Ag Dimitrios

Today has been the feast of Agios Dimitrios, patron saint of Thessaloniki.
Ag Dimitrios is usually shown astride a red horse looking to the viewer's left and spearing a chap. Distinct from Agios Georgios who is usually shown astride a white horse looking towards the viewer's right and spearing a dragon. They make a rather attractive pair of matching icons if you like that kind of thing.

Be that as it may, there were surprises in store at the supermarket today.
The Greek word for flour is αλεύρι (alevri). All purpose flour is αλέυρι για όλες τις χρήσεις (ΓΟΧ).

When we first moved here I wanted to buy some flour and needed to make absolutely sure it wasn't self-raising. I spoke no Greek then but had rehearsed the word alevri before nipping into Dimitri's supermarket. Having found the flour I took it to the counter to check with Dimitri's wife, Dora, that it wouldn't go FOUM! With an appropriately explosive gesture of the hands. She smiled and laughed and assured me it wouldn't go FOUM! To this day I have never found any flour that does go FOUM! In Greece, one has to buy baking powder to make it do that.

But today on the supermarket shelf I see φαρίνα (farina)! That is not the Greek for flour! That's Italian isn't it? But hey! What does that say beneath? το αλέυρι που φουσκώνει μόνο του (the flour that inflates itself)! Wow!

And there beside that is κέικ φλάουρ (cake flour). A couple of shelves farther down is κορν φλάουρ (corn flour) which should be αλέυρι από καλαμπόκι (alevri apo kalamboki) if it were proper Greek, but it isn't, it's just English words in Greek letters. The final straw was on the next shelf κουσταρ παουντερ (coustar powder). I am sorry but I am a purist and if you want to make Greek letters sound like 'custard powder' then they should be written thus; κάσταρντ πάουντερ.

Oh No! I have just spotted that beneath the custard powder is τσηζκέικ (cheesecake) AAG!