02x07 - Greeks on the Gulf - Tarpon Springs, FL

[bunniefuu]

By the looks of it,

you might think I'm summering
on a fabulous Greek island.

And in a way, I am.

Only this Greek getaway...

is in Florida.

Just north of Tampa
is a city called Tarpon Springs.

Almost every Greek family here
comes from the same place.

It's as if a tiny Mediterranean island
was picked up and plonked down

on the coast of Florida.

It's like I left the island,
and I came to the island.

They brought with
them the village way of life,

summed up in a single Greek word:

Horio. So, Horio in Greek,
means village.

Like, the whole town is my family.

We all look out for each other.

Woo! Whoa!

...and it's beautiful.

And the concept of
Horio especially applies to food.

That is a thing of beauty.

But the face of Tarpon Springs
is changing.

There's a big influx
of generic tourist shops or generic food

that are not owned by Greeks.

They're not even owned
by people who live in Tarpon.

And some say change
is threatening their way of life.

Down in my heart and my blood,
I cannot forget where I come from.

My roots.

Can a place be both rooted in its past

and accepting of the future?

I came to America when I was four.

I'm an immigrant, and I'm not alone.

I've spent my life writing about food
and tasting the world.

Now, I want to explore who we are
through the food we eat.

My game is strong.

What exactly is American food?
And what makes us American?

I'm Padma Lakshmi.

Come with me
as we Taste the Nation.

Much like in Greece, the way of life here

is connected to the sea.

Just swap out the Mediterranean...

Howdy.

...for the Florida coast.

The man at the helm of this vessel

is Anastasios Karistinos.

They call him "Taso."

You know, Taso, this is the whole reason
we came to Tarpon Springs.

Today, he's showing me why
so many Greeks came to Florida.

Sponges. For real.

Before synthetic sponges
were invented in the 1940s,

everyone bathed and cleaned
with natural sponges,

found at the bottom of the ocean.

And the heart of the industry
was in the Greek Isles.

Why are Greek people so talented
at diving for sponges?

They have nothing else to do
on the island.

There was nothing,
an island, but s... ocean,

so they start working in the ocean
and they became good at it.

So good, that when
the natural sponge industry

in Tarpon Springs started
at the turn of the century,

Greek divers were recruited
to harvest sponges.

And soon, they commanded
a burgeoning industry.

$3 million a
year from the bottom of the sea.

That's the record
of the world's greatest sponge fleet

at Tarpon Springs, Florida.

By the 1930s, these sponges

were generating
even more money than citrus,

the other big Florida crop.

Over 200
experienced Greek divers go out daily.

Okay, so what's gonna happen now, Taso?

- Just be patient until you see.
- Okay.

Taso emigrated from Greece as a teen

and got his first job
on a sponge boat at 22.

After more than 45 years
on these waters,

some say he's the best diver
in the northern hemisphere.

It's like me when I put on my pantyhose.

It takes me a looong time.

But maybe not the friendliest.

Do you need me to spit in the lens?
Is that a thing?

That's not a thing.

It is a thing?

I'm getting the feeling that he's
not used to having guests on his boat...

Okay. I'm going to
get out of your way.

...and I just might have
to loosen him up a bit.

What's the longest time you've been
out by yourself on this boat?

- 34 days.
- 34 days.

Aren't you lonely
out on this boat all the time?

What about companionship?

You cannot have a woman out here.

I'm a woman. I'm here.

Yeah, but it's a bad luck
to have a woman on the boat,

period.

Period.

- Why? Well, what if...
- Your mind.

Your mind
doesn't go in the sponges.

You got to avoid that.

I thought it was for me
to check my lipstick.

Good luck!

Woo!

He's leaving me here unattended
for 30 minutes.

I'm just saying.

I'm gonna try not to drown or die.

Fortunately, it's not that long.

There you go.

And Taso's got the goods.

He's about to crown!

Woo!

I'm gonna eat today? That's good.

What did you catch us?

Alright.

Wow!

Look at how beautiful this is.

What does this sponge cost?

From me to the buyer, maybe $4 or $5.

But from the store to you, $20.

And in one day, how much can you get?

Some days I can catch
up to $2,000 worth.

- Mm-hmm.
- Some days I can catch $5 worth.

While the sponging isn't consistent,

Taso can count on the ocean's bounty
for a meal.

Can I help you?

Okay. All right

Greeks in Tarpon Springs

come from the Dodecanese Islands
in the south-eastern Aegean Sea.

But the majority originate from
the epicenter of sponge diving, Kalymnos.

And those sponge divers
who worked on the water

also got their sustenance from the sea.

Olive oil, now.
One, two, three, good shots.

Three good shots.

Taso is preparing a simple and homey soup

of chopped vegetables
and freshly caught grouper.

All right.

Let's get some fresh air.

While we wait for the fish to cook,

it's time for some Retsina,
a traditional, slightly sweet Greek white,

with a unique, piney flavor.

- That's good, thank you.
- Let me have a cup, man.

Maybe this will help Taso relax.

You know, with a female on board?

I wanna toast to the lady.

One of us has to stay sober.

Cheers.

I think Taso just might
be warming up to me.

- Ready?
- Getting there.

After some time,
and a bottle under our belts,

it's time to finish off the soup.

Now, the secret of this
actually is the lemon.

Lemon is crucial in Greek food...

adding the iconic brightness
this cuisine is known for.

This fish, a couple hours ago,
was swimming down in the bottom.

Now in my plate.
You can't find no fresher than this.

- Mm.
- Mm!

- That's so good!
- I know.

It's perfectly seasoned. It's so light.

The best thing about it,
we are here on the water.

- That is the best thing about it.
- Yes.

It's heavenly.

But Taso has one more thing
in store, a surprise treat.

Try this.

- Try it.
- Okay.

Try it.

It is good.

It's so buttery.
I don't think I've ever had that.

Is it going to make me
a better kisser, you think?

Maybe it's the wine,

but Taso seems to
be getting over his superstitions.

- You know?
- Now we're talkin'.

Sponge diving has made Tarpon Springs

into a thriving coastal hotspot.

But it's been nearly 100 years
since the sponge boom,

and life on the docks
is starting to look very different.

I'm in the land of the tan and retired.

I mean, this is Florida after all.

But this part
isn't like anything I've ever seen.

Today, walking around,

it's like a Disneyland version
of Greek culture...

They're quite pretty

...except with sponges
instead of a talking mouse,

and with any traditional Greek dish
you can think of.

This looks so delicious.

Everybody got a good food.

Grilled octopus. That's my favorite.

Stuffed cabbage. Grape leaves.

A rotisserie pork.

It's got everything Greek... almost.

But the Greek
experience wouldn't be complete

without the most popular Greek food
in America,

the gyro.

- You ready to eat? Alright.
- Yes, I am ready to eat.

- Pork. We have to do pork.
- Yeah.

Mike Kambourakis, a life-long local,

has joined me at a roadside food truck

to experience what he says
is the real deal,

and what many say
is the Greek hangover helper.

Look at all the grease.

In Kalymnos, the gyro restaurants,
they stay open all night.

After a night out, like in the club,
you need that grease. You know?

Here we go to Waffle House
to get greasy food.

In Greece, you go to gyro restaurants.

Hungover or not, if
you've had a gyro in America,

It's probably been
with ground beef and lamb,

in processed cones.

But in Greece, and at this food truck,

the traditional way is with fresh pork.

There's no way
I can get my mouth around that.

I think you can do it.

- You are a professional, my friend.
- Yeah. I've been doing this for a long time.

- And then just go for it.
- Okay.

Okay, so maybe I can't get my mouth
quite around the whole thing,

but neither can he.

- That is so good.
- Mm-hmm.

- I love the burnt edges on the pork.
- Yeah.

Crispy sizzling pork

is doused with
a contrasting dollop of tzatziki.

A cool, creamy sauce
made from yogurt,

cucumber, garlic,

oregano and dill.

It's all in the tzatziki, honestly.

- It is the tzatziki that makes it good.
- Mm-hmm.

That was delicious.

While they may hold onto the Greek gyro
just as it was on the island,

elsewhere, change continues.

And it's not just in
the over-the-top vibe

of the tourist strip here.

Families have had to evolve too.

In Greece, my dad worked
with my grandfather on the sponge boat.

But at 21, he came from Greece to America

and needed to find work
that would make the most money.

But the sponge industry
had taken a major hit from disease

and never fully recovered.

So the residents of Tarpon Springs

were forced to find
even more dangerous work.

Mike's dad took a job
that many fearless Greeks excelled at,

bridge painting.

But that meant months on the road.

Bridge painting is really hard
on the family.

- You know...
- It's very dangerous too.

Dangerous. It sucks.
Like, my dad is away

All the time.

- Sorry.
- It's okay.

I didn't know I was going
to get emotional.

It's okay.

Mike's father had to work
outside Tarpon Springs to make ends meet.

And today, a similar exodus
is disrupting the Horio life.

My dad growing up, he
was like, "You're going to school.

Like, you have no choice here.
I don't want you on the bridges."

So, now what is
the younger generation doing?

I'm in nursing school.

I have a career goal
and a lot of my friends do as well.

So if you do have a college education,

- you're kind of moving on to do other things.
- Yeah.

Do what our parents came here
from Greece for us to do,

get an education,

become a doctor, a lawyer,
you know, or a pharmacist.

Like all of us, the older generation
wants the best for their children.

But as younger Greeks seek opportunity
outside of Tarpon Springs,

the Horio life and island culture
gets diluted.

Or does it?

I'm starting to
catch the vibe of this place.

Traditions like these have been
drawing people here

for over a hundred years.

I'm so happy I wore flats.

But what was originally a more
insular Horio community...

...has changed
in some surprising ways.

As the sponge industry dwindled,

Tarpon Springs played up traits
of Greek village life

in hopes of luring
a wider tourist market.

Today, almost a million tourists
visit Tarpon Springs each year.

But I'm headed off the tourist trail

to a place that all the locals
say has some home cooking

that nourishes the Horio ,
Katerina's Taverna and Grill.

- Hi!
- Hello! Hello!

- Are you Katerina?
- Yes, I am.

Can I give you a hug?

Katerina Tsciliclis worked as a waitress
at a Tarpon Springs Greek restaurant

for 21 years.

And those are my kids,
my husband, and Yaya.

But in 2019, she realized
she was ready to run her own,

and opened Katerina's with her family.

- Do you want to teach me how to cook?
- Of course.

Today, she's sharing an iconic dish,

the Greek version of chicken soup.

Teach me how to pronounce this,
it's av-go-men-o-lo?

Av-go-lem -o-no.

- Av-go-lem -o-no.
- Got it.

Katarina's avgolemono

has chicken
as the main ingredient,

and its flavor is further fortified
with chicken bouillon,

accompanied by potato,
onion, black pepper,

egg, orzo,

and of course,
the Greek secret weapon, lemon.

What is the first thing you have to do?

The chicken, of course,
and we put the potato.

- Whole?
- A whole potato.

When was the first time
you made this chicken soup?

- Do you remember?
- I was about 14.

Katarina also grew up in Kalymnos.

- And did you grow up cooking, always?
- Yes.

We are a lot of kids in the family.

We're six sisters, six brothers.

So the only thing I learned
is homemade food.

At 16, she came to
the U.S. and started a family.

If you're used to cooking for 12 kids
and for a family that drops by,

that's basically what you're doing here.

That's exactly what I'm doing here, yep.

There's a trick to the way Greeks
make their chicken soup so delicious.

So I have four eggs here,

and then the lemon juice.

Makes it nice and lemony.

To keep the
added eggs from scrambling,

Katarina gradually mixes the broth
into the lemon and egg.

It's really a two-person job.

It is.

Avgolemono can also
be thickened down to a sauce,

and drizzled over meat,
vegetables, or seafood

to add a creamy, tangy touch.

So now, we take the chicken
and shred it.

I cook it with the skin
because it gives the flavor.

Soup is ready.

Mm. It's so good.
It's so lemony

and a little starchy,

in a good, comforting way.

It's like chicken noodle soup,

but the tang of the lemon
gives it that Mediterranean flavor.

- So, what do you think?
- I think it's great.

Katerina is making traditional
homemade dishes

just like she did on the island.

But it's not for the tourists.

It's for her local Horio, her village.

We have our spanakotiropita,
this is a spinach and cheese pie.

Oh my gosh. Look at that. Oh, yes.

That is a thing of beauty.
It's so decadent.

And yet, I somehow feel virtuous. Um...

Because you're not eating meat,
that's why.

Sampling the menu with me
is Tina Bucavales,

the resident historian
who's been writing about efforts

to preserve Greek traditions for decades.

What do you love about Tarpon Springs?

It is a piece of Greece.

- Thank you.
- We've got grilled octopus.

Yum. That looks great.

And then refried calamari.

Do you like the legs?

I like it all.

I'm an equal opportunity muncher.

One of the most Kalymnian dishes here
are the meatballs called keftedes.

Here they're served
with halkitika makaronia,

pasta with grilled onions.

In Kalymnos, we're known for having some
of the best meatballs in all of Greece.

These ones are beef
but we make octopus meatballs as well.

- Mm.
- This is wonderful because it's so local.

What do you think the future is
for Tarpon Springs,

like, in 20 years, in 50 years?

There's really only a handful
of spongers left.

And most of them are older.

But the tourism business,
it's not going anywhere.

But, right now there's a bunch of shops
that are not owned by Greeks,

offering generic tourist
or "beachy" kind of merchandise.

There's also a lot of retired
Anglo Americans move here

because they consider it
a cute, quaint town

that hasn't been overdeveloped yet,

so there's a big influx.

But the trouble is,
with a big influx of outsiders

who aren't carrying on
the same Greek culture,

will the culture continue?

Listening to Tina,

Greek village culture
seems to be fading here.

But it turns out,
just outside of Tarpon Springs,

there's a surprising effort
by younger Greeks to keep it alive.

Hey!

Meet Deano Kastis,

the founder of United Greek Americans,
or UGA.

Bravo Deano!

This is a small UGA gathering,

but the annual party
is something else entirely.

Every year, the group hosts a huge party

for Greeks from all over the world
to come and get their "Greek" on.

- How much has it grown?
- Exponentially.

The very first event in 2010
was several dozen people.

And now we host
several thousand people

from just about every state
of the United States.

You come as stranger and you...
You leave as a friend.

That's how the Greeks are.

The Horio life continues.

Everyone knows everyone.

And some leave...
a bit more than friends.

Like Deano and Theoni,
who are now engaged.

We've had several dozen UGA weddings
and now we have UGA babies.

It does seem like
a de facto dating service.

- Kind of.
- You know, like Jdate or something.

But you can't
be, well, fruitful and multiply

on an empty stomach, so,

we're enjoying Greek specialties
like moussaka and pastitsio.

Oh my god, I can't stop eating.

Good, right?

But is the real draw for
UGA members something deeper?

Why was it so important for you
to start this organization?

You know, my grandfather said to me,

"I came to this country
for a better opportunity for you,

but don't forget where you come from."

For them, being here does just that.

It's very hard to keep the tradition
outside of Greece,

but Tarpon Springs, it's like
having Little Greece in front of you.

I had, like, tears in my eyes
because I was, like, so far from home,

but so, "home."

No matter how
much the storefronts change,

these Greeks still feel
the Horio spirit in Tarpon Springs.

- Yamas.
- Yamas.

Yamas.

But there is some debate on whether
things should stay the same or evolve.

And it's playing out
far from the tourist strip.

There's no place where Greek
culture is more palpable than in the home.

Nice to meet you.

I'm sorry.

It's okay. Come on.
Just like a family portrait.

Welcome.

Mike's Aunt Patty,
his Mom Nomiki, and his Yaya,

are showing me how to make
a Kalymnian specialty.

It's made every Easter,

and it's called mouri,
a lamb stuffed with rice,

cooked in a wood fire oven.

And when I say stuffed,
I mean stuffed.

Oh, my gosh, it's a whole lamb.

Yeah, it's a whole
lamb, with the legs and the everything.

- And you do this every Easter?
- Every Easter.

How many of these will be made
during Easter, in Tarpon Springs?

Whoo! Whoo. Over... over a hundred.

Cooking mouri is a
rite of passage for eligible brides.

Before we get married,
the in-laws do test you, yes.

And then you have to pass.

It can be a potential
face-off between mothers-in-law

and daughters-in-law.

- All right. Let's get down to it.
- Okay!

First up is the rub,

a mixture of butter,

cinnamon, salt, pepper,

and in Patty's recipe,
tomato paste.

She disagrees with the tomato paste.

Ah.

She wants me to
put just butter on the inside.

My recipe is not that way.
And she doesn't like it.

Sometimes the old
folks need a bit of convincing.

Yaya's saying not too much.

That's a lot, she says.

- You're going to get slapped. I'm telling you.
- Yeah, she is.

I put the rub inside.

And now for the stuffing...

And you just sauté it.

...made with rice, onion,

more cinnamon, oil,

calf's liver, and tomato paste.

In this case, Yaya approves.

- Calf liver?
- Yes.

And what does calf liver do?

It just gives it a t-texture and a smell.

And I like putting my salt last.

- Should I stir?
- Yeah.

While the rice cooks a bit
before being stuffed into the lamb...

Tony, Patty's husband,

stuffs a traditional oven
with wood in the backyard.

He learned how to build this
on the island

before he met Patty
and moved to America.

How did you guys meet?

- In Greece.
- In Greece.

2001, I think it was.

No, nineteen ninety...

- 1999.
- Yeah.

Tony speaks very little English,
but it doesn't seem to be a problem

because Greek is spoken
in so many Tarpon households.

You guys mean business.

When it comes to lamb, it's business.

Patty, her sister, and their mother

all underwent this
matrimonial rite of passage.

Take the aluminum foil
and I close both holes.

- Oh, just plug them?
- So that... yeah, plug them so that the rice won't come out.

Now, it's my turn to pass the test,

closing a deep hole inside the beast.

- So...
- Alright, hold on.

I gonna take off the watch
'cause, you know...

Oh, that's a long way in
you want my arm to go.

- You got it, though. You got it.
- Okay.

You got it!

It's good!

- Okay?
- That's all.

Alright.

- I'm gonna go wash myself.
- Yes.

That was intense.

So, you have to like, fist a lamb
to get married, basically?

- Basically.
- That's what you made me do.

So where's my
Greek husband after all that?

Yeah. That's perfect.

Alright, so now we gotta put that in here.

Okay.

Is it safe to put my watch back on now?

- Yes.
- Okay.

Alright, Tony.

A bit more rub...

- We're ready.
- Yeah?

...and the lamb goes
into a pot lined with grape vines.

This gives it a woodsy aroma.

- Perfumes it with the aromatics.
- Mm-hmm. Right, right.

And into the oven it goes.

Ready.

That lamb did not die in vain.

No.

The final step?

A mixture of flour and water
is applied to the oven door.

It acts like glue and seals it tight.

Okay, listen to
it. You gotta listen to it.

This is incredible.

That's it.

Ten hours later
the mouri is ready to test.

Alright.

- Ooh. Good!
- That's perfect.

- Look how juicy it is.
- Whoa.

Wow.

- Here.
- Thank you.

It's delicious.

- It's good, huh?
- It's so tender.

And it doesn't taste gamey at all.

Perfect.

So I'm opening the
ribs, so we can get to the rice.

- Oh, my gosh.
- Ah! Look at the rice.

Mm!

- Each grain is whole.
- Mm-hmm.

It's cooked perfectly.

It's all worth it, huh?

The prep and cooking of the mouri

is a key part
of Greek Easter celebrations...

- May I?
- Yeah.

...but the highlight is
sitting down with your village.

- Give her some rice and lamb.
- Absolutely.

It's delicious. Mm.

The lamb is so tender
and I don't even taste the tomato.

No.

Here, the next generation

is learning the old Greek traditions.

Chew.

And it's not just
the recipes being passed on.

There are also the
songs of the sponge divers.

From what I've seen,

it's hard to say
whether change is good or bad.

In many places throughout America,
it's inevitable.

That, we can say.

But while tourism visibly
altered Tarpon Springs,

it's also what kept it alive.

Yay! Very nice.

And many Greeks here
reacted to that change

by holding on even more tightly
to the Horio spirit.

All right.

Thank you for having me.
And thanks for teaching me...

Thank you.

...how to, you know, violate that lamb.

- Now I know what that feels like.
- Yeah.

Delicious!