-Albanian reconciliation
John Dyer - Europe - November 14, 2009 08:20 ET
Some Serbs have decided to run — and vote — in Kosovo's elections despite Belgrade's protests.
Ireland reconsiders how it honors WWI veterans
Conor O'Clery - Ireland - November 13, 2009 18:18 ET
Until recently, Ireland had not commemorated its dead who fought in the British army.
What feta and reindeer meat have in common
Paul Ames - European Union - November 13, 2009 08:53 ET
Serbs become the latest to worry that their ethnic cuisine will be registered by an EU country.
A kick in the buck
Cristina Mateo-Yanguas - Spain - November 13, 2009 06:25 ET
Why the elimination of a tax break could spell the end of glory days for Spanish club soccer.
Swordfighting at a chestnut festival
Fulvio Paolocci and Angelica Marin - Italy - November 12, 2009 16:47 ET
Opinion: Stuck in neutral?
Michael Moran - Worldview - November 12, 2009 06:42 ET
Some Europeans who steered clear of the Cold War may be wavering 20 years later.
The European School: a microcosm of EU integration
William Echikson - Worldview - November 11, 2009 19:32 ET
Czech and Slovak students don't dwell on their countries' communist past.
.jpg)
Opinion: How history's first draft got it wrong
Michael Goldfarb - Worldview - November 11, 2009 12:34 ET
The fall of communism in eastern Europe was not, as Francis Fukuyama wrote, "the end of history."
Russia's whistleblower cop is a YouTube sensation
Miriam Elder - Russia and its neighbors - November 11, 2009 09:15 ET
Russian police officer Alexei Dymovsky has released a series of videos calling out corruption and asking Prime Minister Putin to act.
Watch GlobalPost videos:
Reporter's Notebook
It was an anti-climatic beginning to a long-awaited trial. After 15 minutes, judges were forced to adjourn because the accused, former Bosnian Serb...Read more >
While the Obama administration is plotting an exit strategy in Iraq and debating whether the war in Afghanistan can be won, Europe is trying to...Read more >
Greeks may have invented democracy, but at the moment, few here are very happy with the modern version. According to early exit polls,...Read more >
Featured: Special Projects
After the Fall:
20 years since the Berlin Wall came down
Life, Death and the Taliban:
Videos and stories
Study Abroad:
Students report from the road
Living in the Shadows:
An intimate look at China's migrant workers
A World of Trouble:
The global economy in 20 hotspots
Global Blogs:
Comments:
No Comments.
Login or Register to post comments