Cooking Tales with herbs & grains in Vardakeios School of Ermoupolis

Off-season I work at Vardakeios School of Ermoupolis, giving longer workshops to people who live on Syros the whole year round.

It is the time when the island is quiet from tourism, and we, who work in the summer, can indulge ourselves with new knowledge.

“The role of GRAINS, HERBS, AND SPICES in everyday cooking for wellness” is one of my favorite 15-hour workshops. Spices and herbs, in addition to their magical taste and aroma, are essential to food digestion and provide valuable nutrients to the body. Wholemeal grains, almost forgotten now, are absolutely necessary for proper nutrition.

This is a workshop that helps us remember that grains have had a dominant position in our diet since antiquity. It also gives us the opportunity to learn about the nutritional properties and culinary uses of new ones.

All of my workshops have a theoretical part and a hands-on part. I give the participants recipes for cooking grains and information on how to use them, in which dishes, and how to combine them with spices and herbs in a way to strengthen and stabilize their action in our bodies.

We are open to improvisation, experimentation, and adventure while cooking.

We all experience that cooking and playing are equally important in life.