This flavorful Greek version of scrambled eggs is made with plenty of delicious fresh tomato, and often some crumbled feta cheese. In the Peloponnese, where it is particularly common, it’s known as as “kagianas“. Ready in 20 minutes and perfect for a quick, light meal!
Preparation & Instructions:
*Cut your tomatoes in half and discard the seeds. Grate them or chop them finely. If using canned tomatoes, discard most of the juices from the can, and chop finely.
*Heat the olive oil in a large pan over high heat.
*Pour your tomatoes into the pan, and season with salt and pepper.
*Cook, stirring occasionally, until the juice from the tomatoes has evaporated, and they start to stick to the pan. This should take about 8-10 minutes (don’t overcook them, so as not to lose the fresh flavor of the tomato).
*Beat the eggs lightly and add them to the pan.
*Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the eggs are cooked through. Add the feta cheese towards the end.
*Top with some fresh herbs (optional) and serve with some nice crusty bread.
To mark the 80th Anniversary of the World War II battle, the Battle of Crete Memorial Committee (WA) (BCMC) will release its preferred design for a new memorial later this month.
The memorial, to be located within the Saw Avenue precinct at Perth’s King’s Park, will commemorate the courage, sacrifice and commitment of those who served and endured the battle. In particular, Australian service personnel with direct links to Western Australia and the people of Crete, who on so many occasions risked their lives to assist them.
In March 1941, the Australian 6th Division and the New Zealand 2nd Division were deployed from Egypt to mainland Greece to counter the threat of an invasion by Nazi Germany. When the invasion came, the Allied forces were hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned by a modern war machine with total control of the skies. Amongst the Australian forces was the 2nd/11th (City of Perth) Battalion, made up predominantly of Western Australians. By late April 1941, the Allied forces were forced to evacuate Greece, leaving all of their vehicles and most of their heavy weapons and communications equipment behind.
German paratroops, part of the German airborne invasion of Crete, parachuting onto the village of Souda. Source: Australian War Memorial.
Some of the Australian forces were withdrawn to Egypt, whilst others were landed on the Greek island of Crete. Under the command of the New Zealand Major General Bernard Freyberg VC, the Allied forces reorganised themselves as best they could and prepared for an imminent German attack. That attack came on 20 May 1941 with the Germans employing massed paratroop drops, supported by constant air attacks, in four locations.
All locations saw heavy fighting, but at the end of the first day, the Australians, had the upper hand in their sector around the airfield at Rethymno. However, the tide soon turned and on 28 May 1941, General Freyberg issued an order for Allied forces to evacuate Crete. Unfortunately, the order did not reach the Australians at Rethymno and by 29 May 1941, they were all but trapped. Having run out of ammunition and food, Major Ray Sandover, the Commanding Officer of the 2nd/11th Battalion, gave his men the option of either surrendering, or escaping into the hills and then to attempt to make their way back to Egypt by whatever means.
With the cessation of the evacuation by the Royal Navy on 30 May 1941, thousands of Allied troops were captured. However, there were hundreds seeking to evade the enemy in the mountains. Many of these were sheltered and fed by poor Cretan families, this they did knowing that they would be executed if discovered doing so by the enemy. Eventually small groups of Allied personnel made their way to the south of the island. Of these, a number were sheltered by the Monks of Preveli Monastery, these included Major Sandover and over 50 members of his Battalion, who later managed to escape to Egypt.
Troops on the shore of Souda Bay awaiting evacuation, May 1941. Source: Australian War Memorial.
Recollections of the story behind the memorial may have dimmed over time, but its significance for the people of Western Australia and Crete remains strong.
Mr Bill Evangel, the President of the Greek Australian RSL and chair of the BCMC said, “This story of heroism, on and off the battlefield, is a reminder to us all, that of the generosity of strangers should never be forgotten”.
The proposed memorial has received support from the Commonwealth and the WA State Governments as well as the RSL(WA). In principle support for the project has also been received from the King’s Park Board. Prominent WA artists Smith Sculptors have been chosen to develop the design. The BCMC has also partnered with the National Trust (WA) and has commenced fundraising to make this memorial a reality.
To launch the memorial concept, the BCMC will be hosting an unveiling of the design on Thursday 27th May in Perth.
Apostolos Costarellos and his wife, Arianna, recently got married in the Byzantine Church of Porta Panagia, just outside Trikala. But their wedding wasn’t like any other seen in the last 200 years.
Instead of a simple wedding, the proud Greek couple hosted it in historical fashion, with all attendees dressed in attire from Greece’s War of Independence.
Not only dressing the part, however, the couple carried out all traditions and customs that took place in Greece during the early 19th century. The Greek Revolution theme was done to honour 200 years since the Greek War of Independence, where Greece successfully rose above the Ottomans to claim back their land.
The groom started from his village, Gorgogyri, armed and dressed in traditional costume and riding a horse. Following a long three hour walk through the forest to the church, he arrived with his brother, friends and best men Alkis Argyriou and Stefanos Polygenis.
There he welcomed his beautiful bride Arianna, originally from Russia, who arrived in a traditional 19th century carriage. It’s noted that this is the first time such a carriage appeared in Trikala.
Holding an intimate wedding with few guests, due to coronavirus restrictions, the elegant church complemented the couple’s intrinsically detailed attire and love for each other.
The wedding was filmed by ‘Up Stories’ and can be watched below:
Alexander the Great, the King of Macedonia (20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), was the world’s most powerful leader. He bulldozed his way through empires across the Middle East and found cities in several countries, including Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Syria, and India. Below are five cities founded by the great leader.
1. Punjab, India
Alexander the Great launched his campaign into the Indian subcontinent of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan in 327 BC. Alexander contested King Porus for reign over Punjab, known then by the ancient Greeks as Pentapotamia in the Battle of the Hydaspes a year later. The Battle of Hydaspes saw Alexander allow King Porus to co-govern as a “satrap”. Three years later, after the death of Alexander the Great, Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha founded the Maurya Empre in India. Punjab today lies on India’s northern border with Pakistan, a few hundred kilometres from the capital of New Delhi. Punjab is on the western bank of the Beas/Hyphasis River. It’s important to note that Punjab is home to one of the earliest known civilisations, the Indus Valley civilisation, in South Asia.
The Battle of Hydapes, 1673 painting by French painter Charles Le Brun.
2. Alexandria, Egypt
Alexandria, Egypt’s third-largest city and Africa’s seventh-largest, is probably his most popular discovery. Alexander found his namesake in 331 BC during his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. Alexandria became the seat of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, an ancient Hellenistic state, and one of the most important and greatest centres of Hellenic civilisation. Alexander had other cities in sight, though, and commenced his Persian conquest a few months later. Alexander died upstream in Babylon in 323 BC before general Ptolemy stole his body and laid it to rest in Alexandria. Alexander’s tomb became a temple for the Egpytians before the sands of time buried ancient Alexandria 35 feet under.
The foundation walls of a monumental building dating to the era of Alexander the Great in Alexandria [Courtesy of National Geographic].
3. Qalatga Darband, Iraq
Qalatga Darband is one of the more recent cities to be linked to Alexander the Great. Qalatga Darband is an ancient city located in Iraqi Kurdistan founded by Alexander in about 331 BC on his warparth to Darius III, King of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. The Qalatga Darband, “castle of the mountain pass” in Kurdish, is a large-walled city of the Hellenistic/Parthian period 330 kilometres from Baghdad that has been the focus of archaeologists from the British Museum for years now. The discovery of two Hellenistic statues, supposedly of Aphrodite and Alexander the Great, helps link Qalatga Darband as Alexander’s “lost city”.
4. Several in Afghanistan
Alexander the Great invaded Afghanistan in 330 BC as part of his conquest of the Persian Empire. He would reign King of Persia for the next seven years until his elusive death in June 323 BC. During this period he found many cities in modern-day Afghanistan, includign Kandahar, Herat, Ai-Kahnoum, Bagram, Ghazni, and possibly Farah. He discovered many by ‘accident’ and many for strategic purposes. Many are important citiies today, including Herat, which is the third-largest city in Afghanistan today.
5. Thrace Alexandroupolis, Medians
Alexandropolis in the Thracian region of Maedians was the first town founded by Alexander the Great in 340 BC, after defeating a local Thracian tribe at just 16 years old. The area is disputed to have been a military colony rather than a city. The location of Thrace Alexandropoulis is unknown today but is speculated to be apart of modern-day Bulgaria. It is not to be confused with Thrace in southeastern Europe.
Novak Djokovic has clinched a Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-final win against Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, despite being a set down before rain postponed the match to the following day.
In what can only be referred to as a match of two halves, Tsitsipas came out strong on Friday night against the Serbian, who made some grave errors to cost himself the first set.
Djokovic’s bad luck continued into the second set where he lost his third game, resulting in the World No. 1 being a game behind with Tsitsipas next to serve. The Greek never got his chance to serve, however, as heavy rain hit the Italian capital, forcing the game to be postponed to Saturday.
Photo: Getty Images
The following day, Tsitsipas continued his strong run of form to into a 4-2 lead in the second set. While the Greek looked to finish the game in two sets, Djokovic expertly came from behind to win two marathon games on Tsitsipas’ serve, pushing the match to a deciding set.
Tsitsipas twice led by a break in the deciding set and served for the match at 5-4, but Djokovic rallied on both occasions to take a 6-5 lead. As Tsitsipas served to force a final-set tie-break, the World No. 1 fired a backhand winner down the line and played with consistent depth to extract crucial Tsitsipas errors.
“There are many things to say about today or yesterday’s match. It kind of felt like we played two matches… The one yesterday, where he was the better player. He started better today also. I managed to somehow to hold my nerves [and] break his serve in the important moments in the second and third sets,” Djokovic said in his post-match interview.
“The support of the crowd was amazing. It was great to play in front of a crowd. [It was a] fantastic atmosphere. It was a bit of luck, a bit of mental strength and the right tactics at the right time. One shot, not even a point, one shot really decided the winner today. I am just glad to be on the better side.”
Djokovic added that the match was probably his toughest of the year so far.
Despite being held online, last year’s Antipodean Palette was an outstanding success for the Greek-Australian Cultural League (GACL), and this year it will continue at Melbourne’s Duckboard Place, among other city locations.
The theme of Metamorphosis was chosen for a very different Antipodean Palette for 2021, which is dedicated to the Liberation of the Hellenes from Ottoman rule.
Work from selected artists will be displayed on posters with QR codes to access the work and artists’ statements on the GACL’s website.
Aphroditi Karalis, who is coordinating this year’s Antipodean Palette, in conjunction with Vasy Petros, says that the GACL’s positive adaptation to change is a tribute to the resilience of its President of 23 years, Cathy Alexopoulos, who encourages the arts-oriented committee to continually aspire to new ideas, and maintain the momentum in building a unique cultural and arts-focussed organisation that has relevance in today’s world.
See below for artworks from three of this years participating artists: Virginia Polendakis, Efrossini Chaniotis and Maritsa Micos.
The Greek-Australian Cultural League (GACL), is an organisation which has endured for more than 50 years, promoting, supporting and fostering the creative endeavours of Greek-Australian writers and artists whose work primarily reflect the confluence of the Greek and Australian cultures and contribute to the enrichment of Literature, the visual arts and the performing arts.
COVID-19 put a halt to many planned events last year, as members hunkered down in their homes shell-shocked with the global phenomenon. Even without events, Cathy Alexopoulos kept members informed behind the scenes, overseeing the annual publication of the bilingual periodical Antipodes, organising the annual Literary Competition and keeping the group together and motivated to look to the future.
Simultaneously, Vasy Petros established the Greek-Australian Art Register (GAAD) and Kids art classes. The first of its kind, the GAAD brings together Greek Australian artists past and present.
Racing NSW and Australian Rugby League Commission boss Peter V’landys has lost the defamation case he brought against the ABC over an episode of 7.30 featuring graphic footage of horses being slaughtered at an abattoir in Queensland.
Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney said the program may not have portrayed Mr V’landys in a positive light but did not defame him in a judgment handed down on Friday afternoon.
The program, aired on October 17, 2019, was titled The Final Race and featured shocking footage of distressed horses being slaughtered at the Meramist Abbatoir, north of Brisbane.
A recorded interview with Mr V’landys was juxtaposed with the graphic footage throughout. The Racing boss alleged the program defamed him and damaged his reputation as a regulator.
Peter V’landys sued the ABC for defamation over an episode of 7.30 about cruel treatment of retired racehorses. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled.
He claimed he was denied procedural fairness because he was not shown hidden camera footage recorded in a Meramist abattoir before or during his interview.
The judge said the overall impression of the report was that the slaughter of thoroughbreds in knackeries was occurring because rules put in place by the industry were “inadequate and ineffective”.
The imputations alleged to have been conveyed included that Mr V’landys “callously permitted the wholesale slaughter of thoroughbred horses” and “ignored the cruelty to which thoroughbred horses were subjected to in a Queensland abattoir”.
The 7.30 story showed vision of former racehorses being sent to abattoirs. Photo: ABC News
Mr V’landys also argued the ABC and Ms Meldrum-Hanna acted with malice in publishing the story, but Justice Wigney said the evidence did not support any allegation of dishonesty or deceit on behalf of the ABC or Meldrum-Hanna.
In a statement, an ABC spokesperson welcomed the decision.
“‘The Final Race’ was an important and ground-breaking investigation, forensically and conscientiously reported, which exposed the cruel treatment and miserable fates of many of Australia’s retired racehorses in slaughterhouses and abattoirs,” the spokesperson said.
Dr Leonidas Moiras will give a lecture entitled Ottoman Perceptions of the Greek Revolution, on Thursday 20 May, at 7.00pm, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.
The outburst of the Greek Revolution consisted a major challenge for the Ottomans, since they had to suppress a “millet-wide sedition” of their subjects, who were claiming independence. The sultan, the central state elite and the intelligentsia tried to identify the reasons that triggered the “insurrection” of their subjects. The Ottoman administration responded to this challenge with the mobilization of her military power alongside several attempts to reincorporate the subjects back to the imperial order.
At the same time, the Greek Revolution became the main channel of transmission, through which the main ideas of the French Revolution and the Enlightenment entered the Ottoman mind and shaped decisively the imperial political thought and ideology. Through the intercepted documents of the Greek rebels, the Ottoman authorities tried to find the responses to the new challenges.
“This paper is an attempt to investigate the Ottoman perceptions and reactions to the Greek Struggle of Independence,” Dr Moiras said in a press release.
“I will try to investigate how the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II., the central state elite and the intelligentsia experienced the Greek War of Independence and the “making” of the modern Greek state through the examination of the contemporary Ottoman sources and the terminology of the state elite.
“Also, I will discuss the reflection of the major events of the Greek Revolution, such as the Chios Massacre, in the Ottoman sources.”
“….The importance of the establishment of the independent Greek State and its impact on the Ottoman state has been underestimated, since we are not able to understand the history of the Tanzimat era without connecting it to the consequences of the Greek Revolution.”
Leonidas Moiras received his PhD in modern Ottoman history from the Democritus University of Thrace (2019). Presently he is teaching History of the Ottoman Empire (15th – 18th cent.) and Ottoman Paleography at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He is a participant in the research project Homeacross – Space, memory and the legacy of 1923 Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey the author of the book “The Greek Revolution through the Ottoman Eyes” (Athens, 2020). He has written several articles and publications in collective volumes and journals and has participated in international conferences. His research interests include Ottoman Political and Intellectual History, Young Turk Revolution, Balkan Nationalisms, Ottoman Westernization and the Greek Revolution of 1821.
When: Thursday 20th May 2021, 7pm
Where: Greek Centre (Mezzanine Level, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne).
Speaker is based in Greece, event will be at the mezzanine but shown on the big screen while simultaneously being broadcast
Staying in business for 33 years is no easy feat, but Denis and Eleni Sakkas’ passion to keep Queanbeyan’s Melita Coffee Lounge afloat is reason enough to commit their professional lives to it’s survivability.
The restaurant was previously managed by a Maltese family for 17 years before the Sakkas family took over. Speaking to the Riot Act, Denis said it’s probably the oldest cafe in Queanbeyan.
However, assuming that the business doesn’t hold the Queanbeyan record, the Melita Coffee Lounge is unique in the sense that Denis’ 95-year-old Greek mother, Eleni Sakkas, continues to work alongside her son in the kitchen.
The Reuben pork toastie substitutes the traditional corned beef for Denis’s homemade pulled pork. Photo: Michelle Rowe.
“Her ticker and engine are pretty good,” says Denis, adding that Eleni’s doctor marvels at how fit and healthy she is despite being just a few years shy of receiving a letter from the Queen.
“And the reality is, if she goes home, she has to hang out with Dad, who can be a bit annoying.”
Born and bred in Queanbeyan, Denis credits the love of food he inherited from his Greek parents for his enduring career.
“I was in my early 20s and was working part-time in my uncle’s takeaway, then did a bit of real estate and worked as a bank teller, but I wanted to try my hand at running my own business,” he says.
Denis Sakkas with his parents Eleni and Alex at the cafe. Photo: Michelle Rowe.
“I’d never cooked or worked in hospitality before, but having a Greek mum really helped. Things evolved from there.”
Far from following expectations and delivering a Greek-inspired menu, however, Denis describes the flavour at Melita as ‘eclectic’.
“A lot of people asked me why I don’t just do Greek, but I like a bit of a mishmash,” he says.
On this day in May 1911, the historic Italian-built Georgios Averoff cruiser arrives in Greece six years ahead of WWI.
The cruiser, nicknamed “Lucky Uncle George”, served the Royal Hellenic Navy in the First Balkan War, WWI, the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), the Interwar period, WWII, and many more.
The Greek Herald traces Georgios Averof’s glory days in the most defining and important events in Greece’s history.
The Georgios Averof cruiser was built as part of a series of three armoured cruisers, called the ‘Pisa’ cruisers, built by Italy on March 12, 1910.
Several countries were vying for the cruiser during a trialing time for their Armies before it’s benefactor, George Averoff, claimed the ship in 1909 at a price of £300,000. This is the equivalent of £23.4m today (adjusted for inflation), or just under AUD$42m.
Averoff (1815-1899) was a well-known Greek philanthropist and slave trader when he bought the most modern warship in the Aegean at the time.
Captain Pavlos Kountouriotis succeeded Captain I. Diamnos as captain of the ship at the beginning of the First Balkan War.
It sailed to the Dardanelles Strait on the European-Asian boundary in northwestern Turkey before occupying Mount Athos and the north and east Aegean islands. This escalated tensions with Turkey and led to Greece’s victory in the Naval Battle of Elli (3 December 1912) and Lemnos (5 January 1913) for control of the Aegean.
The Georgios Averof went on to block fleets, occupy islands and protect maritime transport, including of weapons and armour, between Greece and their Allies.
The Georgios Averof also played a role in Greece’s WWI battles in Constantinople and Hagia Sophia and WWII until it was decommissioned in 1952. The cruiser has served as a monument museum since 1985 in Faliro, Greece.
Legacy:
The Georgios Averoff has been preserved as an educational initiative and tribute to the Hellenic Army.
It is visited today by schools, institutions, organisations, and other members of the public.
