It’s no surprise that Greek Australian parents are always on the lookout for a brand new children’s book to help their children #KeepItGreek. Seeing a limited market, Greek Australian News Corp journalist Stephanie Timotheou decided to write her first children’s book, ‘Cooking with Yiayia’, part of a new bilingual book series ‘Ikoyenia‘.
Recently joining the world of motherhood with the birth of her daughter, Anthea, in 2018, Ms Timotheou decided to use her own writing experience to develop a four-part children’s book series that represented Greek families.
“Before Anthea was born, I was on the hunt for a really special book that I could give her future grandmothers, but I found it quite difficult to find what I was looking for,” Ms Timotheou, 29, says.
“After months of searching with no luck, I thought to myself, ‘why not write one of my own?’ and that’s exactly what I did.”
The new book series is titled ‘Ikoyenia’, translated from Greek as ‘family’. Her first book ‘Cooking with Yiayia’ is a bilingual rhyming book about one little Greek girl and the beautiful bond she has with her Yiayia through cooking.
The book is written in English and Greek to encourage children to learn the language.
“Cooking with Yiayia is designed so our Greek language and culture isn’t lost as generations go on,” Ms Timotheou says.
“My biggest fear is that when our grandparents and parents are gone, nobody is going to teach our children about Greek culture and the beautiful traditions we have.
“It’s something I really want for our future and this book depicts a lot of things we typically do in a Greek home.”
The three books to follow are Gardening with Pappou, Playtime with Baba and Bedtime with Mama.
Limited copies of Cooking with Yiayia can be pre-ordered at www.ikoyenia.bigcartel.com, expected to arrive in August 2020.
How do you take a business’ high quality products and services to the next level of broadening its customer base? Its longevity as a successful business is proven, yet how does its owner(s) gauge the timing of taking that daring next step of expansion; although the growing demand for a business’ products may be natural, there is still that element of uncertainty underlying the decision to physically expand the business itself.
For thirty five years, Surry Hills’ Athens/Athenaikon Cake Shop was Sydney’s longest running Greek cake shop; today, it is Christophers Cake Shop with ten franchises across Sydney. Not only is the Christophers Cake Shop story interesting from the perspective of its growth and success, it is also fascinating to note how a Greek business successfully made the crossover into the broader Australian community.
The Christophers Cake Shop story dates back to 1955, when Chris Koumis opened the Athens Cake Shop on Bourke Street; Chris’ decision made sense as many post- World War II Greek migrants had settled in the inner city suburbs of Paddington and Redfern. Subsequent to this Greek settlement, the Athens Cake Shop was part of the establishment of the Greek business network in the area, as the Baveas Greek delicatessen was next door and Andrew Carr’s Meats around the corner.
Chris Panayi and his partner Fanos Papcharalambous. Photo: Courtesy of Panayi family
Having married Andrea Vasiliou, Christopher Panayi bought the Athens Cake Shop- with his partner, Fano Papcharalambous- in 1976, and they continued to work this busy Greek cake shop until 1987, when Fano left the partnership and the business name morphed into Athenaikon Cake Shop.
Throughout the 1990s, Christopher and Andrea’s three sons- Peter, Kyriako and Anthony- all finished college as pastry chefs and joined them at Atheniakon Cake Shop- making it a truly family business.
For the Panayi family, the 1990s were a turning point, as Kyriakos Panayi recalls, “Surry Hills’ demographics had greatly changed by the 1990s- many Greeks had left the area and more professionals moved in- and our customer base was broadened. Alongside our Greek customers, we had Australian customers asking for the “baked custard”- which was the galaktobouriko- or “cheese pasty”- which was the tiropita.
Chris Panayi and an employee. Photo: Courtesy of the Panayi family
“In the family, we had four pastry chefs and the potential was there for us to expand our business; when we established our second shop in Mascot- and moved our kitchen there- it was an ideal opportunity to rebrand our business and change our business model.
”’Athenaikon” was a very general name. We wanted a name that represented our family, and “Christophers” was a personal brand that embodied our family and its values.”
Changes in the business model at the time saw Christophers Cake Shop decrease its sweets lines and introduce savoury lines. In doing so, the focus was on providing the highest-quality products the Panayi family could offer their customers. Overcoming the initial challenges, and competing against other patisserie franchises, the rest is history with Christophers continually growing and now operates a factory which caters for their ten stores across Sydney.
Twenty years passing since the rebranding, how has Christophers Cake Shop’s menu changed in our market-driven world? Kyriako explains, “We are continually evolving and develop according to the changes in the market. On offer, we always had our Greek savouries but there were many other products such meat pies and sausage rolls that we introduced to expand our savoury lines.
Three Generations of the Panayi family in the original Surry Hills patisserie. Photo: Courtesy of Vasilis Vasilas
“The growing veganism in our community has also impacted the market and we have had to adapt this development too. People would be so surprised to know so many of the Greek products, such as baklava or paximadia, can easily transformed to vegan, and they are actually “nistisima”- perfect for our Easter.”
Asked where the Greek identity fits into Christophers Cake Shop today, Kyraikos points out, “Our ethos is Greek. Our passion as pastry chefs is Greek; our strong bond of family is Greek and our sense independence is Greek.
“When I visit our stores and customers state that they are third-generation customers because their yiayia and pappou used to come into our Surry Hills store, this makes us very happy because it reinforces our belief our business is based on the strong connections to family. This history is where we came from and this embodies the identity of who we are.”
The coronavirus has taken its toll on every country, geopolitically and financially. Yet while some countries’ leaders are making decisive actions to ensure economic stabilisation post-coronavirus, others are not.
As Turkey runs dangerously low on foreign-currency reserves, its economy may succumb to a recession amid the coronavirus pandemic. While many believe this to be the cause of Erdogan’s drive for ever-lower borrowing costs in recent years, diminishing Turks’ confidence in their own currency, it is certain that Turkish leaders are faced with limited options to help stabilise the Turkish economy.
Bloomberg analyses the economic strategies being presented to the Turkish Government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Options Being Presented
A pro-government newspaper reached out to the possibility of borrowing from the International Monetary Fund, helping give legitimacy to what officials have long publicly regarded as a non-starter. When asked Thursday how the IMF might assist Turkey, the fund’s chief said the institution has “a very constructive engagement” with it.
“We have been consulting all our members in this crisis on what are the policy actions that can help steer the economies through this very difficult time. In this virtual spring meeting that’s coming just next week, we will continue this constructive engagement with the membership, including with Turkey,” the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said Thursday in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Other economists have mentioned the option of printing money to help shoulder the burden of the stimulus needed to prop up growth. Bloomberg mentions that this path that appears to be more tenable now that the central bank is soaking up sovereign bonds from the secondary market.
Per Hammarlund, chief emerging-markets strategist at SEB AB in Stockholm, presents a third option for Turkey. The strategist suggests that Turkey could impose capital controls, with the government being more likely to seek bilateral support from the U.S., China or the European Union to restore confidence.
“Capital controls are a double-edged sword as they also keep sorely needed capital out of the country,” Hammarlund said. Turkish officials have in the past given assurances that capital controls weren’t an option even when they struggled to stabilise the currency.
Action Must Be Taken Now
If Erdogan persists with doubling down on mistakes made in the past, he will undoubtedly bring further economic ruin to Turkey, with financial consequences that Turkish citizens will bear far beyond the pandemic’s end.
The last time the IMF bailed out Turkey in 2001, the financial crisis at the time wiped out a whole generation of Turkey’s political leaders.
“Any IMF package would likely put an end to the president’s growth-at-all-costs-approach to running the economy”, Bloomberg reports.
“Yet time could be running out, with hundreds of thousands of businesses already shut down because of the outbreak and the fate of the country’s $34.5 billion tourism industry at stake.”
Whichever action Turkey pursues, Erdogan must choose an option swiftly and decisively in order to achieve economic stability for the next 10 years.
“Ankara needs to figure out a way of bailing out the economy without causing a balance-of-payments crisis,” Global Source Partners economists including Murat Ucer in Istanbul said in a report. “And because this is so difficult to do on its own, the only practical solution, normatively speaking, is an IMF program — no matter how unrealistic the politics of it may sound.”
A full analysis on Turkey’s economic options can be observed in the Bloomberg report: HERE
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has hit back at NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard’s claims on Friday that he will need permission to resume the season. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, V’landys has claimed that the NRL has received appropriate permission and the NRL could resume “tomorrow if we wanted to”.
The NSW Health Minister said on Good Friday that he had not spoken to V’landys or chief executive Todd Greenberg for more than a month.
“I don’t think they are a law unto themselves,” Australia’s deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, said. “Some of the players and coaches may think so, but they’re part of society and they have a part – as we have all done – to support not only safety for themselves but for all of us.
“They’re making their plans for the road out [of the suspension of sport] and I encourage them to do so in other sports. But whether May is the time will remain to be seen and definitely they’ll need to get some permission to do that.”
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys on Sunday. (Getty)
V’landy’s has disputed the medical officer’s comments, stating he is certain the NRL received written permission to resume in May from the NSW State Emergency Operations Centre.
The Greek Australian ARLC chairman reportedly called Hazzard on Friday to remind him that the state public health orders signed last week do not stop sporting events from taking place.
“In reality we could do it tomorrow if we wanted to, but we’re not going to because we’re going to let the infection rate continue its stabilisation,” V’landy’s told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“What we have juggled is to make sure we are no threat to the community’s health by spreading the virus. But I can’t see how we spread the virus if the players who are going there are all negative and playing each other in a sterile situation when we know they’re all negative.”
ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys says the NRL already has government permission to restart the season in May.
The NRL told AAP while they hadn’t spoken to Hazzard directly, they had been in almost daily communication with the NSW government.
“The NRL has been in constant contact with Federal and State Governments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic including this week, and will continue to work closely with government in the weeks ahead,” an NRL spokesman said.
New research from Adelphi University has uncovered one of the earliest documented brain surgeries, conducted in Greece during the Proto-Byzantine period (330-824 AD).
According to a statement released by Adelphi University, researchers led by Anagnostis Agelarakis examined the remains of four women and six men who were buried at the site of Paliokastro on the Greek island of Thasos.
It is assumed that the men and women were part of a group of mounted archers and lancers. Unearthed from elaborate graves near a monumental church, their bones indicated their physical activities, traumas, and even a complex form of brain surgery.
“The burial place and architecture of the funerary monumental church and the construction of the graves is spectacular,” said lead researcher and anthropologist Anagnostis Agelarakis, PhD, who added that it indicates the high social standing of the individuals buried there.
All of the individuals led physically demanding lives, and men and women had both suffered traumas that had been treated with great care, Agelarakis explained.
For the brain surgery, Agelarakis suggests that “even despite a grim prognosis, an extensive effort was given to this surgery for this male. So, it’s likely that he was a very important individual to the population at Paliokastro.”
Agelarakis explains that this brain surgery is the most “complex I have ever seen in my 40 years of working with anthropological materials,” and found it unbelievable that it was carried out in a pre-antibiotic era.
Early evidence of brain surgeries in Greece was also found over 10 years ago by Greek archaeologists in Veria, uncovering the body of woman who had died from from a failed brain operation 1,800 years ago.
“We interpret the find as a case of complicated surgery, which only a trained and specialized doctor could have attempted,” Thessaloniki site excavator Ioannis Graikos said.
Greece’s Education Ministry said Friday that it will extend the period during which schools and universities will have to remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The ministry extended the closure to May 10 following a recommendation by the expert committee advising the government on its response to COVID-19.
Asked to comment on speculation that schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year, Education Minister Niki Kerameus told Skai TV on Friday that no such recommendation has been received by the ministry until now.
Greece closed schools of all levels, universities and other educational institutions on March 6, ten days after the first coronavirus patient tested positive.
In Australia, Greece, and other Greek-populated countries in the world, the
main question in conversation at this time is how do we celebrate a Greek Easter
in isolation? How do we do make every tradition the same as the previous years?
The answer is, we don’t keep it the same. We improvise, we adapt, and we overcome. By no means necessary has Easter been “cancelled” this year. In fact, it’s begun more intimate than ever before.
This year families will be celebrating Greek Easter differently, yet it doesn’t mean we can’t make it as fun and connected possible. Greek Easter will never be experienced like this again in the foreseeable future, so it’s important to document this week with photos, look back on it and 20 years and think how about how Greeks didn’t let this virus stop our Easter traditions.
Family Baking For The Weekend
For Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday coming up soon, we hope to see families baking their Lazarakia and Koulourakia. Baking Koulourakia is a great family activity and there are many ways you can make it even more special this year. Maybe have every member of your family design a special Koulourakia, crafting an original cross or one with the first letter of your name.
While we can’t go to church and collect our palm crosses this year, why don’t you try weaving them yourselves! There are many guides online that can show you how to design your very own cross to share with your family.
Holy Week Traditions
This Easter Thursday, the Greek community should be making a collection of κόκκινα αυγά larger than has been seen in the last 30 years. Now is the best opportunity to show your children how to make their own red eggs. When you make your first batch, take a photo of your first red egg sitting on the home’s Iconostasis.
Also on Easter Thursday, don’t forget to bake your own Tsoureki for the family. While people won’t be gifting them to their cousins this year, they are still an essential piece of food to have for your lunch tables on Easter Sunday.
While we can’t attend the Anastasi in church at midnight on Easter Saturday this year, people can wish all of their cousins and extended family ‘Christos Anesti’from home! Organise a Zoom or Skype call with all of your family members as you watch the midnight mass through live streams on TV and the Internet. If you can’t do that, then simply watch the service with your close family members and enjoy a warm bowl of mayiritsa soup.
The Greek Herald hopes to see glimpses everyone’s special Easter celebrations this week and we hope that our readers take part these intimate family traditions.
In these unusual days, we need optimism and laughter to give another perspective as to what we are experiencing.
For #KeepItGreek, The Greek Herald will turn your computer or Smart TV into a home cinema and will choose a Greek comedy from the old Greek cinema every week.
The older ones will remember the Greece of the past, the younger ones will learn it through the legendary movie scenes.
This week, Thanasis Vengos is ‘Katafertzis’ in the classic Greek comedy “O Katafertzis“. In the film, a miserable young man who will be found entangled in endless misunderstandings and chased by his girlfriend’s brother and boss.
Αυτές τις ασυνήθιστες ημέρες χρειαζόμαστε αισιοδοξία και γέλιο, που μπορεί να δώσει μια άλλη προοπτική στα όσα βιώνουμε.
Ο Ελληνικός Κήρυκας θα μετατρέψει τον υπολογιστή σας ή την Smart Tv σας σε Home Cinema και θα επιλέγει κάθε εβδομάδα μια ελληνική κωμωδία του παλιού ελληνικού κινηματογράφου.
Οι μεγαλύτεροι θα θυμηθούν την Ελλάδα του παρελθόντος, οι νεότεροι θα την μάθουν μέσα από τις σκηνές των ταινιών.
Ο Θανάσης Βέγγος είναι ο «Καταφερτζής». Ένας κακομοίρης νεαρός που θα βρεθεί μπλεγμένος σε άπειρες παρεξηγήσεις και κυνηγημένος από τον αδελφό και τον προϊστάμενο της κοπέλας.
The Victorian Government have pledged their commitment in ensuring women and children escaping domestic violence have a safe place to go, investing $40.2 million in crisis accommodation and specialist services.
Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Gabrielle Williams and Minister for Housing Richard Wynne today announced the Victorian Government will be making this investment for people suffering or at risk of family violence during the coronavirus pandemic.
“For some women, the biggest fear during this pandemic won’t be coronavirus – it will be the fear they can’t escape a violent partner. That’s why this funding is so important – it will give them and their children a safe place to go,” Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Gabrielle Williams says.
“We’ve worked with our specialist family violence services to identify and deliver exactly what they need to help Victorians escaping family violence throughout the coronavirus pandemic. No one will be left behind.”
The Government announced that it will invest $20 million in short-term accommodation for family violence victim survivors who do not feel safe isolating or recovering from coronavirus at home.
“This extra accommodation will mean any Victorian experiencing family violence throughout this pandemic will have somewhere safe to stay when they need it most,” Minister for Housing Richard Wynne says.
Below is a detailed list of the allocation of the remaining crisis investment funds:
$20.2 million – Allocated to help Victorian family violence services meet the expected increase in demand during the coronavirus pandemic.
$10.4 million – Provided to help more women and children escape family violence and get access to safe accommodation and related support, with $5.1 million given for more flexible support packages across the state.
Just under $5 million – Allocated towards new technology and protective equipment for up to 120 family violence and sexual assault organisations, so they can adapt their services and keep their staff safe, while protecting and supporting victim survivors and their families.
The package also includes targeted funding for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to meet additional demand for family violence case management and crisis support.
This investment is in addition to the $6 million provided by the Commonwealth Government to help meet the needs
of Victorians experience family violence during the coronavirus pandemic.
For help and support, and to find out more, visit safesteps.org.au or call safesteps 24/7 on 1800 015 188.
The Hellenic Police (ELAS) recorded a total of 2,104 violations of a government lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus on Wednesday, ELAS said Thursday.
The majority of the violations (793) were recorded in Attica, with 274 in Thessaloniki, 170 in Central Macedonia and 157 in Western Greece.
Between March 23, when the lockdown was introduced, and Wednesday, police said they recorded 26,855 violations. Authorities also arrested a total of 374 owners or managers of businesses operating despite restrictions forbidding them to do so between March 12 and Wednesday.
Police prepare for Easter travel restrictions
Greek authorities want to prevent citizens from leaving for their villages to mark Easter holidays. Photo: Tornos News
Greek Police are intensifying inspections at road tolls, ahead of the Holy Week for Orthodox Easter beginning next week, protothema.gr reports.
Officers were stationed at two major road tolls in Attica checking whether drivers had the necessary movement permits, as the Greek authorities want to prevent an exodus to the countryside in light of Easter week, in efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Greeks traditionally leave the Attica basin in great numbers during the Easter holidays and head towards their villages to celebrate. However, this year authorities are determined to clamp down hard on “undisciplined” citizens who do not comply with the strict coronavirus lockdown measures.
