One of my favourite areas of Greece is the north. It’s not just that its steeped in history and that the physical environment is so varied – with high mountains, forests, deep valleys and wide rivers – it’s the fact that the food and beverages are so different from other parts of Greece.
That’s why I was so happy recently to sit down with young Eleftheria Amanatidis in the family restaurant she runs with the help of her sister Anatoli, Yarraville’s famed Eleni’s Kitchen + Bar to discuss the completion of her latest project.
A year or so ago Eleftheria – or Thierry as she is known in the family – wondered what else she could do to celebrate the people in her life who have given her such a love of food, both as a home cook and restaurateur. It was then that she struck on the idea of creating a cookbook drawing on this family lore to share with others.
Sitting with her in the rear of the restaurant on a warm afternoon she began our discussion where her journey in Greek cuisine began for her – at the side of the three most important women in her life, her mother Parthena and yiayias Eleni and Eleftheria. It is no surprise that as you enter the restaurant you are met by a quote from yiayia Eleni proudly reproduced on the wall – “good food and plenty of it, makes everyone happy” – a fine sentiment.
It was these women who taught her the recipes of their native land – the region of northern Greece surrounding Kastoria and Kozani. We talked of the region and its food. For me this land makes its own contribution to Greek cooking. And of course, this is due to the land and its produce. An abundance of fresh water and good pasture produces great diverse animal products and the vineyards of the region produce some of the best red wine in all Greece.
Her grandparents had all come from Greece to make their home in Melbourne, settling in Yarraville and Albion in the 1960’s. By 1971 her grandparents Dimitrios – affectionately known by his diminutive Mitch for Mitsos – and Eleni had opened the first incarnation of Eleni’s Kitchen + Bar in Yarraville, the beginning of a tradition that would continue to this day.
We talked about how the passing down of recipes was almost a silent thing. There were no cookbooks at hand for her grandparents. Only the memories of dishes learnt from other family members, the details, ingredients and amounts learnt by doing. Measuring scales were not available or needed, the eye, the hand and fingers could tell the right amount, the right consistency.
We laughed together when we talked about encouraging our reluctant mothers to write down their recipes. Why should I write them down, she’d say, you can learn from me! And if we were successful in getting them to write out their recipes, when we looked at them crucial parts would be missing. How much water? How much salt? How much flour? They felt they didn’t need to write this down because you would know what was right. As her yiayia’s would say oso parei – whatever it takes!
The book is colourful and lavishly illustrated. Each recipe is not only accompanied by colour photographs of the completed dish but surrounded by a story about the significance of the dish and how it is connected to her family. This intimate approach is complemented by the many family photographs and scribbled recipe notes by the yiayias. But this not to detract from the abundance of recipes Eleftheria has chosen to include in the book. We have ten meze or starters, sixteen mains and seven desserts.
I ask Eleftheria to name a recipe which speaks to her of her heritage. She immediately points to spetzofai or sausage stew. This is a well-known main dish from northern Greece and was her pappou Dimitri’s favourite. Being a butcher by trade he loved its sausage base and its rich ntomata saltsa sauce, with capsicum and onions combining with home grown tomatoes to give it that homely and filling taste, and; of course you always served the stew with bread to soak up the sauce. Nothing is left to waste in a village kitchen!
All the favourites are here – from fakes and spanakopita, lemon potatoes and moussaka. One of the many recipes that catch my eye is the snapper plaki. While any fish could be substituted for this baked dish, it could only be snapper for Dimitrios. The whole fish is baked slowly with olive oil and a range of vegetables – onion, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes – with garlic, dill, parsley and white wine. I know that this would be my partner Vicki’s father George’s favourite too.
Mentioning Dimitrios brings to mind his beloved home garden where he grew his vegetables. Eleftheria remembers how the vegetable plots filled the garden surrounding the house, all tended lovingly by her pappou.
In compiling the book, Eleftheria is keen to acknowledge the assistance of her sister Anatoli in its genesis. “We both wanted to honour both our heritage and the great influence that the women in our family have had on our lives, from cooking to love and respect. The book and the recipes embody our respect for our forebears”, she said.
Eleftheria should be commended for taking on this task and seeing it through to the end in this lovely book. What she has produced is not only a beautifully illustrated collection of well-known and not-so-well known Greek recipes but a repository of an important part of her family’s history. She has described the recipes in easy-to-follow text alongside her stories of her yiayias and how they brought her to the world of Greek cuisine.
Another stimulus for her to create the book arose from the recent fire at the restaurant. She said that it was so heartening to see how staff and suppliers all worked together to get the operation back up and running as quickly as possible. This experience helped her to finish the project which she had wanted to do for so many years.
In so doing, Eleftheria has not only honoured her own family but has given the Greek community of Melbourne another story of migration and the story of Greek life in the diaspora. And she has shown how the traditions of her grandparents have influenced her and which she is now passing on to further generations. We owe her a debt. As Eleftheria writes of her book, it is a story of love, passion and provenance; two sisters and the yiayias who taught them. And what better title than Ela na Fáme! Come and Eat!
Eleftheria’s new cookbook Ela na Fáme! was launched on 16 April 2025. Ela na Fáme! is available online and in-store at Eleni’s Kitchen + Bar and Jimmy’s Deli from 17 April 2025, with national and international shipping options.
Jim Claven OAM is a trained historian, freelance writer and published author. He has written on many aspects of the Australian Greek connection, especially across both world wars. He has also written in Neos Kosmos on how the experience of Greek cuisine in pre-WW2 Greece influenced the writings of the famous British cook and writer Elizabeth David. He also loves cooking, an activity inspired by his mother Margaret. He can be contacted via email – jimclaven@yahoo.com.au