More Kouppes

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Thanks for sharing!

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We think that one of the most comforting phrases anyone can hear is, “Me too!”.  With these two, simple words, so much is communicated; they signify a sense of belonging, of kinship, of mutual understanding.  You once dreamed of being a prima ballerina, even though you have size ten feet and zero flexibility?  Me too!  You think you have an amazing singing voice that needs the acoustics of a shower to really shine?  Me too!  You are convinced that potato chips are a vegetable because, well, potato?  Me too!
Since beginning this blog and sharing the idea behind Mia Kouppa with friends, family, co-workers and random strangers (we are very shameless  friendly people), me too‘s have been reverberating in our ears.  When we tell people that our parents measure nothing in the kitchen, that their cooking is instinctual and that their “recipes” (note: the term is used very loosely) are littered with instructions that truly make no sense, heads nod, laughter ensues, and “Me too’s!” are chuckled.  Folks, we are not alone.  It seems that there are cupboards in Greek kitchens everywhere which hold the ubiquitous kouppa.  All sorts of kouppes! More kouppes!!  And behind every one of these kouppes there is a mother, a father, a grandparent or an uncle, someone, who wields this kouppa like a magic wand, whipping up delicious food that is next to impossible to re-create.  What to do?  Keep these amazing recipes confined to one kitchen?  Silly…of course not!


Given the joy we have had cooking with our parents, (and all that we have learned from them), and the excitement of sharing their delicious and traditional recipes with all of you… we decided to spread the happiness.  We extended an invitation to family and friends, asking them to choose a favourite family meal, one that they did not have a true recipe for.  And then, we invited ourselves into their kitchens and we arrived with our cameras, our notepads, our scales and our measuring tools and we set to cooking with these kitchen wizards.  As when we cook with our own parents, the recipes are then transcribed so that they can be shared.  More Kouppes is our way of celebrating all of the great, Greek, home cooks that we, and you, know.
Yay!
Helen and Billie
Links to our More Kouppes recipes
Cheesecake
Pear-shaped cookies (ahladakia)
Cherry spoon sweet
Theia Voula’s pizza
Vegan pastichio

16 responses to “More Kouppes”

  1. elliebleu Avatar

    Such a lovely post. I actually learned how to cook when living in Athens and becoming friends with women in my neighborhood. Then, years later, when I returned to the states, I taught my mom and cousins how to cook with olive oil, fresh herbs, and everything wonderful about Greek cuisine. It’s something that I look forward to passing on to my children some day. I learned the best stories start in the kitchen, and it’s fun to follow yours.

    1. miakouppa Avatar

      Oh thank you so much! Your comment makes my heart sing 🙂

  2. annika Avatar

    Lovely post! I would like to say “Me too”… but it is more like “Us too” and “us” here refers to Indian families… our parents never measured anything, but everything came out tasting just perfect!

    1. miakouppa Avatar

      Ha ha …love it! Believe me, Greek families are just as large, and everyone has an opinion. Aren’t parents awesome 🙂

  3. […] to More Kouppes, and to our first guest (meaning, not our parents’) Greek recipe! When we decided to share […]

  4. […] created space to share (and decipher) recipes from other Greek kitchens, through our feature of  More Kouppes, we will also begin sharing some of our own creations, using the heading Our Kouppes (cute, […]

  5. […] of which, we look forward to sharing with you some traditional and authentic Cretan recipes in More Kouppes early this year.  […]

  6. […] what our Thea Voula does when making her phenomenal cheesecake (featured under More Kouppes), we suggest that you use a more traditional approach to cheesecake baking here.  This means that […]

  7. […] of her mother, Kyria Vasilia.  After taking a bite, it was clear, this recipe would be our next More Kouppes installment; thankfully both Stella and her mom were on […]

  8. […] own wonderful recipes and rich stories to share; we wanted to showcase some of them.  And so, More Kouppes was born.  Then, while cooking and baking our own recipes, we found ourselves wishing that we could […]

  9. […] we asked Maria if she thought her mom would be interested in being featured on More Kouppes the response was an enthusiastic yes!  And no wonder! ΚυĎία ΒαĎιλική is an amazing […]

  10. […] they are, after all, the reason behind this little blog of ours.  However, we also get inspired by other great Greek home cooks, the culinary world around us in our great city of Montreal, and the varied and rich ethnic and […]

  11. […] the cherry spoon sweet we made with ΚυĎία ΒαĎιλική (Mrs. Vasiliki) during one of our More Kouppes events.  If you haven’t already made this amazing cherry recipe, you can head on over to our […]

  12. […] we are so appreciative and humbled when others invite us into their worlds so that we may share their special recipes as […]

  13. Alexandra Avatar
    Alexandra

    This blog is not only beautifully executed but further shown us the power of cooking. It ultimately brings us so much joy and connects us to the ones we love most. Mia Kouppa has not only shown us this but helps ignite that passion in their readers 🙂

    1. miakouppa Avatar

      Thank you Alexandra for this beautiful comment!! We are so happy that you are enjoying our blog. xoxo Helen & Billie

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