Preparation:

Heat half the oil in a wide, shallow pan. Add the meat and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the onions, garlic, vinegar, tomatoes, allspice berries, bay leaves, and cayenne, if using, and season with salt and pepper. Stir well, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 1 hour, or until the meat is tender. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a skillet or frying pan. Add the peppers and cook over low heat, turning occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until softened. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels. When they are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and put the flesh into the pan, around and between the pieces of meat. Do not stir. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced. Serve hot.

Serves 4

Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 1 1/4 hours

Relations between the Greeks and the Turks have by no means always been harmonious - to put it mildly. Even so, there are certain things on which sweet consensus exists, like baklava for example. And it is not only between these two peoples that this syrup-steeped confection serves as a unifying influence: it is widely known and popular far beyond the Balkans and the East. In the original Turkish version, so-called yufka-leaves, from which borek (pastry pockets) and katmer (puff pastry dainties) were made, formed the basic pastry. The Greeks use fillo pastry which is rolled out as thinly as you could possibly imagine and filled, according to preference, with finely chopped walnuts, pistachio nuts, or almonds. This type of confectionery now occupies a firm place in traditional Greek cuisine, not just as a dessert but as a little nourishing snack to go with a coffee and water. Baklava is a must whenever you want to spoil your guests, but at the same time it is a popular gift to bring to your hosts.

The nuts are crushed in a mortar. They do not have to ground evenly.	Mix together the nuts, breadcrumbs, cinnamon, and sugar to taste.	Brush the first two wafer-thin sheets of phyllo pastry on the baking pan with melted butter.
Make a second layer with 1 buttered sheet and cover with filling, continuing in this way until the 9th/10th layer.	Just before baking, cut the characteristic diamond pattern into the top layer of baklava.	Once the pastry has soaked up all the syrup, the baklava is ready for serving.

Details taken from the Chiusi cup. Function of warps taken from the Pristicci crater. Arrangement of loomweights taken from the New York lekythos. The loom is composed by 4 «istopodes» or «keleontes», upon which the «antion» (the upper horinzontal cylindrical wooden beam) is fixed. From it the «stimon» (the threads) and the «kairos» (the lower horizontal cylindrical wooden beam) are hanged. «Agnythes» (clay, stone or lead loomweights, in the shape of a pyramid) were tied on the lower part of the warps, to keep them straight.

The knitting of the warps was made with the aid of the «mitos», e.g. the loops of the «kanon», the small horizontal cylindrical beam working alternately to and fro and letting the ball of thread pass between the warps. The weaving was made upwards and the cloth was wrapped around the «antion». The loom was reconstructed by students of the Krestena Gymnasium, in the Technology laboratory of the school, in order to produce Hera's peplos for the «revival of Heraia», therefore it bears the inscription «to Hera potnia» written in Linear B. For its construction much pictorial information drawn by 23 ancient decorated vases, sometimes controversial, was used.

Excerpt from:
Ancient Greek Technology,
by Ailos Publications
(in English and Greek)