Author Archives: Diana Farr Louis

“I remember our first olive crop. It must have been about ten years ago. We’d been so excited, stripping the fruit from our Kalamata and Amphissa trees. We filled several shopping bags and took them up to the press in Ano Gavrio, above the port. Our corner of Andros has two presses, one an EU-approved, […]

“If worst comes to worst, I can always become one of those little old ladies who sell herbs on the sidewalk near the farmers’ markets or in downtown Athens. All of the herbs named in my title are flourishing in what passes for our garden here on Andros, in more than marketable quantities. Except for […]

“Although Dad and I were the only ones left in our big house on Long Island, we had plenty of people to look after us. One was Marie, the cook from Alsace. Another was Mrs. Colmar, who came to do the laundry and ironing. Sometimes, there was a governess; sometimes, not. Of all the cooks, […]

“Joy-of-the-People (literal transliteration of my Greek husband’s name, Harilaos) and I discovered the little island by accident back in 1975. Horrified by the rats slinking around taverna tables in the port of Kalymnos, maddened by the motorbikes roaring round and round the main square, we shouldered our rucksacks and escaped the holiday from hell. A […]

“I love it, not only for its brilliant design and usefulness, but because it was a gift from my oldest brother, Shelty or, more formally, Frederick Shelton Farr. We were cooking supper in Athens the night before he flew back to Montana in October 2006. There’d been a power cut and we were whisking an […]

“No it’s not a type of chocolate; it’s Greece’s own brand of caviar: bottargo, slightly salted and barely dried gray mullet roe, fished from the lagoons on this country’s west coast in late summer. Dipped in several coats of sunflower-yellow beeswax to keep it moist, avgotaraho has been our treat of preference since I arrived in Greece. […]

“It is five years since this oh-so-memorable event occurred. I think of it every year when February rolls round; this year more than ever. Even if travel were possible, Erdogan’s actions and speeches have become so violent and filled with hate and resentment that Istanbul is no longer for many of us ‘the city of […]

“But the wonderful thing about being on Andros was the fact that all this was normal. We always expect a few disasters after a winter away, so this year’s was no surprise. But in town, tavernas were open, we saw friends, had delicious meals, even exchanged a few hesitant hugs, and felt free.”—Diana Farr Louis […]

“We also marvel that Greeks, who have known so many hardships during wars, civil war, dictatorships, and the like, have not cleared the shelves of toilet paper, pasta, beans, flour, or other staples we read are missing from supermarkets in Anglo-Saxon countries.”—Diana Farr Louis Eating Well Is The Best Revenge By Diana Farr Louis ATHENS […]

“The moment she walked into the office, I saw that she was not scary at all, but warm, delightful, funny, and kind. She was thin but wiry, and although her hair was white, she had the face of a sprite, lively and curious. She told me to call her Jacky. Had I known more about […]