Tsiknopempti: The day Greece is covered with smoke

“I had no idea about the tradition until a neighbor pressed two sausages in my hands once and told me to fry them because it was good.” Nadia is a 45-year-old woman from Albania who lives in our neighborhood for the last twelve years. Although she is a Christian by confession, she did not know of the Tsiknopemtpi-tradition to grill meat and have the air filled with the smoke – therefore the name Smoke Thursday.

Ever since the neighbor pressed these two sausages in her hand, Nadia, her husband and their two children grill or fry sausages on every Tsiknopemtpi for eleven consecutive years. It is a custom they have gladly adopted in their effort to feel comfortable in their new home country.

It is difficult to explain to foreigners the Tsiknopempti custom, although the day is celebrated in Christian countries as Fat Thursday.

All I could say so far was “We do grill or fry meat, the air is full of smoke, it is delicious and do not ask me why.”

As far as I can remember myself, I knew that Tsiknopempti falls towards the end of the Carnival season and is eleven days ahead of the Clean Monday – another opportunity for Greeks to gather around a festive and opulent table. Clean Monday marks the begin of Lent, the fasting season until Eastern.

Tsiknopempti is the peak of the Carnival season, apart from the grilled meat it is also celebrated with dance and music.

I am pretty sure, the custom has its roots in the pre-Christian pagan tradition, as many other customs have been adopted by Christianity so that it would be easier for local community to adapt.

But whatever the reason, I cannot help but to remember my grandma and my great-grandma getting early their position in the kitchen on this special day.

They would fry lamb chops and small pieces of liver, while my mom would be in the yard grilling pork steaks and sausages. They had to feed a family of seven and a bunch of relatives and friends who would come over with their own families, incl grandparents and children.

Salads and dips and whatever a Greek would think of it belonged on a festive table were prepared in the morning and the day before.

Tsiknopempti was one of these days, one of these Greek festive days, where children were banned from the kitchen. It was the day, where we could only see the back of women of the family as they stood for hours over the stove and the grill.

Nowadays, a lot of people prefer to go to a tavern and enjoy souvlaki, steaks and complicated stuff like Kokoretsi, the role of offal wrapped around lamb intestines.

However, there are still the many μερακλήδες (devotees) who bring their grills on the balcony, in yard or even on the pavement and celebrate Tsiknopempti like in the old times.

Around noon today, I was walking down a street nearby, when a saw smoke arising from parking cars. I thought a vehicle was on fire.

Coming closer, I saw a couple of men on the pavement: a grill with several steaks that have just landed on it. Next to the grill a big white table and on it sausages and meatballs and more steaks were patiently waiting in a tray. On the table I spotted as well: a  huge tray full of the perfect Greek salad, a bowl of tzatziki, a basked with pitta bread and several bottles of ouzo.

“Have a nice Tsiknopempti, guys!” I greeted them while I kept walking. “You’re too early for [grilled] meze, but come over for an ouzo and some cheese,” they greeted back.

This is the Greece I love 🙂

PS in the last years, some call the day Cholesterol-Thursday :p