♪ ♪ [Diane Kochilas] I'm in Thessaloniki today on a mission to discover the nearly lost legacy of the city's once thriving Jewish community, which was mostly Sephardic, having escaped the Spanish Inquisition about 500 years ago.

Before World War II, almost half the population of Thessaloniki was Jewish.

96% of that community was exterminated during the German occupation.

[Hella Matalon] Welcome, Diane.

[Diane] Today I'm meeting Hella Matalon, the daughter of survivors and a prominent member of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki.

Together we'll cook huevos haminados, slow cooked eggs, and Merenza Assada, a meatball dish with fire roasted eggplant and tomato sauce.

It's simple, there are only a few ingredients in here, but there's a lot of richness to the dish.

I'll visit a local chef who makes classic Sephardic meatballs with walnut sauce.

And in the kitchen I'm making chicken with prunes.

This really is, to my mind, the taste of Sephardic Jewish cooking.

Join me on My Greek Table as I explore Thessaloniki's Jewish history and the flavors of its once overflowing Sephardic table.

♪ (upbeat music) ♪ [Announcer] My Greek Table with Diane Kochilas is made possible in part by...

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The National Hellenic Society And by the following... ♪ ♪ [Diane] Thessaloniki, Greece's northern capital has had an uninterrupted history as an urban center for more than 2,000 years.

It's always been a crossroads between East and West, where many cultures have commingled.

Among the most poignant and painful stories of Thessaloniki's heritage is that of its once thriving Jewish community.

Up until World War II, 60 percent of Thessaloniki's population was Jewish.

Most trace their roots to 1492, when thousands of Sephardic Jews fled the persecutions of the Spanish Inquisition.

The city's lifeblood pulsed to the customs and rhythms of its Jewish population.

Ladino, a combination of Spanish, Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, French, Turkish, and Italian, was spoken throughout the city and most of the city's commercial life stopped at dusk on Fridays.

World War II brought not only German occupation to the city, but devastation to its Jewish people.

Per capita, Thessaloniki's Jewish community suffered the greatest loss of any community in Europe.

Only 4% of this once thriving population made it home.

Food, of course, is central to the exploration of Sephardic Thessaloniki.

They forged a kind of hybrid cuisine, mirroring its close ties with other Jewish communities, but also its Spanish roots.

White beans, leaks, eggplant, stews that combine meats and nuts and dried fruits are all part of the legacy of Sephardic cooking.

I was drawn to the story of Thessaloniki's Sephardic heritage after meeting Hella Matalon, the daughter of survivors, an amazing cook, and an encyclopedia of the city's Jewish history.

Her father, now in his 90s, was 14 when he boarded the train for Auschwitz.

A few decades later, he found his life's mission to discover and record the names of those lost from Thessaloniki.

[Hella Matalon] Welcome, Diane.

Nice to meet you.

[Diane] Hella, it's nice to meet you, too.

[smooching sound] [Hella Matalon] So let's start our tour today together at the Jewish sites of Thessaloniki.

We start from our museum.

So this room here is dedicated to the old cemetery of Thessaloniki.

Thessaloniki used to have the most ancient and the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe.

However, the Jewish cemetery has been destroyed during the German occupation.

[Diane] And these are whatever tombstones were salvaged.

[Hella] Exactly.

Here are some examples of those that we could keep.

♪ [soft music] ♪ Well, Diane, now we are in the room which is dedicated to the community of Thessaloniki during the Holocaust, where we lost 96 percent of our population.

The things that are in this window here, most of them belong to my own father or to my family, like his personal cup.

And he always told me that, "The most precious thing during my two and a half years in the concentration camp was this cup because without a cup, you cannot eat, not drink, eat, because the food was always a soup, a liquid."

[Diane] And he was 18 at the time?

[Hella] He was 16 years old when he was liberated.

When he was arrested, he was 14 years old.

Here we have also train tickets.

People from Thessaloniki, the Jewish people who were arrested, they had to buy their own ticket to go to Auschwitz.

[Diane] And they had no idea what was going on anywhere else in Europe.

[Hella] This is, this is true.

The official means of information like radio or newspapers were totally controlled by the Germans.

Some people could listen in secret in BBC, but even then, if they heard something, they were not ready to accept it.

They were- they say, "No, this is propaganda.

They are lying to us.

Things like that cannot happen."

Well Diane, this is the work of my father, the names of the victims of the Holocaust.

[Diane] I see.

[Hella] In our family, we lost 55 people.

From Thessaloniki, 48,000, but we had no names.

1960, he decided to revisit Auschwitz and this is when it occurred to him, "These 48,000 people have no name and no one can pray Kaddish for them.

I have to find the names."

He thought it would be easy, in two years, in four years he would finish, but it was a lifetime project.

He managed to collect 37,000 names.

[Diane] Your father is an incredible human being.

[Hella] For me, is the most incredible.

I think that's- [Diane] And a positive person to have devoted his life to doing this.

It gave him purpose, too.

♪ ♪ [Hella] We are now in the Yad Lezikaron Synagogue.

The name Yad Lezikaron means "in the memory" and it's dedicated to the memory of the 60 synagogues that existed here in Thessaloniki.

And on this wall we can see the names of the 60 synagogues that existed right here.

Some of them were destroyed in the big fire of 1917 and then the rest were destroyed during the German occupation.

The first synagogue built here was Etz Chaim, first century, BC, which existed until the 20th century.

[Diane] Really?

[Hella] Really, for all the centuries it existed right here.

And all of a sudden in 1492 and right after, we have tens of synagogues built because we have the arrival of the Jews from Spain.

Well, Diane, now we are entering our synagogue, which is called Monastirioton, from the people of Monastiri.

The Germans destroyed every synagogue that existed in the city, but this one survived because the Red Cross transformed it into a stable for the horses of the Red Cross and also to house their provisions.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] So the Germans did not touch the synagogue and it remained intact so everything that we see on the building, it's genuine.

It's original.

This is why this synagogue has a very special meaning to all the Jewish people of Thessaloniki because it reminds us of all the beautiful moments in our life.

[Diane] I see.

Renewed interest in Thessaloniki's Jewish past can be found on a few of the city's restaurant menus.

At Akadimia, Chef Konstantinos Markou makes a classic, Nogada, or meatballs with walnut sauce.

He starts by mixing together ground beef, moistened breadcrumbs and egg, grated onions, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

♪ ♪ Once all the ingredients are combined, he forms them into meatballs and places them in a pan of flour.

After heating up plenty of olive oil, the meatballs are dredged in flour and fried.

In a separate pan, he combines water, parsley, ground walnuts, breadcrumbs, and olive oil.

Then the fried meatballs go in.

He adds more water.

Along with a bit more salt and pepper.

The meatballs then simmer in the sauce for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened.

♪ ♪ Obviously, we're making an eggplant dish today.

[Hella] We are going to do Merenza Assada.

This is a typical Sephardic dish.

First, we are going to broil the eggplant.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] We just place them on the fire.

We get a very nice smoky taste.

Now we are going to prepare a tomato sauce.

We are going to cut the tomatoes.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] And put them right here.

[Diane] And we're just going to use the immersion blender and- [Hella] Exactly.

[soft whir] [Diane] There are a lot of eggplant dishes in the Sephardic cuisine, right?

[Hella] The Sephardic cuisine uses a lot of vegetables, first of all, a lot of eggplant, which is our favorite.

We use a lot of leeks.

[soft whir] We're going to add one red pepper.

We don't need the seeds.

[Diane] When you were growing up, this cuisine was what you were eating on kind of a daily basis?

[Hella] No, this was a cuisine of my grandparents and my mother when she grew up.

[Diane] Mhmm.

[Hella] However, what I'm cooking now, I haven't seen it in a normal Greek kitchen.

[Diane] I have not seen this either.

[Hella] I will add a little bit of olive oil.

Of course, we put salt, then we let it boil.

In the meantime, we need to turn the eggplants around- [Diane] Okay.

[Hella] So that can cook from all the sides.

We want them to be burnt from the outside, but not burnt inside.

We can start making the meatballs.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] So I have here a half a kilo of minced meat.

[Diane] It's beef?

[Hella] It's beef.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] One egg.

[Diane] Do you need breadcrumb?

[Hella] I need breadcrumbs.

Please put about two handfuls.

[Diane] We do that to keep them- [Hella] Keep them- [Diane] Fluffy.

[Hella] Fluffy.

We put olive oil.

[Diane] Can I add some salt?

[Hella] Yes, please.

[Diane] Say when.

[Hella] It's okay.

And of course, pepper always adds a flavor.

This is the classical recipe of my grandmother who did not put a lot of spices inside.

In the meanwhile, our eggplants are ready.

So here you can see how they look and we are going to leave them here to prepare them to cool a little bit.

[Diane] I will make the meatballs while you do everything else right?

[Hella] Yes.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] But wait just a moment.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] We need a little bit of warm water so that the meatballs get fluffy.

[Diane] Oh, I didn't know that.

[Hella] This is another trick.

In the meantime, I use corn oil or sun oil to fry them because I don't want it to be too heavy.

[Diane] Mhmm.

[Hella] So our beautiful keftedes are ready.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] You have done a wonderful job, Diane.

[Diane] I had a good teacher.

[Hella] We're going to fry them where the oil is ready now.

[Diane] I can hold that for you, Hella.

[Hella] Yes, please.

So I can put two by two, not one by one.

[oil popping] The sauce is almost ready.

So this is a good point to put inside the eggplant.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] So what we're doing, I'm cutting the upper part and we cut it in the middle.

What we need now, you see it remained white because we used a very strong fire.

[Diane] That's a trick I actually did not know.

[Hella] That is a very nice trick.

So what we need now is two spoons and just take out the pulp.

I use very gentle moves so that I don't take too much skin, which we don't eat.

[Diane] Did you pass any of these recipes onto your kids?

[Hella] Ah.

Yes.

My daughter actually is a very good cook.

Some of these recipes, she makes them and she loves them a lot.

So Diane, take the eggplants, put them on this drainage so that most of the water goes out.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] And then we can cut them in pieces.

I'm going to take the meatballs out of the oil and let them dry a little bit on the paper.

With two knives you can make like that and cut it in smaller pieces.

[light scraping] I think it's okay.

[Diane] It's good?

Okay, so we want chunky.

[Hella] Yeah.

We are taking this, which is quite drained.

We're going to throw them gently in the sauce.

[Diane] Excellent.

[laughing] [Hella] And also we put inside the meatballs.

[Diane] Okay.

[Hella] So the dish will be ready in let's say 10 minutes.

[Diane] That looks amazing.

So it's very... rich.

[Hella] Very rich.

And now that we are ready, we just cover the pot and we'll let it boil for another 10 minutes.

[Diane] Just so that all the flavors melt together.

[Hella] Exactly.

Melt together, and mix...

The dish is one entity.

[Diane] It's one entity.

Exactly.

[Hella] Exactly.

[Diane] Hella, I know what we're making.

The most famous Sephardic dish in Thessaloniki, huevos haminados.

I even know what it means.

Burnt eggs.

[Hella] Wow.

You're great.

[Diane] She starts by lining a pressure cooker with onion skins and layering eggs on top, loosely spaced.

She tops with one final layer of onion skins.

For color and flavor, she mixes finely ground Greek coffee with water and adds it to the pot.

She adds olive oil, salt, pepper, and finally a little vinegar.

This keeps the eggs from cracking.

More water is added to cover the eggs.

She seals the lid and cooks the eggs for two hours until they turn a deep brown.

[Hella] Well Diane, bon appetit.

[Diane] Thank you.

[Hella] Enjoy.

[Diane] Mm.

That's really great.

The meatballs also have the smoky flavor of the eggplant.

[Hella] Exactly.

The eggplant has this smoky taste, which overlaps all the other tastes that exist.

[Diane] You know, it's simple.

There are only a few ingredients in here, but there's a lot of richness to the dish.

[Hella] Very tasty dish.

[Diane] I really want to try the eggs.

[Hella] Go on.

Be my guest, please.

I have put some salt and pepper of course, but a little bit of olive oil and a little bit of lemon, and this makes a great difference in the taste.

[Diane] Wow, that's a revelation.

[Hella] Isn't it?

[Diane] Mm.

I can taste a little bit of the onion from the skins.

The food is very Mediterranean.

It's very familiar, but it's also a little different.

I came back totally energized from Thessaloniki.

I'm making a dish today called Poyo con Prunés.

It's actually Ladino for chicken with prunes.

Get a little bit of olive oil in there.

I just want to pat down the chicken a little bit so that it doesn't splatter.

It'll brown more easily that way and be a little crispy.

The dish has all of the spices that, to my mind, speak Eastern Mediterranean.

Things like cinnamon, coriander seed, red wine, tomatoes.

I'm just gonna let the chicken work and brown.

While that's happening, I'm gonna cut the onions into fairly thick rings.

And that's one of the things I really like about this dish, the texture.

The prunes are whole except for a few.

The tomatoes are nice and chunky, and the onions, you can really feel them.

This is exactly the kind of color we want on the chicken.

This recipe I find really interesting because the use of prunes is also something that you find in all Greek cooking, especially in the north.

It's a mix of influences.

It's what came with the Jews in the 15th century from Spain and then kind of intertwined with what was already here.

The chicken is browned enough now to come out and we're gonna make the sauce before adding the chicken back to the pot.

I just want to season the chicken a little bit while it's still hot and I'm using a nice flaky Greek sea salt for that and a little bit of black pepper.

[cracking of peppercorns] And we're gonna get the onions in here next.

I always like to scrape up whatever bits of skin might have stuck to the bottom of the pan because it's flavorful.

While the onions continue to soften up a little bit, I'm gonna get the coriander ready and I'm using coriander seed, that's really common in Greek cooking.

And I just want to get this crushed a little bit.

I love to do it by hand.

[soft grinding] I want kind of a coarse grind on it, so I'm gonna show you what that should look like.

Can you see?

Looks like the onions are just about where we want them, nice and soft, a little bit of color on them, but still intact.

A little bit of garlic goes in next.

Just giving that a swirl.

Now at this point, I like to add the spices.

A little bit of cayenne, a little bit of cinnamon, those coriander seeds.

The reason I like to add the spices at this point, because when you add them to the warm olive oil, all of their own essential oils have a chance to blossom.

You get more aroma, more flavor that way.

I'm gonna add a couple of prunes to this at this point and just mash them before adding the prunes whole.

Tomato paste goes in next.

I like to add that before the liquid.

It helps thicken the sauce even at this point.

You get more flavor when you cook it a little bit with olive oil.

[tapping] A little bit of dry red wine.

As soon as that deglazes, I'll add the rest of the liquid to this, little bit of chicken broth.

And our tomatoes.

Prunes have a lot of pectin, so the longer they cook, the thicker the sauce.

That's kind of an important element in this dish.

Let me season that with a bit of salt and pepper.

And a little bit of cinnamon stick.

This now has to cook down for about 15 or 20 minutes.

We want the sauce to be fairly thick before we add the chicken back to it.

What I love about this dish is that kind of the whole history of Thessaloniki is in here in a way.

This idea of a tomato sauce with cinnamon is very Greek.

The prunes are kind of something you find in different rich meat dishes all over the country, especially in the north.

The spice, that cayenne, is total Thessaloniki.

Thessaloniki is a crossroads and the crossroads have met in this dish.

I'm gonna get the chicken back in the pan.

I'm just gonna turn this over a little bit so that it's all nice and sauced up.

It smells really good.

Now we're gonna cover the pan and let that cook now for about 40 minutes or so until the chicken is really tender and all these beautiful flavors are all melded together.

And then we're gonna enjoy that with a little bit of Greek wine together.

All right, it's time to reveal the Poyo con Prunés.

I wish you were here to smell this with me.

It smells amazing.

I'm gonna get some of this served.

Let me get a little sauce around here.

Remember, I talked about the chunky sauce, and that's exactly what's happening here.

It looks really good.

This smells so aromatic.

I can't wait to dig into it.

Cut a little piece of the drumstick and get a little prune in there, too.

Mm.

Sweet and spicy, I'm getting that great cayenne.

I'm getting the beautiful sweetness of the prunes and of the onions that have been cooking for such a long time.

Mm.

Today I'm serving this with a wine called Agiorgitiko, and it's from a wine region very close to Athens actually, about an hour and a half south called Nemea.

It's one of the oldest Appalachians in the world, one of the oldest wine producing regions in Greece.

It's a nice, medium-bodied, dry red wine.

It goes beautifully with these luscious, spicy flavors.

This really is, to my mind, the taste of Thessaloniki and the taste of Sephardic Jewish cooking.

[Diane] For recipe links and information about My Greek Table , visit my website, DianeKochilas.com.

[Announcer] Diane's cookbook's "My Greek Table" and "Ikaria" are available to purchase online at DianeKochilas.com Or call the phone number on the screen.

My Greek Table with Diane Kochilas is made possible in part by...

The Fillo Factory.

Grecian Delight Kronos, A family committed to better eating.

Dodoni, tradition in taste.

Celestyal Cruises.

Meltemi Greek Yogurt.

The National Hellenic Society.

And by the following... ♪[singing in another language] ♪