Sti̱n ygeiá sas! (Cheers!)

Until recently I've lived my life oblivious to what it means to really have some sort of cultural heritage, and then I met and became quite fond of a certain Greek-American.  My family is such a hodgepodge of who knows what from where that we never really had anything to identify with and I didn't realize I was missing out...until I met him, that is.  I got ripped off!  No fun festivals! No traditional foods! No traditional dancing! Unless you count 4th of July, potato salad, and...pole dancing (?) we've got nothing on these Greeks. Anytime we go to an event I feel like I'm walking around with my eyes widened and jaw hanging open just trying to eat it all up...often literally, there is never a shortage of food.

This weekend we went to a Greek Food Festival in Yonkers, or maybe it was just a Greek Festival that was mainly food.  I'm not entirely sure how it was billed.  Unfortunately, it was the same day that Greece lost their World Cup match.  We all tried not to mention it, and then we all ate, and ate some more.  We only sampled a small bit of the offerings but were filled with Gyro, and Crepes (pronounced Crep-ez), and these little fried dough balls - Loukoumades (how can you go wrong with fried dough?).  I think the Loukoumades were my favorite, they kind of have the same consistency of funnel cake but they're in a round ball so they're a little puffier, and then the addition of honey is brilliant.   

All of this food was just the backdrop to an extreme good-natured patriotism that I'm not sure I've witnessed by anyone other than those that shout would drop the "A" off America in favor of 'Merica.  There was even traditional Greek dancing...my favorite part.  I'm told the Cretan dances (those from Crete) are the best and most exciting.  This is coming from a biased source as my favorite Greek is from Crete, where this magical dancing originates but judging from the dances I saw, and the crowd response, I think he might be right.  The Cretan dancing seemed some how rowdier and with a strong beat for the crowd to follow along to...more jumping and stomping and clapping...more fun.

Caipirinha, Capoeira, & Tina

In case you weren't cool enough to have your own viewing party, and your World Cup runneth under, here are some related things to get you through.

Perhaps you should start by filling that cup with a Caipirinha (pronounced kie-purr-REEN-yah), Brazil's national drink!  It is made with cachaça, an intensely sweet Brazillian style of rum that is made from sugarcane juice. Enjoy! (recipe)

photo credit

Total Time: 3 minutes

Yield: 1 Cocktail

Ingredients: 

• 1 lime, quartered
• 2 teaspoons fine sugar
• 2 ounces cachaca

Preparation: 

1. Place the lime wedges and sugar into an old-fashioned glass. 
2. Muddle well. 
3. Fill the glass with ice cubes. 
4. Pour in the cachaca. 
5. Stir well. 

Note: Keep the sugar mixed in the drink by stirring often

World Cup: The Brooklyn Brazilians

I almost forgot that the World Cup started today.  I knew it was starting soon, but for whatever reason didn't ever register the actual date, and then I walked out my door into a sea of yellow, and then one sad looking fellow with a red jersey (poor Croatia).

In any case, I'm so excited to follow the games, but also see the national pride in my neighborhood.  The street was filled with a pre-thunderstorm Brazilian contagious energy. 

One of the kids pictured walked past me earlier and as he did an elderly man said, "Ay Brazil!" and the pre-teen grinned and patted the logo on his chest with a nod. The cross-generational enthusiasm made me smile.

Speaking of smiling, it's closing in on a year since I've lived here, and longer than that since I had the dreaded dentist check-up.  I was already considering making this my dentist, but this World Cup score keeping may have sealed the deal.


I wonder if it will be Brazil all day, everyday (they seem to be the favorite anyway), or if each day I'll get to see new colors flooding the street.