In Greece we call this type of ice cream “kaimaki” and it very typical of 1960s style confectionery shops selling baklava and kataifi as well as other types of-usually syrupy- sweets, but the recipe is based on Diana Abu-Jaber’s book The Language of Baklava, which was the previous Cook the Books pick. It is very often served in silver-style bowls and I remember eating it after big meals with the family over ekmek kataifi or with ravani. I always thought that it tasted of the mastic, but Diana’s recipe revealed another very interesting ingredient: sahlep (we call it salepi in Greek).

Commenting on the statistics, the special advisor to the Association of Greek Export and Consignment Enterprises for Fruit, Vegetables and Juices INCOFRUIT – HELLAS, Giorgos Polichronakis, said: “Turkey showed the most cases of excessive use of pesticide residue in fruit and vegetables during the reported period, with 38 cases (34 of which were peppers) followed by Egypt with 16. Ranked third, with 12 cases, are countries such as India, the Dominican Republic and Nigeria. Spain has been reported with 5 cases, while the Netherlands and Morocco have 5 and four 4 cases respectively.”

The most notices for excessive use were submitted in Bulgaria (35), followed by Italy (21), the Netherlands (19), the United Kingdom (19) and France (18).

To read more, please visit greenmed.eu

In some souvlaki shops the meat is skewered and sometimes you can get ground beef, which is generally known as beefteki. In some upscale souvlaki shops you can get chicken souvlakis and even swordfish souvlakis (Very rare. I think there is a place next to MacDonalds at Syntagma where I saw it). Souvlaki comes in wax paper which keeps it all together and you eat it like you are peeling a banana. It can be messy but who cares?
When I was a kid I could eat three or four of them easily but now I have trouble imagining eating one. But that is only because the only time I would eat in a souvlaki shop would be in the day because dinners are eaten in tavernas as a form of entertainment as well as sustainance and who wants to eat a big greasy sandwhich when it is 95 degrees out? Well, many people do and they are still quite popular day or night. In fact when I tell my old friends who used to live in Greece I am going there, they always ask me to bring them back a souvlaki. One American kid from the US Airbase filled a suitcase with souvlakis when he left Greece after his father's tour of duty was over. So you see the power of the Souvlaki is strong and unless you are the most militant vegetarean you should not leave Greece without trying one.(You can get them without meat too.)
The great thing about souvlakis is that they are cheap and if your kids are hungry you can send them to the souvlaki shop for dinner. They can go and order for themselves and it will be a sort of adventure and fill them with confidence in their ability to survive in a foreign culture. Besides the souvlaki in the pita you can find street vendors selling souvlaki kalamaki which is skewered meat with a regular piece of bread instead of pita and no onions, tomatoes or sadziki. 
The Best Souvlaki Shop in Athens
Ask any taxi driver which is the best souvlaki shop and they will tell you it is Thanasis across the street. Is it the best? Who knows? Others say Kostas on Adrianou is the best. Some people like the souvlaki in Platia Iroon in Psiri. Probably the best is in some neighborhood tourists never visit. If you have a favorite let me know. See Readers Souvlaki Reviews The most popular Souvlaki shops are those at the end of Metropolis street right at Monastiraki square. The one on the corner is owned by the same guy who owns the famous old Taverna Sigalas, right next door. His name is Spiro and his picture is everywhere, happily posing with famous people, Greeks and international. In fact it is my personal goal to have my picture up there with Spiro one day since it is sort of Greece's answer to Gruman's Chinese Theater. So if you want to do a little active campaigning for me feel free to ask Spiro or the waiter when will he have Matt Barrett in one of his pictures. Generally you have to be a little more famous than I am but with the help of some of my readers maybe we can speed up the timetable and ensure my immortality.

 Copied with permission from Matt Barrett's http://athensguide.com

When in season, fresh tomatoes, dill and parsley really make this dish sing but otherwise pantry staples, canned diced tomatoes and dried herbs, also work well so you can enjoy this tasty pasta all year round.

Ingredients

240 grams linguine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
red chili pepper flakes to taste
1/4 cup white wine or chicken broth
4 cups diced fresh tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 kilo shrimp, peeled and deviened
1/2 cup feta, crumbled
1 tablespoon dill, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Bring water to a boil in a large pot and cook the pasta as directed on package.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan over medium heat, add the onion and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the garlic and chili pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the wine and simmer for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes and oregano and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes
Add the shrimp and and simmer until cooked, about 2-4 minutes.
Mix in the feta, dill and parsley, season with salt and pepper and serve over the linguine.

Option: Add a splash of ouzo or other anise liqueur along with the tomatoes or 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds with the garlic and chili pepper flakes for a hint of the exotic.
Option: Use 1 teaspoon dried dill instead of fresh and add to the sauce along with the oregano.
Tip: Serve with crusty bread to sop up any and all leftover sauce.

Nutrition Facts: Calories 422, Fat 9g (Saturated 3g, Trans 0), Cholesterol 159mg, Sodium 880mg, Carbs 56g (Fiber 4g, Sugars 8g), Protein 27g

By Kevin Lynch

www.closetcooking.com

Mastic cultivation, along with its gathering and processing, takes place in all four seasons of the year and is similar to other traditional cultivations, such as the olive. And it has always been a family affair.
Mastic is the natural resin excreted from the trunk and branches of the schinos, the local Greek name for the mastic tree (Pistacia Lentiscus var. Chia). It is an evergreen shrub that takes 40-50 years to reach its full height of 2-3 meters. It has the potential to produce mastic five years after being planted. The tree is a resilient plant, vulnerable only to extreme cold.

The preparation for the cultivation of mastic begins in February of each year. First, the lower braches of the tree are pruned and then they are trimmed into a specific shape, in order to enable light to reach all of the branches and to make way for harvesting.
Summer is the season of mastic production and collection and depending on weather conditions, the season can last up to 75 days.
Villagers from the mastic towns flock to the fields to incise the tree trunks carefully with a sharp pointed tool so as not to damage the tree. "It requires respect" as mastic cultivators say, and so they do not entrust this task to casual laborers.

Immediately after the incisions are made, sap begins to ooze out and drip onto the soil beneath which has been prepared beforehand by the cultivators. The ground under each tree is cleaned of pebbles and dead leaves and is then covered with a white chalky powdered stone which helps harden the sap upon contact and makes it easy to collect the falling mastic drops. It takes 15-20 days for the drops to harden into crystalline granules ready for collection. The taste is initially somewhat bitter; however the bitterness soon gives way to a unique flavor that is much prized. The hardness of the mastic depends on the climate and atmospheric temperature, the duration of the resin's exposure on the tree outdoors as well as the size of the droplet. When a tree's flow is constant, the drop is big and rather soft while a non-constant flow gives a small but harder drop.
Collection is completed by September in the early morning hours. The workers first collect the big pieces that have formed from the drippings called pita (pie). Then they collect fat droplets and sweep the rest into sacks; finally, they collect the droplets that have remained on the branches and trunk of the tree. The harvest is stored in cool storerooms.

Later, the process of cleaning the mastic starts. This process takes months, starting at the producer's house and ending at the facilities of the Chios mastiha growers association. The cleaning of the mastic is traditionally a woman's job, particularly older women. First they sift it to get rid of any twigs, leaves and soil. Then they wash it and spread it out inside their homes to dry. Next, using a pointed knife they clean it granule by granule of any foreign matter that has stuck to it. This procedure begins in the fall and lasts until spring. Since it is a tiring and tedious job, it is performed as a group project. Each woman asks her friends to help her and they usually work for three or four hours at a time. This collaborative spirit is a custom that has long existed among the inhabitants of the villages.

Today there are two categories of mastic producers: Professional farmers who make up approximately 20 percent and those who practice another trade and produce mastic as a part-time job. The permanent residents of Mastihohoria are for the most part farmers. Mastic production slowed down between 1970 and the early 1990s but in recent years, the rise in price of mastic has reignited interest in the cultivation of the gum.

By Sarah Shaban, Arab News