At the Supermarket

Recently I was food shopping at Adams Fairacre Farms in Newburgh, NY, and I couldn't help noticing their wide array of Hellenic, Greek (Hellenic is a synonym for Greek), products.

Near the deli counter I saw a cardboard box with Hellenic writing: <<ΔΙΑΤΗΡΗΣΤΕ ΤΑ ΣΕ ΔΡΟΣΕΡΟ ΚΑΙ ΞΗΡΟ ΜΕΡΟΣ>>, which translates to "Keep them in a cool and dry place". In Hellas/Greece, if you want to place quotation marks around text you use << and >> and you don't surround the text is quotes. It's very funny watching a Greek/Έλληνα, do air quotes. I've posted a YouTube video explaining Hellenic air quotes.

I went around the box and I saw it was full of KRISPIES crackers made by the legendary Papadopoulos company.

As I moved closer to the cheese counter I saw a display of Kefalotiri (Κεφαλοτύρι) by Krinos. Kefalotiri or Kefalotyri is a traditional Greek cheese that is a very hard, dry, light-yellow with a sharp flavor and it's made from sheep or goat milk.

Further down there was an impressive display case with dolmas. You may see it shown as dolmades or dolmadakia. In Greece, people almost always use the diminutive version of words.

• They don't say dolmades, they say dolmadakia
• They don't say psomi (bread), they say psomaki
• They don't say kafes (coffee), they say kafedaki
• They don't say computer, they say computeraki
• They don't say Vaggeli (my Hellenic name), they say Vaggelaki

I think you get the idea with the diminutive of words.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the dolmas was made in Politika (village name), Evia (region name), Greece! Ach! I spent such quality time in Evia when I was a young lad! Well, I had to buy several of those cans to support the Evian economy.

Pallirria is the name of the company and they have an array of products.

Later on and back at home I eat the dolmades (plural of dolmas) with olives, feta cheese and bread.

Happy eating Hellenic foods!