KO’s Yiouvarlakia (Meatball Soup with Rice) is one of my mum’s recipes. This is a recipe she learned from her mother and one that I took with me, when Eugene and I moved to Seattle, almost 30 years ago. It is a wholesome and hearty soup that nourished and comforted us while we lived there and has nourished and nurtured our children since our return to Australia 7 years later.

It’s a soup that I would make when we stayed in accommodation that had a kitchen, when we travelled, and I would feel satisfied that my children had at least one nutritious and satiating meal that day.

It’s a soup that my beautiful thia Vanggio would make, and have ready for us to eat, when we arrived after 30 hours of journeying from Melbourne, Australia, to Kastraki, Greece… In fact, my aunt would also make a large batch of the meatballs and freeze them uncooked. I would then take out as many as I needed and turn them into soup, for an easy dinner for my children, when they were tired after a long day touring around the Meteora.

Just writing this makes me see how this soup for me, for my family, expresses connection, continuity and commitment to life and each other… and the fact that real food isn’t just food, it’s so much more…

Eleni’s passion for cooking was ignited as a young girl watching her mother and her nine aunts, all sisters, cooking together and preparing family feasts. Eleni witnessed the joy of cooking, companionship and collective creativity, as she watched these women working together. The food they then shared was infused with all these memories; memories that remain indelible for Eleni.

Eleni learned her sheftalies recipe in the same way. She became friends with Vasiliki when Vasiliki came to Melbourne for post-graduate studies. Vasiliki and Eleni bonded instantly over their shared Cypriot heritage and their love of cooking. They would often cook all day and then invite their friends over to feast on the food they had prepared and celebrate their friendship, well into the night, with music and dance.

Vasiliki taught Eleni her family’s sheftalies recipe and now Eleni has made this recipe so many times, it has become her signature recipe too. Eleni’s Sheftalies are made with cinnamon-spiced pork mince; a generous amount of fresh parsley; brown onions; dried mint and seasoning, and then wrapped in caul fat, before being barbecued over hot charcoals. The fat in the caul fat renders out, making the sheftalies juicy and delicious. They are usually made for special celebrations and get togethers. They take a little preparation to make, but if the effort of making them is shared, then the family, friendship and feasting rewards are enormous!