Aglaia's latest book The Foods of the Greek Islands, published by Houghton Mifflin, was chosen as the first of the year's best cookbooks by the New York Times.
Aglaia Kremezi
Aglaia was born in Athens and currently lives
permanently on Kea. She is a journalist, writer, photographer and
food columnist for the Sunday Athens paper Kyriakatiki
Eleftherotypia and the Greek edition of Votre Beaute
magazine. She is also a contributing author for the Los
Angeles Times, Gourmet Magazine, BBC Good Food
Magazine, Bonne Appetit, Food and Wine,
Food Arts and other publications.
Her latest book
The Foods of the Greek Islands, published by
Houghton Mifflin, was chosen as the first of the year's best
cookbooks by the New York Times and received excellent reviews from
Food and Wine, Time, People and many
other newspapers and magazines. Her first book, The Foods of Greece, published by Stewart, Tabori
and Chang won the Julia Child "First Book" award, in April '94. Her
next two books, Mediterranean Pantry and Mediterranean Hot, were both published by
Artisan/Workman and later translated into Greek. She is part of the
team of Master Chefs --together with Roger Verger, Michel
Roux, Richard Olney and others-- creating a small illustrated
collection of MEZE AND ANTIPASTI, for the series "Classic Recipes"
published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, in London. In Athens, she
has also published two collections of her food columns that became
best sellers in Greece.
She has appeared on Good Morning
America CBS, and other major and local TV shows. In addition,
she has taught at Macy's Degustibus, the French Culinary
Institute in New York, and many other cooking schools in the US and
internationally, promoting her books and authentic Mediterranean
Cuisine. She is a menu and recipe consultant for Molyvos, a Greek
restaurant in New York ( 7th Avenue at 55th Street ), which was
awarded three stars by Ruth Reichl of the New York Times
.
Cooking has always been Aglaia's passion.
From her grandmother, her mother and her Kean grandfather she
learned not just traditional recipes, but also got the knowledge and
love for wild greens and herbs. She is an avid collector of
cookbooks and recipes from all over the world, and especially on the
various ethnic cuisines of the Mediterranean. She has presented
papers to many world conferences, specializing in the history of
ancient Greek and Mediterranean cuisines, and has served on advisory
boards in the culinary arts industry.
Costas discovered that apart
from papyri and ancient texts in obscure languages, there are
shovels and axes, trees and bushes, wild orchids, aromatic
plants and
peace of mind.
Costas Moraitis
Four summers ago, Costas, with his wife Aglaia and their two dogs, Popie and Melech, loaded their small SUV and left their Athens apartment with an armchair tied on the car's roof. They set on their vacation to the newly constructed summerhouse on the island of Kea. They never returned to the city.
After his degree from the University of Athens, Costas got an MA in English from St. Michael's College in Vermont, and continued with Biblical Studies at Yale. He returned to Greece to pursue an academic career, and taught English for several years. In 1997 he published his first book translating from Coptic into Modern Greek The Gospel According to Philip . While he started his second book, a translation of the New Testament with historical annotations, Kea came up. On the island, while slowly working on his book and freelancing for travel magazines, he discovered that apart from papyri and ancient texts in obscure languages, there are shovels and axes, trees and bushes, wild orchids, aromatic plants and peace of mind. Digging and planting, constructing dry-stone walls and some of the family's furniture, he stretched and stretched this vacation as long as he could, until it stopped being a vacation and turned into a way of life. His wife consented, and the dogs were delighted…
Soultana, his wooden traditional fishing-boat, a rare example of its kind, was built by the last remaining Greek boat builder.
Kostis Maroulis
After living and studying in the United States, France and
England, Kostis recently returned to live in Kea, having acquired
his grandfather's ancestral home and farmland. Kostis holds
university degrees from Middlebury College in Vermont, the
University of Paris and King's College London. As part of his
graduate degree in Archaeology he has taken part in archaeological
excavations in Greece and Russia .
Upon his return to Kea,
he started experimenting with bee keeping and is now one of the few
producers of Kea's famous local thyme honey. In addition, he has
started his own small product line of condiments including
marinades, jams, and vinegar from the island's natural produce,
according to old family recipes. He has lectured to small groups,
including the Mediterranean Garden Society, on all the facets of
honey production, and will gladly show the fascinating workings of a
hive to any person of the group interested to get into the
protective suit.
Recently, Kostis managed to have
Soultana built. It is a rare type of traditional wooden Greek
fishing boat of which only a few examples can still be seen in the
eastern Aegean. The boat was built on the island of Lesbos by the
last remaining boat builder. Soultana carries a lateen rig, once the
commonest Mediterranean rig, dating back to ancient times. On
Soultana, he can take a few passengers to private bays for
swimming, snorkeling and the simple experience of sailing the clear
blue waters of Kea.
His other interests include hiking trails, literature, botany, gardening and making his own wine from the vines of his vineyard.
Kea Artisanal's USA connection,
Peggy currently lives in NY.Peggy Sotirhos
Kea Artisanal's USA connection, Peggy currently lives in NY and has over ten years' professional experience in planning, developing, implementing, and managing various international initiatives, special events, educational programs, and community outreach projects in higher education and non-profit organizations in New York and abroad.
She has lived and worked in London, England, and Athens, Greece and traveled on work-related projects extensively throughout Western and Eastern Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Mexico.
She holds a BA in American Studies and Classics from Barnard College, Columbia University and a Master's degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in education. She is currently Associate Director of Planning, Curriculum and Program Development at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Special Programs Office, where she works on developing international exchanges and programs in the performing, cinematic, and media arts. Her research interests focus on international education, multicultural and transnational curriculum development, peace education, and community development programs.
On a personal level, Peggy is interested in travel, travel writing, cultural studies, fine arts, and the culinary arts.