We sincerely hope you enjoy it!

If you have a suggestion, an idea or a request, you can ask me, John Krontiras, by simply replying to this email. Periodically we will have a drawing from the email addresses in our system and we will offer various gifts, i.e. free dinner, items from Nabeel's® Market, and from our new Café Capri.

Congratulations to SJackson@gateway.bsc.edu

Note: In most cases we have not kept the actual name/address of an individual to mail the winning Gift Certificate and as a result we mail the winner, the Certificate to their e-mail address. When you receive the e-mail, it will have a subject: Nabeel's Gift Certificate You need to open the file and save it in Microsoft Word under "My Documents". Print the document, tear the Gift Certificate out, and bring to Nabeel's to redeem it. If you live outside of the Birmingham area, please forward this e-mail (gift certificate) to nabeels@nabeels.com and a gift will be mailed to you.

The spring is gone and summer is almost over, a perfect time for vacation. Greece is one of the most beautiful places in the world to visit for your vacation. Cities, villages, history, mountains, sea, islands, a civilization of over 4000 years and everything that pleases even the most discriminating visitor. So, I will start this new column with tidbits about Greece, places to visit, some frequently and needed Greek words and phrases, and also list some of the best places to visit while vacationing in Greece. Are you planning a trip to Greece and you have questions about the food, or places to go, or things to do? You can email me (nabeels@nabeels.com) your questions and I will be more than happy to answer you, and to some extent help you with your trip.

Last month we featured the island of Santorini. This month we will feature one of the most popular islands for vacation in Europe. The island of Poros, (pronounced Po'ros). Poros is a small island and located in the Saronic Gulf, only 1 hour with the hydrofoil from Piraeus. Poros is considered one of the loveliest islands and because of its many good tourist accommodations it attracts many tourists. If you want a quiet and relaxing vacation you will not find a better place to spend your vacation. Poros is a volcanic island and also consists of two smaller islands Sferia and Kalavria with green hills and a beautiful coastline. A bridge connects both islands. Visit the link above to learn more about Poros.

Want to impress your Greek friends? Here are some common Greek words and phrases that you will find very helpful when you visit Greece.

Greek is a language with long history. The language itself has developed over the centuries into the Modern Greek of today, spoken by approximately 11 million people. Greek is a phonetic language, which means that the sound of each letter does not change with its position. Although the characters may appear a little confusing at first, don't be put off by this. With a little practice most people can read Greek in just a few hours. More words and phrases coming next month

*** Note: The ( ' ) indicates where the accent should be ***

Questions Poo ee'ne; - Where is it? Poo peeghe'nete; - Where are you going? Etho' - Here Me'sa sto aftokee'neeto - In the car Stee'n Ella'tha- In Greece Me'sa -Inside

Apo' tees Eenomeenes polietee'-es- From the U.S. Konda stee'n Tra'peza - Near the Bank Sta areestera'/thekseea' - On the left/right Epa'no - Upstairs Pro's teen Atheena - Towards Athens Odo's/Thro'mos - Street

Useful telephone numbers when in Athens or other Greek cities:

Fire Dept	199
Ambulance	166
City Police (emergency)	100
Doctors (2pm-7am)	105
SOS 24-hour medical service	3310310
Automobile and Touring Club(ELPA)	779-1615
ELPA road assistance	104
Int'l Students & Youth Services	322-1267
TOURIST POLICE	171

(Tourist Police offers 24-hours information service in Greek, English, German, French) In all of Greece these telephone numbers are the same. You do not need to remember different numbers for different cities, which makes it very useful and very convenient!

Thessaloniki, or Salonica, is situated in the northern part of Greece, the second largest city of over 1,000,000 people and it is one of the oldest cities in Europe.

Thessaloniki stretches over twelve kilometers in an area formed by hills facing a beautiful bay that opens into the Gulf of Thermaikos after which the Gulf was named from the town of Thermi . Thessaloniki was founded in 315 B.C., on a site of settlements going back 2300 years, by Cassander, king of Macedonia, and was named after his wife, Thessaloniki, sister of Alexander the Great. During the first century B.C. many Jews came to Thessaloniki and formed a large Jewish community near the port. They say that it is possible that the first synagogue, where Apostle Paul preached, was on this site, on Laskari street.

A very important event took place in 50 A.D. that gave a very important meaning to the history of Thessaloniki and made the city the first among Christian communities in Greece; the preaching there of the Christian religion by the Apostle Paul.

The city was occupied by the Ottoman Turks in 1430 A.D. and towards the end of the 15th century many Jews came to Thessaloniki from Spain the Sepharadim (Sepharad=Spain in Hebrew) and were the principle agents of the great economic progress of the city, which by the 16th century had many Jewish neighborhoods and 80 synagogues. Around 1593 the Jewish community was thrown into turmoil by the preaching of Shabbetai Sevi, a mystic from Smyrna, who taught his fellow Jews that he was the Messiah. His preaching had a great effect in Thessaloniki and in Germany, France, Poland, Egypt and Persia (Iran). The Turkish authorities, uneasy about this religious disturbance in the empire, imprisoned Sevi. To avoid death in 1666, he accepted Islam. Thousands of those who believed in him followed his example, thus creating a new element in the population, the Jewish-Moslems, known as Donmes ( a Turkish word meaning apostate).

There are some beautiful monuments and of particular interest in the city are those from the Roman period, Triumphal Arc of Galerius and the Rotunda as well as the White Tower Thessaloniki above all is very famous for its many churches whose fine mosaics and wall paintings are representative of various periods of Byzantine art that have survived to enhance the image of the city.

Moreover, the next time you're in Greece do not miss the opportunity to visit Thessaloniki , a beautiful trip; the bus will stop in several places on the way.

More evidence that tomato sauce lowers prostate cancer. Some recent research, from the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, provides some good news for men who like tomato sauce. The report was published in the Journal of National Cancer Institute (2002)

Men who ate two or more servings of tomato sauce per week had a 23% lower risk of developing cancer than men that consumed less than one serving per month. There was some other good news as well for the heavy sauce eaters. Even when they were diagnosed with prostate cancer, their tumors were less likely to be locally advanced or to have metastasized.

Add Some Oregano Too

In a recent report in the American Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2002) a study found oregano to have the highest antioxidant activity of the 27 culinary herbs and 12 medicinal herbs. Oregano has 42 more times antioxidant activity than apples, 30 times more than potatoes, and 12 times more than oranges.

I love oregano personally, and we use oregano extensively in most of our recipes at Nabeel's. For those that do not like oregano other herbs also have antioxidant effects. Among the more familiar are dill, rosemary, thyme, and peppermint.
[ This data was printed in the May/June 2002 Cancer Journal for Clinicians ]

Hamburgers
They may not be identical but many countries have hamburgers; yet call them different names. All of these are patties of some type of ground beef or ground lamb. Here they are:

GREECE: Bifte'ki
Seasoned with onions, parsley, including bread, eggs, always served with freshly fried potatoes. No ketchup please! Hot mustard.

FRANCE: Bifteck Hache'
Seasoned with onion, shallots, parsley and includes flour, red wine and eggs.

CUBA: Fritas
Seasoned with paprika and most of the time includes bread and onions.

BULGARIA: Kyufteta
A neighbor of Greece, seasons with cumin and parsley and eggs but they mostly use ground lamb.

RUSSIA: Kotlety
Use beef and pork pattied into bread crumbs, and served with kasha.

Greeks consume more olive oil per person than anyone else on earth.

Greeks consume more olive oil per person than anyone else on earth. The Crete and Peloponnese are not only the largest oil producers but also produce the best olive oil in the world! That is where TSITALIA extra virgin olive oil comes from. From the olive tree groves of the island of Crete. Consumers, particularly those of us in the U.S.A, are in difficult position, in selecting the correct extra virgin olive oil.

What you want is an oil that gives you pleasure, that you can use with abandon, instead of an expensive luxury that you are afraid to dispense each drop. Olive oil is a commodity meant to be generously poured over salads, cooking meats, fish, poultry, etc. Therefore, you need an oil that is reasonably priced and that is excellent in taste and aroma. TSITALIA® Oil gives you all of that; the aroma, the taste and a price that you can't beat. It is a product you can trust because it is brought to you by George Sarris of the Fish Market Restaurant and is available at Nabeel's International Market.

George Sarris imports this oil directly from Greece and specifically from the island of Crete, where the first olive tree was planted some 4,500 years ago. George named the oil TSITALIA to honor his birthplace, a town in the eastern part of Peloponnese, called Tsitalia.

Only $3.59 per bottle!

You can savor the difference with Nabeel's® GLORIA Classic Greek Dressing.

GLORIA a household name for over 30 years was my father's business name in Patras, Greece. GLORIA™ Chocolatier. We use the GLORIA™ name, to honor my father, and also the person, my father, that gave this recipe to my wife, even before I got myself involved in the restaurant business and I was still in the corporate world. It came very handy we believe!

A Birmingham prominent artist, Suzan Oliver, designed the label which depicts freshness, simplicity, and taste. It is still made by hand, just like the first time, using only the finest and freshest ingredients. Just one taste and you will experience the difference. Excellent for salads and any type of grilling, whether it is meat, fish or chicken.

Try the recipe, which appears on the bottle, for the Peasant Greek Salad, dip the bread in the salad juices and enjoy a meal on its own that has been enjoyed for centuries in Greece, and is beautiful in its simplicity and wholesomeness! Gloria Classic Greek Dressing is available at Nabeel's® Market and also at Western Supermarkets, Piggly Wiggly, V. Richards Market, and The Fish Market Restaurant (downtown). Price $3.59 per bottle.

Click here to order now!

Visit the recipes section of our website for ideas!

If you'd prefer that we do the cooking, take a look at our menu.

Most of our recipes are recipes that we use at home, either from my family (Krontiras), or my wife's family (Mastropasqua) This one is from my wife's family, my mother-in-law's.

Ingredients: