It contains wheat or barley (the seed which is buried in the ground brings for the new life), thrice cleaned, steeped in hot water and then dried on cloths before being mixed with sesame seeds (toasted and ground), cinnamon, nutmeg, honey and, sometimes, pomegranate seeds. The finished dish is then blessed by a priest at a Mass at which the living remember and pray for their loved ones and all souls who have died in faith of the church as part of a tradition dating back to the 12th Century.
The recipe actually predates even Christianity to the ancient Greek culture with particular reference to the Pantheon of deities: the barley or wheat representing Demeter the earth goddess, pomegranate signifying her daughter, Persephone, the queen of the underworld and, when other almonds and raisins were added, Aphrodite and Dionysus to whom those nuts and fruit were sacred.
It was a privilege to be able to share in a moment of Greek (and Eastern Orthodox) culture that is both truly historic and full of spiritual symbolism – especially as tomorrow marks the 15th anniversary of my own mother's death...
You can read all about Koliva here.
Photos © Brian Sibley and David Weeks
5 comments:
Did it taste like Chicken?
Not really... More like wheat with honey, sesame and cinnamon...
Interesting! Since my work on the Hobbit ended had to get a job which at my age proved somewhat of a challenge. So now I push a trolley doing other peoples shopping for them at a supermarket. This means that I am around food all day and get to see the variety of diets people have. One day I was picking puffed wheat cereal and had a sudden flash back to remembering my Uncle who died in the 80's as this was his favorite breakfast food.
I have been thinking as I "shop" that I like to remember loved ones on their birthdays as I prefer to remember them in a positive way rather than their moment of departure. I have been thinking that on birthdays it would be good to cook and share food they loved as a remembrance of good times. For example my first husband it would definately have to a roast with all the trimings!
Thanks this was interesting and along the lines of my train of thought. Cheers from a rather cold and windy Wellington
Sorry Brian should have put my name in , it's Beverley the "Hobbit knitter"! Yes pushing a trolley hardly uses my skills but not much call for full time crafters whose speciality is knitting. I have managed to do some work for 3 more movies while working part time however. I gave up a full time job of 20 years to do the Hobbit but couldn't go back to it. Hopefully something else will come along but in the meantime there are bills to pay and one has to eat lol!
Hi, Beverley: good to hear from you but sorry about the trolley-pushing and wishing better things for you ahead... Bx
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